3 days 2 nights
Financial Damage:
DB Bhan German rail pass: 274 USD or 203 euros January special price- prepaid
DB Bhan German Rail pass extension: 49 Euro - prepaid
DB Bahn reservations: 42 euro
Adult Day Pass for train: 12 euro
Groceries: 13.60 euro
Food and Drink: 11.15 euro
Housing: 18.83 euro
Total spent while in Munich: 97.93 euros
Per-day cost: 32.64 euros
Per-day cost: 32.64 euros
| Glockenspiel |
Ok so I splurged a little bit in Munich. But for my first location it was not too bad. I will include some advice that can help you do way better than I did price wise. But as one of the most expensive cities in Europe You can still have a great deal of fun on a moderate budget. Those on a serious budget may have to be a lot more careful than I was but it is competely do-able and the longer you stay somewhere the better you get at saving money in that area.
Airport Sleeping:
I spent my first night in Munich in the airport. I do not recommend doing this unless you have a reason to be in the airport because security will ask you why you are in the airport and to show some sort of ticket that would give you a reason to sleep in the airport once the airport closes. I got away with this because there is a DB Bahn stand in the airport and I needed them to verify my German rail pass before I could go anywhere. I had a written itinerary and could show that I planned to leave to go to Prague, Czech Republic on the next day, with the verification excuse paired with my ticket from my previous flight showing I arrived in the airport after the DB Bahn stand had closed got me a free night in the airport. As far as airport sleeping goes, the airport in Munich is very comfortable. There is also a grocery shop and some fast food places so you can get some food. Since the airport closes around midnight, there aren't any repeated announcements and there are actually many surfaces that are decent for sleeping on.
| Open air area of the Munich airport |
Groceries:
Groceries are a huge part of traveling on a budget. Think about it, when you are in your home town you do not eat at restaurants every night because it adds up very quickly. In most cases the same is true abroad. On my first night I purchased groceries and while I factor them into my Munich cost, I did not finish everything I bought I just carry them with me to my next destination. If you are in a cheap area or see good prices and you have space in your bag go food shooping for things that will stay good over a long period of time. I tend to go for nuts, protien bars, dry fruit, and "sandwich stuffs" because they are lightweight, you get a lot of servings out of a package, they have valuable nutrients that you need to replenish (Avoid empty calories!!). I try to maximize my calorie and nutrient intake per dollar spent more than when i am at home. Just do it! You don't want to end up spending a ton of money on a train, in an airport, or some other place that overcharges just because you didn't plan well.
| Challenge Accepted |
Food and drink:
Food and drink are a huge part of any culture and just because you are on a budget doesn't mean that you need to give up local foods. I know I just talked up grocery shopping but that is just to cover a portion of your travel meals. Usually I only eat out once on a short trip maybe two or three times on a longer one. Often I will go for street food or small shops but occasioanally I will go to a very well known restaurant or one with Michelin stars and splurge because often it is a great experience. I only had street food in Munich. I had some sort of meat sandwich for 2.75 euro I don't remember what it was called, even if I did I probably wouldn't be able to spell it, but it was delicious. I'm a big fan of street food because it is cheap and usually it is true to the local flavor. If the locals eat it, I want it. For street food, if nothing is in English (no English menu for me!) it is usually a good sign. I used my index finger to order things that look good and hope for the best (also a plus of street food, you can see everything that is offered and don't have to worry about having someone try to explain the menu to you). This strategy might not work as well for people who are picky eaters or have restricted diets but when I travel I eat whatever I get. Of course because it is Germany I also had a beer for 8.40 euro which was a good deal given they are in liter sized mugs. Never did I think I would be buying beer by the liter. Usually I don't drink when I travel because I am alone and if anything was to happen I want to be able to make as good of a decision as I can but I made an exception here because I had met the other backpacker on the train and we teamed up which made things safer.
