Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [275]
Short rides (four bus or tram stops; two U-Bahn or S-Bahn stops) cost €1.20, while longer trips cost €2.30. It’s marginally cheaper to buy a strip-card of 10 tickets called a Streifenkarte for €11, and stamp one strip per adult on rides of two or less tram or U-Bahn stops, two strips for longer journeys. The MVV was planning price hikes at the time of writing, so check the website for exact prices.
Some of the other deals on offer:
IsarCard Wochenkarte (€36.60) Weekly pass covering all four zones, valid Monday until midnight the following Sunday; if you buy later, it’s still only good until Sunday.
Tageskarten (day passes) One day (individual/up to 5 people €5/9); Three day (individual/up to 5 people €12.30/21) Valid for the inner zone only.
Rail passes are also valid on S-Bahn trains. A bicycle pass costs €2.50 and is valid all day except during rush hour (6am to 9am and 4pm to 6pm Monday to Friday), when bikes are banned.
The U-Bahn ceases operation around 12.30am on weekdays and 1.30am at weekends, but a network of night buses (Nachtbusse) still operates. Pick up the latest route and time schedule from any tourist or MVV office.
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Taxi
Taxis cost €2.70 at flagfall, plus a per-kilometre price of €1.25 to €1.60. For a radio-dispatched taxi, ring 216 10 or 194 10. Taxi ranks are indicated on the city’s tourist map.
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AROUND MUNICH
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DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP MEMORIAL
The way to freedom is to follow one’s orders; exhibit honesty, orderliness, cleanliness, sobriety, truthfulness, the ability to sacrifice and love of the Fatherland.
Inscription from the roof of the concentration camp at Dachau
Dachau was the Nazis’ first concentration camp, built by Heinrich Himmler in March 1933 to house political prisoners. All in all it ‘processed’ more than 200,000 inmates, killing at least 43,000, and is now a haunting memorial. Expect to spend two to three hours here to fully absorb the exhibits. Note that children under 12 may find the experience too disturbing.
A new visitors centre ( 669 970; www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de; Alte Römerstrasse 75) opened in May 2009 housing a bookshop, cafe and tour booking desk. It’s on your left as you enter the main gate.
You pass into the compound itself through the Jourhaus, originally the only entrance. Set in wrought iron, the chilling slogan ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (Work Sets You Free) hits you at the gate.
The museum (admission free; 9am-5pm Tue-Sun) is at the southern end of the camp. Here a 22-minute English-language documentary runs at 11.30am, 2pm and 3.30pm. Either side of the small cinema extends an exhibition relating the camp’s harrowing story. This includes photographs of the camp, its officers and prisoners, and of horrifying ‘scientific experiments’ carried out by Nazi doctors. Other exhibits include a whipping block, a chart showing the system of prisoner categories (Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Poles, Roma and other ‘asocial’ types) and documents on the persecution of ‘degenerate’ authors banned by the party.
Outside, in the former roll call square, is the International Memorial (1968), inscribed in English, French, Yiddish, German and Russian, which reads ‘Never Again’. Behind the exhibit building, the bunker was the notorious camp prison where inmates were tortured. Executions took place in the prison yard.
Inmates were housed in large barracks, now demolished, which used to line the main road north of the roll call square. In the camp’s northwestern corner is the crematorium and gas chamber, disguised as a shower room but never used. Several religious shrines, including a timber Russian Orthodox church, stand nearby.
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Tours
Dachauer Forum ( 669 970; €3; 1.30pm Tue-Fri, noon & 1.30pm Sat & Sun May-Sep, 1.30pm Thu, Sat & Sun Oct-Apr) Tours (2½-hour), by dedicated English-speaking volunteers, depart from the visitors centre. There are also half-hour introductions (€1.50) at 12.30pm Tuesday to Sunday (additionally at 11am