Munich Winter Kids Entertainment: Ice Skating at Karlsplatz Stachus

Munich Winter Kids Entertainment: Ice Skating at Karlsplatz Stachus

By  Thursday, 1.1.2015, 15:07    Munich for Kids

(Photo credits - Klaus-Peter Baaske

One of the main challenges for families on holiday with small children is keeping them entertained, and while I wanted to show the family round the city during our recent two-day stay, I was conscious that we would need to find something more than snow and impressive buildings to keep them entertained. 

Enter the winter transformation of one of my favourite parts of Munich, Karlsplatz Stachus. The summer fountains had given way to a social winter hub of ice skating, Gluhwein and Weissbier with the impressive Munchner EisZauber am Stachus ice-skating, which I learned runs until January 18 this year.

 

I may have wanted to keep the girls walking to Marienplatz, but there was no chance of that, and so I set off to investigate. I knew Munich was going to be expensive compared to living in Dalmatia - just how much was this particular experience going to cost?

The answer was surprisingly reasonable. Skating takes place from 10:30 to 22:00 daily, and there are three skating sessions. We opted for the first, which runs until just before 13:00, after which the rink is cleared of any snow for the next skaters. At 3.50 euro a child, that was pretty good value for more than two hours of skating. Many local kids would have their own skates of course, but for passing tourists and those without, skates can be hired for 6 euro a pair plus either a deposit of 40 euro or leaving an ID.  

 

 A very nice feature for the little ones was the free availability of some helpful (and very stable) polar bears, complete with rails to hold on and push to encourage a little confidence on the ice. There were even some equipped with little baby seats, so that parents could take babies out on the ice. 

 

Now that the little ones were taken care of, it was time to look after the needs of the adults. A grand wooden construction overlooking the skating rink offered a variety of refreshments downstairs, as well as a couple of bars one floor up, which proved to be excellent vantage points from which to encrourage the kids to keep going after they fell countless times.

And at 3.50 euro for a 0.3 l Weissbier and 4.50 euro for a very healthy serving of piping hot Gluhwein (plus refundable 6 euro deposit), the whole experience was a lot easier on the pocket that I had been expecting.

And of course, once the kids had tried it, there was only one place we were going to spend the morning the following day...

For more information about ice skating at Stachus, including information on organised events, visit the official website.  

 

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Paul Bradbury

After 12 years living on the most gorgeous island in the world, Hvar in Dalmatia, I have begun to wonder if there is still life beyond its shores. Prior to discovering Paradise in 2002, I was a world traveller, living and working in Japan, Georgia, Somalia, Rwanda, Russia... and Munich.

After 95 countries and some 25 years have passed, the memories of my year in the hotel industry in the Bavarian capital (fired by the Sheraton for losing our pet snake, the first male chambermaid at Hotel Arabella, and a truly eye-watering introduction to five-star living in  my days as a bellboy in luxury Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten) are strong, and the call of Munich has been a constant theme over the last quarter century. 

And so here I am, answering the call some 25 years later. Twelve years of island living have changed me for sure, but also left me curious about life in a big city, and whether or not I could adapt to it after such an insular decade. 

I was surprised to see that for such a magnificent multi-cultural city, English-language blogs and regularly updated information are not that available. Static tourism information, such as that provided by the excellent tourist board website yes, but accounts of daily life delivered daily? Hard to find.

And so I have decided to take a break from my idyllic island and see if I could live in a city again. And what better way to try than to discover modern Munich in all its facets after so many years. It is a journey of discovery which I am relishing, and I hope the site proves to be of interest for Munich residents and its numerous visitors.

About Paul Bradbury

Author of Lebanese Nuns Don't Ski, Lavender, Dormice and a Donkey Named Mercedes and Hvar's first comprehensive guidebook, Hvar: An Insider's Guide to Croatia's Premier Island, as well as co-author of Split: An Insider's Guide with Mila Hvilshoj, I have lived in Dalmatia full time since 2003. In addition to running Total Munich, I also run Total Split (www.croatia-split.com), Total Hvar (www.total-hvar.com) and Total Inland Dalmatia (www.total-inland-dalmatia.com), as well as being an accredited Google News journalist for Digital Journal in Canada.

I also have various blogging clients, including the Central Dalmatia Tourist Board, European Coastal Airlines, Touristar TV and Andro Tomic Wines, and print clients include Qatar Airways inflight magazine, Out! magazine from New York, and Croatian Hotspots. 

In December 2014 I was delighted to receive the Marko Polo 2014 Award from FIJET Croatia (Federation of International Travel Writers and Journalists)  at a ceremony for the Croatian Journalists Society for the best international tourism promotion of Croatia. More here.

Ongoing writing projects:

A History of Hajduk Split, co-author with Frane Grgurevic - in 2015

Around the World in 80 Disasters - out in 2015

Total Hvar in the Media:

Interview of the Month, Croatian Embassy in Washington (May 2013)

Special Feature in Globus Magazine (May 2013)

Featured on Croatian TV show, More (2012) - watch the report here

Interviews in Slobodna Dalmacija, Dalmacijanews, Radio Split

I am available for writing services. Please contact me on [email protected] or visit my main writing website, www.bossandblogger.com 

Website: total-hvar.com Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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