Munich and Bamberg in November

The Munich S-Bahn and U-Bahn (their version of a subway/light-rail train) has ticket kiosks in every station. Plus, because the S-Bahn goes to the airport, you can buy your tickets at the kiosks there. It wasn't always an option, but now they all display in English, too. On my first few trips in the early 00's, only the large stations had English options.
Just look for the multi-day option (I think they come in 3-day, 5-day, and monthly variants) and the "partner" tickets, which saves you a couple Euros if there are multiple riders.

 

You can do your Munich travel planning on here
http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-fares/index.html

Edit - good for the S-Bohn, U-Bohn, Trams, and Busses IIRC.

Look at the maps on the site to get an idea of which to take and what zone you need the pass for.

 

Well that sure takes away from a cultural experience... on one of my first trips to Munich after the new airport was open, I was standing at the S-Bahn ticket machine with a Mark note in my hand (very jet-lagged) trying to translate the instructions. A diminutive elderly woman walks up to me, jabbering something in very fast Deutsch, snatches the money from my hand, slides it in the machine and punches the button for the week-long multi-ticket, hands me the ticket and walks away.

I stood there looking at the ticket in amazement and then remembered to look up and shout, "Dankeschöne!" after her.

Kicker is, this has happened to me more than that first time! I like to think Bavarians are helpful people, but maybe they just don't like to see clueless tourists.

 

Ha! Totally not surprising. I've had this happen with menus. Rather than watch you struggle, they'll happily chime right in and help or even order for you. Ditto with random conversations with "I wonder what that is?" I've gotten a lot of answers from people just hopping into a conversation. As a result we tend to just ask questions loud enough for people to overhear. Bavarians aren't shy about that sort of thing at all.

My first experience with the machines was in the 'burbs. We were staying down near Geisinger and didn't have the first clue how to get tickets to the Christmas market at Marienplatz. It apparently wasn't a popular station because there wasn't anyone to ask for help, either. We ended up asking the hotel desk clerk and she made a ton of notes and steps for us to follow. Somewhere in an old copy of the BDGTM I still have her notes and a hard-copy S-bahn schedule.

 

There's also a München Navigator app you can download for the local trains.

 

I just saw this on Facebook. Brilliant!

http://www.muenchen.de/freizeit/sommer/biergartenfahrplan.html

 

I have to bookmark that!

I wonder if anyone's done that for London and pubs?

 

If you have time while you are in Munich I would recommend taking the train to Freising and going to Weihenstephan(er). I have never taken the train there (only driven) but I would imagine it's possible. The beer garden and restaurant they have there is very enjoyable and on top of that you would get to enjoy some top notch Weihenstephan beers from the source.

 

You can definitely take the train (S-bahn) to Freising. Depending on your situation, you can even take that same train to and from the airport. I had a friend that went there straight off his flight.
I like their biergarden a lot myself, too. Since it's on top of a pretty large hill, it's very scenic. They have ton of beer options, too. In terms of variety, they probably offer more beers than any other place I've been. The food's okay, but I don't recall having anything specifically noteworthy.
They do have a great gift shop, though. Lots of souvenirs and a variety of house made schnapps and liqueurs. I've grown to really like Bierlikor and theirs is my favorite one.

The walk from the train station is pretty steep (and not well marked), though. If you're climbing up a massive hill and you see classrooms, you're in the right place. Look for the wooden bears.

 

I plan to stay in Munich 3 days (Nov. 3-5), travel to Nuremburg (Nov 6-8), on to Bamberg (Nov 9-11) and back to Munich (Nov 9-11).

 

Weihenstephan is a nice place and easily walked from the train. Huber is the locals favorite in Freising. The food is excellent. As seen in alot of threads, there are good places scattered all over. The density is incredible.

The MVV app is great for any public transport in Munich. You tell it where you want to go and it guides you from current position to the nearest stop with a map to show u if your going the right way. Saver fares on DB are good for long distance but Lander passes can be cheaper and more flexible.
As a side note, anyone know a good beer place in Zermatt?
@spartan1979 - Jerry, have you posted your last trip?

 

My wife and I took the train from Munich to Friesing as a day trip. We chose to take the city bus from the train station to the foot of the street that goes up thru the campus. It took some getting over the language barrier, but we finally understood the bus driver to tell us to buy tickets from him. I think it was like 1.8 euro apiece for the ride which seemed like maybe a mile (it was cold, windy and threatening rain). However, we found the path to walk down the wooded side of the hill once we ended our visit at the pub. My wife and I agreed that this was the best brewery experience that we had during our 2 weeks in Germany, and we didn't even get to sit in the biergarten. Both the beer and the food were excellent. The beer mugs and hats in the 'gift shop' (there is no shop -- after seeing the merchandise on display in a window, you order what you want thru the kitchen window) were very reasonably priced so they can keep the price low for the students. There are other beer-related places in Friesing to visit too, so it's not a day trip for only one visit (although we visited only Weihenstephan that day). I highly recommend the trip.

 

Not quite the same thing but you might find

http://www.beerguideldn.com/bigmap

useful. Selected (i.e. "curated) pubs only but they are good ones.
Disclaimer: I am involved with that site and the corresponding apps.

 

So am I, but pack a jacket doesn't really even have the same ring to it.

 

Nice, but I liked the train route aspect of the Munich version. A Tube route with pub stops would be great.

 

There should be a large gift shop in a separate building down below the Weihenstephan biergarten. It looks like a warehouse. You can go in and grab beers, schnapps, shirts, jackets, etc.