Save Yourself! The Top Tourist Traps
Going to any city in Europe where tourists from all over the world are ready to drop large wads of cash, you're sure to have your share of tourist traps. Let's start off with a little story...
Once upon a time there was a young gal named Noka who had a couple of visitors from the States. They really wanted to go out for a "true Bavarian" meal and then ended up paying 20€ for a wienerschnitzel even though it had said 14€ in the German language menu. Confused, she looked at the English language menu to see that a veal weinerschnitzel was listed at 19.90€ whereas a normal pork wienerschnitzel was listed in the German menu as 14€, which was the one she had ordered from. Ah, the shame.
Restaurants
As we have learned from my little story above, many Bavarian Restaurants have menus in multiple languages. The "tourist" menus sometimes have half the food choices and of course, the most expensive options. Beware! i.e. The Rathauskeller located in the City Hall. While I really do enjoy this place and think that everyone should try it, one should be careful about the price differences.
Tut-Tut Bikes
Walking around the city center, you'll see tons of bikes with little coaches attached to the back of them so some guy can take you on a little tour. Unless you'd like to spend about 40€ on someone riding you down the streets that you could just as easily walk, not to mention the fact that they rarely go out of a small, one mile radius, don't get on one. I mean, sure, it's cute, and if you really want to spend the money, go on ahead. But wouldn't you rather spend that money on something else?
Tipping
In Munich, tipping is not customary as waiters and waitresses are paid a realtively nice hourly wage averaging about 12€ an hour. They, of course, don't advertise this to visitors, but if you'd like to give a tip, 1-3€ more than your meal is usually nice. I think of it as 10€ & under, round up to the nearest whole Euro or tip and extra 1€. 10-20€, tip 1-2€, etc. Of course when it comes to places such as Oktoberfest or the Hofbräuhaus, tipping an extra Euro per beer will ensure faster service.