Note: I do realize I mentioned avoiding spending money on empty calories and then you look here and see me with a beer the size of my head. a) rules are made to be broken b) In Germany beer is considered a necessary food in ones diet. It is just as much food as bread, so I'm just going to use that as my excuse. Also, if you know Germany you will realize this is probably one of the most touristic beer halls in Munich, I try not to do super touristic things but at the end of the day I am a tourist.
| Beer + Lemonade is delicious |
Route Planning:
The DB Bahn stand opened at 7:30am and I was first in line. Now even though I had planned exactly where I wanted to go and the days I did not have a time table so what started as a simple task became an hour long endeavor. This woman was a trooper and was really amazing though getting all the times sorted, counting up my travel days, and just making sure to plan out my entire trip. If I could do it again I would do a much better job making sure my trains were over night so that you can also use the train as your hotel, two for the price of one so to speak. However, if you aren't careful with your planning in that you can lose 2 days on one trip and for me it wasn't worth the risk so I ended up spending more money to have to pay for hostels as well.
Reservations:
I also spent a lot of money on train reservations. Train reservations run at 4.50 euro in most cases, sometimes 10 euro, This doesn't seem like a lot but when you are planning 10+ trips it adds up very quickly. Please note that it is not always necessary to make a reservation and I did not make reservations for all of my trains. I only reserved for international trips and trips to popular destinations to guarantee not only a seat but a window view. One thing I did use to lower my overall cost for reservations was for smaller cities I wanted to see, instead of making a separate trip there I would just book a trip to the next major city I wanted to visit with a long stopover in the smaller city. So for example, I wanted to visit Dusseldorf and afterward would continue on to Hamburg. instead of planning two seperate trips, one from Cologne to Dusseldorf then one from Dusseldorf to Hamburg I made one trip from Cologne to Hamburg with a three hour stop in Dusseldorf. Now this won't work for large cities or places you want to spend a lot of time seeing but it can be worth it for smaller locations.
Note from future me: I definitely spent way too much money on unnecessary reservations. Reservations during low seasons for almost all trains are NOT necessary so do not make them unless you are traveling in a large group or during a high traffic period. If you look on the DB Bahn site and select the criteria for the train you will be taking it will tell you if reservations are compulsory. If it does not say buying a reservation is compulsory save yourself the money and just pick a free seat on the train.
Local Train Pass:
While I bought a train pass for 24 hours I did not make great use of it. Depending on what trains you take it might be cheaper to pay by trip. This likely was the case for me. However, when I got on the train I met another female backpacker and we hit it off. I shared with her that I was going to do a free walking tour that I had found online. Side note: I love love love free walking tours, it is a great way to see the biggest sites, the guides tend to really know their stuff, you get your bearings in the city, they give great advice on cheap places to go since they are often young people on a tight budget as well, and of course, it is free. Anyway, she was unsure of what she wanted to do for the day so I ended up inviting her to go on the tour. She wanted to stop and drop her things off at the hostel she prebooked. I ended up deciding to stay at the same hostel and drop my bags off before the tour. The pass always makes me more flexible and I am more likely to make random and unplanned pitstops which is what I like about it.
German Rail Pass:
The german rail pass was purchased well before my arrival to Germany. Now at face value it looks really expensive at 207 euros/ 274 USD, but long distance trains are pretty pricey in Europe so if you are traveling a lot of far distances it may be worth it. I also spent an extra 49 Euros to get the rail pass extension allowing me to travel to Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, and Belgium. When I was visitng Switzerland I took a day trip to Konstanz, Germany which cost 62 francs which isn't cheap. For all of the trips I am taking on this trip I would have spent over 400 euros on train tickets before any reservation fees if I bought each ticket separately. I include the price of the rail pass here because it is a very real part of the overall cost but I do not count it toward the grand total spent in Munich because I will be using it an mentioning it throughout my trip. I will make a separate post on my experience with the German Rail Pass.
