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Join de urbirun newsletterSo… of course, when you spent the day before drinking beer mugs, eating sausages and sauerkraut in the gigantic and famous Hofbrauhaus brewery, you do not have tons of energy when it’s time to make your urbirun running-tour in Munich the next morning.
But sun is shining, friends are there, and you do not know this city. So you lace your running shoes with anyway. And the non-runner of us will prepare a breakfast, while we are going to watch people surf. Yes, you read surf…
Everyone downloads the urbirun tour on his smartphone, and let’s go. Stéphane, Jean and I join the route after about 500m, close to the Victuals Market. From there on we’ll be guided by urbirun’s audioguide, around St. Peter’s Church and its famous belfry, before arriving right in front of the gigantic and incredibly chiseled facade of the Town Hall, on Marienplatz, a building that reminds us of Brussels, of which it is also inspired, but shhhht. First picture break under a beautiful blue sky.
The city center is still calm on this spring morning, and we run along the wide pedestrian and shopping Kaufingerstrasse street, to a boar with a snout groove, where urbirun tells us to turn right. Ok, let’s turn.
And a little further we are at the foot of the Frauenkirche Church, all red brick, with two bell towers topped with a bulb, which are emblematic of Munich skyline, and culminate at 99m. Since 2004, a law has forbidden any construction higher than 100m, in order that this church can remain the city’s highest building.
We keep running through the streets of downtown, pass the famous Hofbrauhaus brewery where we hydrated ourselves very well the night before. A little further we leave the historic center, through the Isartor, Isar Gate, a remnant of the fortifications that surrounded the city, dating back from the 14th century.
The Isar, the river that runs through the city is in sight, and a bridge leads us to the Museum Island. We turn left when urbirun suggests to, and here we are on a pleasant pedestrian promenade along the river. It’s peaceful, green, blue. Magnificent.
A park, a lock, another island, a new bridge, and we are almost in the forest, still along the Isar. It’s really nice to run, and great to be in this quiet and nature atmosphere so close to the city center.
At the moment urbirun gives us the choice between 2 routes, we choose the longest one, and we go back slightly through the forest, to find ourselves in front of the imposing Maximilianeum building, seat of the Parliament of Bavaria.
We run around it and continue straight on, in a district with architecture is basic, probably completely redone after the war. We run to Prince Regent’s Square, surrounded by classic-style buildings, where Hitler has long had his private residence.
Back towards Isar, we cross a bridge just below the high statue of the Angel of Peace. in a pleasant and slight downhill.
We pass the National Museum of Bavaria, before entering the famous English Garden, the huge park in the heart of Munich. But right at the park entrance, mandatory break to watch people surf.
Yes, there are surfers right in the heart of Munich, on a wave in the artificial Eisbach River. Surfers wait on the edge of the stream, and in turn, they jump on the wave, standing directly on their board, and surf on this immobile wave, thanks to the strength of the current, surrounded by the forest … It’s quite unusual and very nice to see this kind of activity in this surroundings and so far from the sea.
But enough strolled. We have to run, and we go further into the English Garden Park, its huge lawns, forests and lakes. Established in 1733 and covering 375 hectares, it is one of the largest landscaped gardens in the world, and it’s much larger than Central Park in NYC or Hyde Park in London, for example.
After a few delightful kilometers, urbirun guides us back to the city, or rather to another park. Here we are in the Hofgarten Gardens, surrounded by the Bavarian Chancellery and the Palace of the Munich Residence, which was the castle of the dukes, princes and kings of Bavaria, and which has been the seat of power since the 14th century.
Shortly after, we arrive at Karlstor, opposite of Isartor, and another remnant of the town’s fortifications. This is the gateway to the wide pedestrian Kaufigstrasse street, now much more lively than before.
We continue to be guided through the old town until we are back to our starting point, pleased with this wonderful run.
Back at the apartment, we enjoy the delicious and well-deserved breakfast, prepared by Xavier, while we tell him about some of the nice places and neighborhoods we visited during our 11.5km run, and where we should go back later in the day…
Then after aperitif and lunch in the Old Town, the day will continue under a brilliant the sun, in a beautiful mood, from Biergarten to another, with pedal boat race, and pretzels orgies in the English Garden.
Running, pals, beers, sun … the almost perfect day, don’t you think?
_april2018
If you want to explore Munich running, like we did, simply download urbirun’s running-tour here, and enjoy !
urbirun Münich 9.65km/tour.gpx