Places of Interest in Marienplatz in Munich

Munich is a lovely place to visit. There are plenty of interesting places to see and you can all do that using the Hop-On and Hop-Off bus plying the routes famous for tourist attractions.

Marienplatz is the town centre in Munich. We booked our Hop-On and Hop-Off bus tour from the Travel information centre in the plaza. And riding the Hop-on, Hop-off bus was a great way to see most of the sights without having to worry on finding our way around town and using the public transportation.

Munich has plenty of points of interests which were covered in our Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour. I am very glad we booked it because I don't know if we'd have enough time to cover much if we had decided to take the public transportation. There are plenty of eateries, food stalls and souvenir shops.

Marienplatz is an old town square in Munich, Germany.  Marienplatz stands for Our Lady's Square or St. Mary's Square in the town square which is a main square since 1158 in the city centre of Munich.

Attractions to find in Marienplatz:

Teddy Bear / Toy Museum

This is one of the places that we wished we visited earlier. It was closed already when we tried to visit. We were just few minutes late when the museum closed. Anyway, the Teddy Bear Museum houses plenty of collection of toys from some prominent countries. You can find more information about this place here:

http://www.ivansteiger.com/en/toy-museum/munich

The Rathaus

The New Town hall is a very famous gothic-inspired building in the northern part of Marienplatz. The Rathaus is the seat of the mayor’s office, the city council, and the headquarters of the city administration in Munich.

Glockenspiel

The Glockenspiel in the tower balcony of the Neues Rathaus is also world famous and worth seeing. Since 1908, figurines representing stories from Munich’s history twirl on two levels daily at 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. (the 5:00 p.m. show is omitted from November through February). In addition to the well-known coopers dancers, the Münchner Kindl (symbol of the city’s coat of arms), and the angel of peace also make an appearance in the almost 12-minute-long spectacle. (Source: http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/sights/attractions/new-town-hall-neues-rathaus.html)

Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt)

Munich is home to many Christmas market stalls during the holiday season. Marienplatz is one of the famous Christmas Markets in the world.

(Photo credit: timesofmalta.com)

Mariensäule (Marian Column) in the square

The Marian column was erected in 1638 to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation during the Thirty Years' War. Atop the column is a golden statue of the Virgin Mary standing on a crescent moon as the Queen of Heaven.

Fischbrunnen (Fish Fountain)

One of the famous meeting points in Marienplatz. It is found in the eastern side of the town square near the Rathaus.

Visiting The Rathaus Glockenspiel In Munich

What is a Glockenspiel, you might ask? It is a famous attraction in the town centre in Munich, Germany. This big clock with chimes tells  several stories of a royal marriage, jousting stories,  and a folk dance called Schäfflertanz (coopers' dance) which all became part of Munich's folklore.  The last to top of the attraction is the chirping of a golden bird which signifies the end of the show.

The Glockenspiel plays every 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. every day. I'm so happy that my family and I managed to watch the whole performance. It was a good 12-15 minutes show and we all loved it.


 

 

The Rathaus Glockenspiel is in the heart of Marienplatz. It is easily accessible by train via Hauftbahnhof or directly at Marienplatz S-bahn station.

If you are visiting Munich, this place is a must. Do add it in your itinerary.

Munich, Germany Part 3

More photos of our vacation in Munich, Germany.

A little pond in Olympia Park... we fed the ducks!

That way to the Lowenbrau brewery."

We went up this tower - Olympia Tower and from there was an amazing 360 degree view of Munich.

That duckie my hubby fed was so friendly. I wanted to take him home....hehehehe.

The STAR of all season!

Oh my, I was still slim that time!!! Arggghhh!

Munich, Germany Part 2

The next installment of snaps. These pictures were taken at the Nymphenburg Palace.

Nymphenburg Palace is located in Munich, approximately 10 to 20 minutes from the Marienplatz by bus. It was used as the summer residence of the royalties. In 1664, the construction commenced and over the next hundred and fifty years, several buildings were also added making this palace a sight to behold.

This is the street leading to the palace. In front of this is the long canal which freezes during winter time and is used as skating rinks.

Side profile of the palace

The queen! Oppps, the swan just licked its butt! Ewww....

Behind the palace, on our way to the gardens

The sprawling gardens

The Royal Family!

(I have taken this post from my www.riablahgs.com site and moved it here where it is more relevant.)

Munich, Germany Part 1

I have taken this post from my other blog, It's My Party and moved it here since this post is relevant to my travel blog's niche.

We visited Munich, Germany in late August of 2008 before my daughter's school started. We had fun seeing the beautiful attractions of Munich and enjoyed our visit to the Nymphenburg Palace. The weather was great, not too cold and not too hot. The old buildings around the square in Marienplatz and Karlplatz were a marriage of old and new architecture. Just amazing! I don't mind going back to Munich and explore more of it's beauty.

Here are snaps from Munich and do hope that I did justice to the beautiful scenic spots there. Enjoy!

Above is the Rathaus, the new town hall located at Marienplatz. In the same building is the Glockenspiel, a very large chime and clock. It gives off a nice chime on certain times during the day
and we were waiting for the "cuckoo" to do its thing and for the puppets in the tower to dance.

Posing while waiting...

Posing again...

Finally, the chime went off at 11 a.m. lasting for more than 3 minutes.