Heart of Munich Tours

10/10/2024

Another year of Oktoberfest is complete.

It’s always the busiest time of the year for tourism in Munich with an estimated 7 million visitors each year.

This year we were able to run two city tours, twice a day and a lot of them were fully booked! We also had a lot of private tours as well.

It’s wonderful to see more people recommending my company to others ans an increase in organic visitors to the website. Word of mouth is one of the best ways we like to advertise. Just do the best job you can everyday and people will share their experience with others.

Once again, thank you to my amazing team for doing a great job This Oktoberfest and thank you to anyone you joined our tours. We appreciate it a lot!

All the best,

Jake Slisz (Jax)
Owner

- - 🥨❤️- -

21/02/2024

I finally did it! I am now fully licensed to run tours at Dachau concentration camp memorial site.

I’ve wanted to do this since 2019 but the memorial site rarely run their license course.

Luckily, my application was accepted and I got onto the 2022/23 course, which lasted 6 months!

I then spent the next 6 months researching, writing and rewriting my tour many times until I was happy with it.

This morning I did my test tour and got my licence straight after. I certainly feel like a combination of success and relief. I’ll be celebrating tonight for sure.

Today is also International tour guide day!

Now I’ll be making some small changes to my tour to make it even better and ready for the start of the tourism season in April.

All the best,
Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours ❤️🥨

10/01/2024

Stolpersteine.

Translating to ‘stumbling stones’ and found all over Europe today. As of 2023 there are 100,000 stones installed.

Each one shares the name of a victim of national socialism. The project started in Germany back in 1992 and was originally set up as a memorial for individual Jewish people who were victims of the holocaust. This has since been expanded to other groups of people who was also victims during this time in history.

For many years the stones in Munich were installed in the floor but the decision was made to place future stones on private property. This meant they were now out of reach and view of the public.

The decision was made to put them back in the public sphere. I The new ones will now be placed on poles at eye height, so even easier to spot now.

Learning about the time of national socialism is an ongoing project in Germany. Changing and updating the ways we learn about it is a challenge. New things are discovered all the time and how to memorialise them is always the big question.

As a guide who teaches this part of Munich’s history, it’s also an ongoing process of learning and making changes to deliver the best possible tour. What I think is important, is making it easy to understand and cover not just what happened but understanding why and how it happened.

We always include one stop about this period on our daily free tours but if you would like to learn more than contact me to discuss booking a private 3 hour Third Reich tour.

All the best
Jake Slisz (Jax)
Owner
Heart of Munich tours

- - - - -
🇩🇪

01/01/2024

Happy new year everyone!

Another year done for us at Heart of Munich tours. I say ‘us’ because I now have a small team of 12 great local guides, who I am luckily enough to also call my friends!

2023 has been very busy for us as a business and this only looks to continue next year.

There’s been a few changes this year as well. Two guides are leaving us due to moving house/ going travelling. We wish Ben and Charlie all the best on their future ventures!

On the positive side, I have two new local guides to replace them, so look out for Peter and Alex in the future. They both come from Bavaria, so will have a unique local experience to share.

One thing that’s great about working in Munich as a guide is that the community is small. Everyone knows each other and we are all friendly. I’d like to wish our friends over at Explora Munich, Todo tours and Radius tours a great 2024 as well.

And lastly, you guys!

I am eternally grateful for all of you that decided to join one of our free tours or book a private tour with us this year and even take the time to leave a review. You are part of the reason for our continued success in this industry.

I wish you all a good start to 2024.

Jake Slisz (Jax)
Owner
Heart of Munich tours ❤️🥨

- - - - -

07/10/2023

Fun facts about Oktoberfest this year 🍺

It was super busy with 7.2 million visitors.

Obviously they were thirsty as 6.5 million litres of beer was consumed. This was less than 2019 and we saw a 50% increase in non alcoholic drinks sold.

This year there were water fountains installed. Around 100,000 litres of water was consumed.

Also, the lost property office logged 3,250 items! This was a bit less than last year.

115,600 people attempted to steal beer mugs 😂. Again this was less than last year.

The most popular souvenir were the silly chicken hats with the moving legs.

It was a fun Oktoberfest this year! Slowly the tourists have left Munich now. I’ll be enjoying the rest of October and then I‘m off to Mexico on holiday in November. Then we have our last busy period of the year…

…Christmas markets!!

- - - - -
🍻

27/09/2023

A full day of Private city tours.

On Monday I started the day with a big group from Australia 🇦🇺/ USA 🇺🇸. They were from two different continents because they were wedding guests! 💍

Jamie and George met at Oktoberfest in the past and decided to get married during the festival this year. How cute is that!

They’ll also be showing their guests a bit of Munich and the Bavarian countryside, including Neuschwanstein Castle 🏰. I wish them all the best in the future.

