A Bavarian Christmas Adventure
- Charlotte Phillips-Lynn
- Feb 15
- 4 min read
🛫 London Heathrow > Munich International Airport
🛬 Munich International Airport > London Heathrow
✈️ British Airways
🗓️ December 2025
⏳ 4 Days
🍔 GF Options (But not much at the Markets for Coeliacs)
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ Homosexuality is Legal in Germany, NonBinary is a recognised Gender & Changing Gender is legal. Gay Marriage is also legal
🦻🏻 Most German people spoke English, but as a deaf person it was difficult at times in loud environments
Munich - Germany
Christmas seems like a distant memory now, but at the start of December we visited Munich - the capital of Bavaria.
Munich is a lovely place, fuelled by beer, medieval history mixed with modern architecture.
Must See 👀
Marienplatz & Town Hall
The main square in Munich, Marienplatz is home to the new and old Rathaus (town hall), shops, and the famous Glockenspiel that plays daily at 11am and 12pm - and at Christmas, the famous Christkindlmarkt.
As we visited during Christmas, it was wonderful to be part of the festivities. There are lots of Christmas markets around Munich, but the main one is located here. Food stalls in abundance and stalls of trinkets, decorations and hats/scarves/gloves.
I'd say its also worth paying the money to go up the tower of the town hall, you get a great view of the surrounding areas, a nice overview of the Christmas market and on a clear day you can see the Alps.
Englischer Garten (English Garden)
A park that's bigger than Central Park in NYC, we only saw a very small part of it. Visiting the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) was first on our agenda as it was home to a Christmas market, in the summer its a huge beer festival location. The market was quieter than the others we visited, we got some food, wandered the markets and watched people playing curling.
Then a lovely walk from there towards the Munich residence which was perfect for a crisp winter's day.
Hofbräuhaus
I don't drink, but I was really up for going here and experiencing a beer house. Famously Adolf Hitler gave speeches here, and whilst destroyed in WWII the beerhall was the only room to remain.
Sam had a non-alcoholic beer and I had a coke and we shared a table with a lovely couple who were travelling.
Munich Residenz/Frauenkirche/Viktualienmarkt
Other top places include:
The Munich Residenz is a former royal palace filled with ornate rooms, glittering halls and centuries of Bavarian history.
The Frauenkirche, with its iconic twin domes, is Munich’s most recognisable church.
Viktualienmarkt is a lively open‑air market packed with fresh produce, local snacks and plenty of spots to grab an easy bite.
Dacau Concentration Camp
Whilst we were in Munich, we visited Dachau concentration camp. It was harrowing but so interesting at the same time. We were there around 4hrs, and I'd recommend allowing yourself that time & more. There's an informative museum, which is broken down in a time scale, and then a 30min documentary in different languages.
Whilst a lot of it was demolished, 2 prefabs were reconstructed into what was the living arrangements. What does remain, is the crematorium - which felt really eerie. It felt cold, and I wanted to cry, throw up and be angry all at the same time.
I'm 'glad' we visited, and I learnt a lot. Dachau was one of the first - so it is interesting to see how the others followed.
The Food
We mainly ate at the markets, where we could - and also got food at the supermarket too. Going into a supermarket abroad really is part of the experience, they usually have a different variety of foods and some have a different gluten free range to whats at home. In the Rewe supermarket we used in Munich, they had fresh salads and meals, which we got a few times and ate back at the hotel.
Whilst most of the Bratwurst at the markets were gluten free, they were preparing the rolls right over them so they had a very high. Most people spoke English, but I did have a translation card if I needed to use it.
Dean & David
Salad bowls, sandwiches and more - a great healthy eat place. We got some sald bowls from the one in Munich Hauptbahnhof, and took it back to the hotel for a late lunch one day, before heading back out again in the evening.
Isabella
A 100% gluten free patisserie. They also have cafe's too, and we visited one of them on our last day before coming home. We went for brunch, and I'd recommend it. There was such a variety of options to have - but I went for the Bavarian classic Weißwurst. Usually served with a huge pretzel, but here it was served with lovely bread.
Accommodation
We stayed at the Numa Munich hotel and it was a hotel in a great location for a city break. We like having a little kitchen section to cook our own food, should we need to - and have a fridge too. This ticked all those boxes, unfortunately the heating wasn't working when we were there so it was cold - we just added more layers and under the duvet was warm.
Final Thoughts
To summarise, I bet the gardens in the spring and summer are amazing in Munich. But I really enjoyed visiting during Christmas.
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