Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
San Diego (15 miles/24km).
every month.
Ballast Point Brewing
(5401
Linda Vista Rd.,
&
619/298-2337;
and
10051 Old Grove Rd.,
&
858/695-2739,
www.ballastpoint.com) conducts daily tast-
ings of its multiple prize-winning German
and Belgian-style beers. Even if you can't
make it to the plants, you can sample both
companies' beers on tap all over town.
L
$$$
Catamaran Resort Hotel,
3999 Mission Blvd., San Diego (
&
800/422-
8386
or 858/488-1081; www.catamaran
resort.com). $
Park Manor Suites,
525
Spruce St. (
&
800/874-2649
or 619/291-
0999; www.parkmanorsuites.com).
Breweries
406
Bavarian Biergärtens
Raising a Stein
Munich, Germany
Bavaria is the birthplace of the
biergärten,
open-air establishments where drinkers—
and often entire families—relax in the sum-
mer at simple tables, traditionally set on
gravel and shaded by chestnut trees. In a
classic beer garden, customers bring their
own food, though most beer gardens
also serve hearty regional specialties.
Münchners—who hold the world's record
for beer consumption per capita (280
liters/73 gal. a year)—treasure these estab-
lishments so much they protested in the
streets against a 1995 proposal to shorten
the hours of a popular beer garden. You
don't need to wait for Oktoberfest to raise a
stein with a Münchner; all summer long you
can experience the soul of Bavaria's capital
at one of these
gemütlich
watering holes.
The biggest tourist draws are the big
cheery beer garden at the heart of Munich's
central Viktualienmarkt, which sells only
beers brewed within the city limits, and the
immense
Hirschgarten
(Hirschgarten 1;
&
49/89/179 99 117
) out west in Neu-
hausen, which can seat 10,000 customers.
It's so big it even has its own deer park.
Also in Neuhausen, the
Augustinerkeller
(Arnulfstrasse 52;
&
49/89/59 43 93
) is a
more relaxed choice, where patrons sit
under linden trees drinking draft Augustiner
beer, one of the few brews still served from
wooden casks.
Or head for the Englischer Garten,
Munich's largest park, which has a number
of beer gardens to choose from, including a
popular one around the base of the
Chinese
Tower
ornamental pagoda (Englisher Gar-
ten 3;
&
49/89/39 50 28
). The
Biergarten
Chinesischer Turm
(Englischer Garten 3;
&
089/383 87 30
), adjacent to the artsy
Schwabing neighborhood, is a particular
favorite for its homemade dumplings and
sausages, as well as a succulent sauerbraten
made the Bavarian way, with pork instead of
beef. There's also the shady
Aumeister
in
the north end of the park (Sondermeier-
strasse 1;
&
49/89/32 52 24
); the laid-back
Hirschau
(Gysslingstrasse 15;
&
49/89/
322 10 80
), known for its live jazz; and the
often crowded lakeside
Seehaus
(Kleinhes-
selohe 3;
&
49/89/381 61 30
).
Near the park in Schwabing,
Max
Emanuel
(Adalbertstrasse 33;
&
49/89/
2715158
) is a small but friendly beer gar-
den that feels wonderfully secluded on
summer evenings; Löwenbrau and Fran-
ziskaner are the house beers.
(
Franz-Josef-Strauss International
(29km/18 miles).
L
$$
Hotel St. Paul,
St-Paul-Strasse 7
(
&
49/89/5440-7800;
www.hotel-stpaul.
de). $
Am Markt,
Heiliggeistrasse 6 (
&
49/
89/22 50 14;
www.hotelinmunich.de).