In the afternoon I had a lovely couple from Chicago 🇺🇸 aka the windy city. Brian had just completed the Berlin marathon and would be spending the next few days in Munich with his wife. We had a relaxed and easy going tour together and finished in time to watch the glockenspiel at 5pm.

A big thank you to everyone who booked a private tour with us in September! It’s been a busy but wonderful month with perfect weather 🌞

Enjoy the last 7 days of Oktoberfest everyone! 🎉

Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours

- - - - - ❤️🥨

12/09/2023

Riesen Eiswelt/ Giant Ice world ❄️

I recently took a day trip for a friends birthday up into the Austrian Alps to explore an ice cave inside the mountains.

It took about two hours to drive there then you have to do some hiking and ride a VERY steep and kinda scary lift part way up the mountain. Once you arrive there is a lovely restaurant with incredible views!

Another short hike and you arrive at this big hole in the side of the mountain. After sweating in the heat we then had to put on all our winter clothes because the temperature inside in 0c!

We took a tour through the mountain lasting around 70 mins with a guide. We stopped often for a break while he shared a bit of the caves history. Coming outside after was a weird experience as my body was cold for a while even though it was 27c outside.

We finished off with a beer and some Bavarian food to warm back up.

I can highly recommend this experience as a day trip from Munich. Go rent a car and visit. Buy your tickets online as they are a bit cheaper and will cost you 35€ per adult and less for children. They do alternating tours in German and English.

https://www.eisriesenwelt.at/de

- - - - -

07/09/2023

I had an early private tour this morning at 9am. A company had booked a tour for 10 people and 3 showed up. The rest were suffering from jet lag.

Luckily for us, the sun was shining and we had a nice relaxed tour of Munich. The guests especially liked all of Munichs hidden alleyways.

The photo shows one of my favourite ones. It takes you directly through the courtyard of the Hugo bar. The area is always nicely decorated!

We even stopped today for a nice coffee at one of my favourite local places: ‘Omcafe’, opposite the Pfistermühle restaurant with its beautiful foliage.

I love doing Free Tours but I get some nice variety from doing the private tours as well. It’s always a more personal dynamic and very relaxing.

If you would like to book a private tour with me then get in touch!

Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours

- - - ❤️🥨 - - -

01/07/2023

I recently had the pleasure of spending time with a lovely family from Nashville, Tennessee in the US. One part of my job I love, is getting to meet people from all over the world and learn a little bit about where they come from.

Nashville is known as ‘Music city’ due to its famous nightlife and country music. Local food consists partly of hot chicken/fish and something called ‘Meat & Three’, where you choose one meat dish and 3 sides.

The family have a nice cycling trip planned from Passau to Vienna and back to Munich.

They were very friendly, open and relaxed but I suppose thats the southern hospitality!

If a private tour sounds like something you would love to experience, then feel free to send me a message.

All the best,
Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours

- - - ❤️🥨 - - -

26/06/2023

The price of Beer at Oktoberfest this year has just been announced.

Looks like the price has gone up again since last year. You will be looking to pay 12,60 - 14,90€ per litre. This depends on if you are drinking ‘Helles’ (Light beer) or the more expensive ‘Weissbier’ (Wheat beer).

It looks like the price increased overall by 6%, which is a lot considering it was already increased last year.

Don’t forget that it is customary to tip on top of the beer cost, so expect to pay around 15€ per litre of beer this year!

The price varies depending on the tent/beer hall you visit as the city does not control beer prices. The Breweries decide for themselves.

This year the Augustiner Beer hall will be the most reasonable at 13,50 (15€ with a tip)…so I’ll be seeing you there ;).

Less than 3 months to go now. I have a feeling it’s going to be extra busy (and extra expensive) this year.

PROST

Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours

- - - - - ❤️🥨

🍻

21/06/2023

Our first award 🏆

I started Heart of Munich tours during the pandemic not knowing how long we would have to wait for tourism to return to Munich.

Luckily, here we are now in Summer 2023 and things are going great. We’ve grown a little during this time and now we offer lots of daily free tours and many different private tours.

I keep setting myself small goals to achieve along the way. Recently we received an award for consistently high reviews and being part of the top 10% best performing companies on Tripadvisor!

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to leave us review. I’m really happy that all the guides that I work with are also performing tours at a high level every single day.

Thanks to anyone who recommended our tours as well!

Up and onwards!

Best regards,
Jake Slisz (Jax)

- - - - - ❤️🥨 - - - - -

04/06/2023

With the busy tourist season in full swing, as well as running our usual free tours twice a day, we are busy doing private tours as well.

Today, I had a relaxed and fun tour with a University group from Georgetown, Washington DC. They were running a symposium at BMW World and had a bit of spare time the next day to explore Munich.

Everyone was super nice, chatty and engaged in the tour and asked sone good questions. The sun was shining and we had a wonderful tour together!

The private city tour is easily our most popular. We get a lot of school/Uni. groups, families, couples and businesses booking with us. We enjoy meeting lots of different people around the world and curating the best tour we can for our groups!

If you would like to enquire about our Private tours then feel free to DM me or visit my website by clicking the link on my bio.

All the best,

Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours

- - - - -

26/04/2023

This bottle of Augustiner beer was recently found during a refurbishment project inside a former electronics store in Munich. The exact date of the bottle is unclear but it could be from the 1930/40’s.

Historically, the building used to be one of many Bavarian restaurant/beer halls in the city. Originally titled ‘Sterneckerbräu’ and first opening in 1574, the ‘Star corner brewery’ was once one of the oldest in Munich.

The building also has an interesting dark history. In January 1919, in the back room a new political party formed calling themselves the DAP (German workers party). By September, a man called Adolf Hi**er visited under the pre-tense of spying on the group. Soon after he joined and the beer hall would become one of the first places Hi**er did speeches in Munich. Within a year the DAP would become the NSDAP, officially forming in the top floor of the Hofbräuhaus.

From 1957, the building was used for various modern shops but since closing recently, the new plan is to return it to its former glory as a beer hall but of course under a different name.

If you would like to do a whole tour about the rise of National socialism in Munich, then you can book a private tour with me.

All the best,
Jake Slisz (Jax)
Heart of Munich tours

- - - - -


📷 1 + 3 Constantin Wahl

09/04/2023

Easter Weekend

We are half way through the weekend and it’s been super busy already. All tours have been fully booked and there are a lot of extra people around the old town.

Usually, Easter represents the beginning of the tourism season in Munich. Our first busy period and an idea of what’s to come this year.

It personally feels like me are able to move on from the last few years. People are travelling, relaxed and smiling.

I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who chose to do tours with us this year and recommending us to others. You are part of our success as well!

Also, I recently celebrated two years since opening Heart of Munich tours back in March 2021. What a journey it has been!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone and happy Easter.

All the best,
Jake (Jax)
Heart of Munich Tours

- - - - -

05/04/2023

Jones - K‘s Original American Diner 🇺🇸🍔🥞🥤

I only discovered this place last year and recently had the time to visit. You’ll find this cute 50‘s inspired American diner just a 5/10 minute walk from Munichs central train station.

The diner is only open from Thursday to Sunday at 5 - 10pm, so I recommend booking ahead as it’s pretty small.

We tried the Elvis Burger and Philly cheese steak. The burger came with peanut butter and bacon, which was way better than I imagined. The Philly cheese steak, although good was a bit one note with the taste but I‘m no connoisseur so maybe it was authentic?

The real MVP were the crispy fries, which are mentioned often in the reviews. I also tried a strawberry milkshake, which was basically a sugar bomb and expensive at 7 euros. 😵‍💫

Overall it was a nice experience with typical music and decor. I’ll definitely be going back again in the future.

I’ve added the diner to my digital guide you can access by clicking the booklet logo above the posts.

All the best,
Jax
Heart of Munich tours ❤️🥨

- - - - -

22/03/2023

21/03/2023

- Private tours -

Today I had the pleasure of touring around a wonderful family from the US.

They were very inquisitive and asked a lot of interesting questions. We had a break at my favourite little coffee shop and of course took time to watch the glockenspiel and explore the food market.

I enjoyed my time with them so much that I decided to join them for lunch at the beer garden inside the Viktualienmarkt.

The weather is beautiful today as well, which makes me look forward to spring!

Although, we love running the free tours everyday, we also do plenty of private tours, including:

City tours
National Socialism history
Dachau memorial site
Neuschwanstein Castle 🏰
and Beer tours 🍺

If you are looking for a custom tour in and around Munich then send us a message and we can start planning your visit!

Jax
Heart of Munich Tours

- - - - -

17/03/2023

This week I’m on holiday and when I have time off, I like to discover new things in Munich/Bavaria.

I recently visited the Wildpark in Poing just outside Munich. It’s a lovely wildlife reserve where some of the animals run free . When you arrive you can pay for feed and as you explore the park they will come over to you. Expect to see lots of small deer, peacocks and goats roaming around! There are a few large enclosures where you can see wolves, bison, lynx, wild pigs, birds and more.

It’s a wonderful idea for a half day trip from the city. You can get there by public transport but it’s always easier if you rent a car and drive.

If you want to visit, it takes 20 minutes by train to ‘Poing’ station then you’ll have to walk 20 minutes but it will be worth the effort!

Entrance fee:
11,50€ Adults
7.,50€ Children 3 - 14

Make sure you bring cash as they don’t accept credit cards on the park.

Jax
Heart of Munich tours

- - - - -