Munich Kids

There are so many things for families and kids to do at the Olympic Park!  You could make an entire vacation out of a long weekend at the park.  I’ll hit some of the highlights, but check it out for yourself.  There is so much on offer, it’d be difficult to cover it all in one post.

The Olympic Park is the former site of the 1972 Summer Olympics.  One of the excellent benefits of hosting an Olympics, of course, is that all of the Olympic facilities remain once the games are over.  For example, there is the swim hall with 5 pools including a 50-meter long swimming pool with 7 springboards and a 10 meter high diving board.  The swim hall also holds a whirlpool, sauna, solarium, and trampoline center.  The leisure sports program is free to visitors to the swimming center.  This gives you access to two gyms, fitness training equipment, and the help of professional fitness trainers.  All of this for the price of a daily ticket (3,60 EUR for adults and 2,60 EUR for children ages 6-16, discounts for families, students, seniors, and persons with disabilities also available)!

Other sports facilities at the Olympic Park include tennis courts, a regatta course, mini-putt course, and an ice sport center.  Housed within the ice sport center is the Socca Five Arena.  There are four full-sized soccer courts and one smaller court for speed soccer.  The fields can be booked for an hour or more.  They also offer a special Kids Party for birthday parties or other special occasions.

Olympic Park is host to the former stadium of the FC Bayern Munich Soccer Team.  After the team moved to its beautiful new stadium at the Allianz Arena, the Park  has had to find creative new uses for the old stadium.  World class athletic competitions and concerts continue to be held  in the 57,000 seat stadium.

Numerous other events and concerts are held at the Olympic Park.  Additional venues besides the Olympic Stadium include the Olympic Hall, Small Olympic Hall, and Event Arena. Detailed information about upcoming events can be found on the website.

Also available on the grounds of the Olympic Park are the Sea Life Center, the Olympic Tower,  and the new BMW museum.  The Olympic Tower houses a rotating restaurant at the top, for a unique Munich dining experience.  Sea Life has been described in detail in another post on this website.  (Search under Sea Life from the home page) .   The new BMW Museum is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2008.

If you (or your kids) are thrill-seekers, try registering for a 2-hour roof climb of the Olympic Stadium, or go abseiling, i.e., hang by a harness and cable from the edge of the tent roof , 4o meters above the ground!

All of these attractions are really just the beginning, as the Olympic Park itself is beautiful.  The grounds cover 850,000 square meters. There is a lake you can stroll beside, while admiring the ducks and geese.  ( A note of caution though.  Geese can be very pushy if they think you are going to feed them, and they are about the size of a small todder.  So, keep your little ones out of their way!) The grounds have mulitple bike and walking paths.  There is also an observation point which can be reached after a short, uphill climb.   On a clear day, you can get a breathtaking view of Munich and the surrounding areas.

 Finally, in the Bavarian tradition, there is no lack of places to find something to eat.  The grounds include restaurants, biergartens, and numerous food stands where you can buy drinks and ice cream.

Address: Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21, D-80809 München

Telephone: 089/30 67-0

E-Mail: info@olympiapark-muenchen.de

Website: http://www.olympiapark-muenchen.de/index.php?id=start&L=1 (in English)

Nearest Public Transportation:  U3,  lympiazentrum; Tram 20, Olympiapark West or Tram 12, Olympiapark; MetroBus 51 and City Bus 173 und 174, Olympiazentrum

Kinderglueck seeks to be a much-needed solution to the problem of insufficient child care options in Munich.  The agency offers several types of childcare services.  The first service, Babysitter-Express, is perhaps the most needed type of service for single-parent families or families where both parents are working.  This service provides you with a babysitter on those short-notice or spontaneous occasions when you need a babysitter on the same day - for example, if your child is ill and you aren’t able to stay home from work or if an emergency calls you in another direction, while you’re children are still at home.  Additonal babysitting options include regular short-term and long-term babysitting, help with homework and after-school care, and foreign language childcare.  The website does not indicate which foreign language this pertains to, so I am unclear if they hire English-speaking babysitters or not.  The service works by screening, interviewing, and hiring qualified childcare professionals.  They then match a babysitter with your family and your family’s needs.

More information can be found on the website (in German only).

Telephone:  089/ 21 66 85 55

Email:  info@kinderglueck.de

Website: http://www.kinderglueck.de

Noemi & Friends is a beauty salon that caters to children (ages 8 months to 16 years).  Children can get their hair shampooed, cut, and styled while receiving the special attention that parents often seek out at a beauty and wellness spa.  Product lines developed for children are used.  Shampoos come in yummy aromas, like chocolate, vanilla, and papaya. Children’s manicures are also available.  While this concept is most likely to appeal to little girls, the shop hopes to appeal to style-conscious boys as well.  Parents can also get special treatment at Noemi & Friends, by taking advantage of the offers for adults including manicures, head massage, aroma therapy, and make-up sessions.

Address:  Marktstrasse 13, 80802 Munich

Telephone:  089/ 340 861 50

Nearest Public Transportation:  U3/U6 Muenchner Freiheit and bus station at Muenchner Freiheit

Website:  http://www.noemiandfriends.de

Children can bake their own pizza in a big pizza oven at Riva Bar Pizzeria!   On Sundays, from 11:00 - 4:00, Riva Bar encourages kids to make their own pizza, with the help of the restaurant’s pizza baker.  The restaurant offers moderately priced pizza and pasta dishes at two locations, in Schwabing and in Tal.  The restaurant doubles as a bar, so the front section is smoky, especially on evenings (Schwabing location).  However, the non-smoking section in back is family-friendly.  Reservations for a table can be made on-line

Address: Feilitzschstrasse 4, 80802, Munich (Scwhabing)   

Telephone:  089/ 30 90 51 808 (Schwabing)

Nearest Public Transportation:  Just a 5-minute walk from the Muenchner Freiheit bus station and  U3/U6 station

Address:  Tal 44, 80331 Munich (Tal)

Telephone: 089/ 2202 40

Nearest Public Transportation: U3/U6 Marienplatz or S1-S8 Marienplatz

Website:  http://www.rivabar.com/riva.html

Address: