Munich’s Christkindlmarkt: A Bavarian Extravaganza

It’s Münken or bust, my fellow Tripsiders! Today I get to tell you all about the Christmas Markets in Munich because this one needs to be on everyone’s list. Why?

THE FOOD.

For the record, I was in Munich for 3 nights and was able to hit up 6 different markets. They were two that were very different and further apart than the others. I’ll make sure to put the market names for you because not only did they have different “markets” but they all had different Christmas market names on the Christmas mugs.

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Munich’s Christkindlmarkt: A Bavarian Extravaganza

Marienplatz for food & most popular market (for a good reason)

By this point in my journey, I was almost 95% better from the nasty cold I got in Brussels. I was a week and a half through and my appetite had returned in tenfolds. Either way, Munich (or München, as it’s known in Germany) was the destination I was able to stop off at the market stands for my meals.

They not only had the cutest reusable Christmas mugs (and so many different ones!) but they also had the best freakin’ food on the whole trip. This was the city mug I found worthy to take home because it had the view of Marienplatz. 💕 It’s simple but it has the famous Frauenkirche two church towers, Neues Rathaus (which is their “new” town hall), and the famous Bavaria statue (the female personification of the Bavarian homeland). It also says the market name: Christkindl market München.

If you’ve never had a potato tornado (tornado kartoffelchips), please get one here! Oh my gosh, this was the best thing I ate. It’s covered in I-don’t-know-what and paprika. I also got an apfelstrudel (apple strudel) and it was covered in a creamy white sauce (that I think was a vanilla pudding). Oh man, that was my favorite dessert.

Lastly, I got a Bavarian bratwurst and not only red glühwein but white as well! I hate to say it, but I preferred the white in München over the red. 🤫

Residenz München for cozy villager vibes

This was once one of the royal palaces but it’s now a museum! It also holds a beautiful Christmas market in the square. It’s so cute and quaint. I’d say intimate, honestly. There were a lot of people looking to mix and mingle in this area, and it had some of the best homemade glühwein. I tried the white glühwein here!

Englischer Garten Süd for a family-friendly beer garden

The garden is a huge park with the Chinesischen Turm (a Chinese-inspired tower). Unfortunately, this market was closed when I went but it would be perfect for families because there were multiple playgrounds mere steps from the main attractions.

They also had a great beer garden area and you can walk around with alcohol anywhere in the city. So you can take it around the parks too. I really loved the vibe of this market even though it was closed. I think they have horses too!

The market is called weihnachtsmarkt am chinesischen turm.

Angerviertel for unique foods and a smaller neighborhood vibe

Angerviertel is a small neighborhood inside the main Marienplatz market. It had very popular food stands. Fish was being cooked on wood planks, that were hand-spun, in front of a roaring fire. It gets dished onto a roll and served hot, right off the board, and handed to you.

Then there was a stand for Nutella on freshly prepared homemade crepes, and koffee (coffee) served with a side of gingerbread or chocolates. Everything looked amazing and they also had a small windmill that had a beer, alcohol, and glühwein underneath.

Magical ornaments

I’ll do another post on this letter but my grandmother (Dad’s mom) was half German and he inherited a lot of her ornaments. Turns out, they sell ones just like hers at the Christmas Market here and I gasped. They’re so special to our family but I found out they’re handmade glass, hand painted, and they’re quite expensive.

They also have many different unique handmade ones that are wooden, handblown glass, fabric, and made of organic materials (like cloves, cinnamon sticks, dried orange peels, etc – and they smelled amazing!). I wish I could have bought one of each.

You guys! Thank you so much for reading this post on München’s Christmas Markets! If you’re looking for more to do in this city, especially solo, subscribe to my weekly newsletter for updates!