Short visit to Munich

https://www.bier-und-oktoberfestmuseum.de/

Among so many other museums, if you're so inclined. But 3 hours will fly by.

 

Have a tasty, filling meal and some Aventinus at the Schneider Weisses Brauhaus in the downtown pedestrian area..

Zum Wohl!!

 

And sleep on the way to Austria!

 

The airport is fairly far from downtown if that's your means of travel. There are some decent restaurants in the airport itself if you are really constrained to a 4 hour layover.

 

@shkin -- are you on a layover to catch another flight? Or are you hopping a train at the Munich Hauptbahnhof to Austria?

I ask about the HBH because Augustiner Bräustuben (or Keller) isn't far.

 

Probably the Bräustuben this time of year. The Keller has a nice indoor bierhall, but it's really a biergarten experience.

I forget what's near the Ostbahnhoff.

 

Just my $.02 ... I thoroughly enjoy Augustiner Keller but if I was only in Munich for a few hours and had never been before, I'd suggest things around Marienplatz such as Hofbrauhaus and Schneider. If it's nice weather, the Viktualienmarkt is a great hangout and they serve Augustiner there.

 

Good suggestion. How far is the V-markt from the Ostbahnhoff?

And isn't that an H-P license?*

*I didn't realize it was so diverse.
https://www.viktualienmarkt-muenchen.de/en/beer-at-the-viktualienmarkt/

 

Don't know this place, but I just saw it's not far from Ostbahnhoff.

https://www.haidhauser-augustiner.de/

FWIW -- Vktualienmarkt looks about halfway between the HBH and the OBH. A hike either way. But hey, "a few hours?" Marienplatz is a great stroll and ending at Schneider, HB, or the V-markt before trekking back to either station would be enjoyable.

 

Also not far from Ostbahnhoff -- and one of my favorites. Much less touristy than the main HB Haus.

https://www.hofbraeukeller.de/

 

There isn't a whole lot near the Munich Ostbahnhof. It's a terrific area for lodging and for food (TONS of great international food near there), but for beer the only thing I can recall is Tap-House. They double as a Camba Bayern bierhall and an import specialty bar. As a tourist, it's not the kind of place I'd recommend.
If that's where you're arriving, you can catch the S-Bahn to anywhere in the city limits pretty quickly. If you're rolling up at 10AM, you can be at Marienplatz (the main town square) in like 10-15 minutes. I think it's only 4 stops from there. That's the route I'd go. Marienplatz has halls from all of the 6 city brands, Andechs, Schneider, Hopf/Tegernsee, Ayinger, and more. I'd recommend Andechser Am Dom as my personal favorite spot, but you can have a hell of a time at any number of places. 4 hours is plenty of time, too.

 

They keep changing how many "zones" are part of the Munich MVV system (their public transport system) but I think you can still buy an all-day/all-transport ticket for something like 10 Euros a day. That covers the entire city limits and it works for the S-bahn, U-bahn, buses, trams, etc. If you don't plan on heading to the burbs, you can get one of the basic passes. I think the airport tacks on some additional fees (it's way out near Freising) but it's still pretty affordable. The various MVV machines always seem to pitch 1-way tickets, but I've always found the all-day tickets to be a better deal.

 

They have a very handy app now where you can buy fares/tickets. We used it last year and it was nice not to have to mess with the machines.

Speaking of which, there was a message in it saying that there was going to be a Deutsche Bahn strike March 7-8 affecting regional/national rail passenger transport.

@shkin would that strike affect you also?

 

Best story about those machines -- my friend and I had just arrived at the new (to us, and at the time) Flughaf and we were standing in front of the kiosk. Me trying to translate using my new language skills, my friend trying to stay awake.

A little old lady walks up, snatches the 20 DM note from my hand, feeds it into the machine, punches a button, hands me the ticket and walks off.

I look at her back and say, "Danke?"

Guess we looked helpless.

 

On my first trip I was clueless and there was no English option on any of the kiosks. My German consisted of 5-6 words I learned in a Frommer's guide on the plane ride. After staring at the screen/buttons for a couple minutes (it wasn't a well-traveled station, so I couldn't watch anyone else) I ended up walking back to my hotel and asking to concierge for help. She wrote down each screen step by step from memory and was totally spot-on. I still have her cheat-sheet and a 20 year old MVV map tucked in one of my older "Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich" books.
These days the process is way more complicated (zones, types of tickets, stripes, hours, etc.) BUT there's an English option on all of the machines now. Plus, there's now an app and a website and such, too. It's more complex...but at least I can read what the hell to do.

 

If you manage to get to Munich, you can hire a private car to get you to Austria (assuming you're ok with the cost or someone else pays ). That's what we had to do last year. There was a one-day rail strike on the day we needed to get to Salzburg. We contacted our travel agent and she booked/hired a private driver/van for us.