A factor often connected with satisfaction levels is picking up/dropping off rental cars. The experience, good or bad, doesn’t impact overall on how we view a destination, but it can leave a lasting impression.

Good advice in Milan
The staff at Avis strongly advised, in a friendly ‘this is really for your own good’ way that we take full insurance. When we initially waved the advice away, saying we were used to driving in countless countries they responded with a “this is Italy people drive really badly here, you’ll need it. Trust us.” So we did. Within two days there was a dent in the side of the car, damaged whilst it was minding its own business in a car park beside Lake Garda. Incidentally, the entrance to rental car drop off at Milan is confusing as hell. We managed to find it, just. But over a couple of visits we’ve seen plenty of cars reversing along a busy approach road after they’d overshot the entrance. I hope they’d taken the full insurance option.

Most practical, Munich
Locating a proper supermarket right beside the exit and car rental hall in Munich Airport is inspired planning. You’ve got to love the Germans for this sort of forward thinking. Being able to stock up on wine, water, and snacks at non-airport prices before we set off on a long road journey gets things off to a happy start, especially if arriving quite late… or even early evening. Arriving at 19.00, a drive from the airport to our hotel took a couple of hours, making us too late for the ridiculously early German dinner times, but the snacks we’d picked up at the airport meant there was no hungry gashing of teeth as a result.

No manual drives in Glasgow
Despite having booked a car with a gear stick, Sixt at Glasgow Airport not only informed us they didn’t have the model we’d booked but that nobody drove manual cars there any more. Nobody drives manual in Scotland? Utter bollocks. To be fair, they did offer us an upgrade to a snazzy BMW or a limousine-like pimp car (their words)… both automatic. As neither of us have driven automatics, we didn’t fancy attempting it for the first time in an oversized monster on narrow, winding Highland roads. The only other option was a downgrade (no refund for their error) which we took.

It’s Zadar, but where are we going?
Stepping from the plane to being handed the keys to our hire car at Zadar Airport happened so slickly quickly that we were actually cruising the streets of the Croatian city before we knew where we were heading for. Partially my fault. A distracting party weekend in Hay on Wye immediately before travel combined with a shocker of a night in an airport hotel at Liverpool had meant I hadn’t gotten around to printing off details of our accommodation and couldn’t access the info from my phone. The solution was a prompt introduction to Croatian cafe culture with a quick pause at a cafe with wifi and strong, cerebral cobweb-clearing coffee.

A tale of two airports, Tenerife
Tenerife’s two airports are geographically quite close, but in other ways worlds apart. Tenerife North Airport made Airhop’s top ten best airports list. We wouldn’t argue with that. It’s one of the most relaxing airports we’ve travelled through, and picking up the hire car from CICAR mirrors the general laid back attitude. Newbie arrivals might get a shock encountering a four lane motorway immediately after arrival, but once free of La Laguna’s busy autopista, the drive along the north coast, with Mount Teide providing a stunner of a backdrop, gets the juices of anticipation flowing. Tenerife South is a decent airport, but exudes that homogeneous holiday resort airport vibe. My beef with it is that after a teasing arrival – Montaña Roja looking splendid on the coast – the drive south is through an unattractive landscape which has similarities to builder’s rubble; a poor first impression which isn’t helped by an overdose of naff billboards.

Worst car hire, Fuerteventura
Sticking with the Canary Islands, the most unpleasant car hire experience we’ve had anywhere was on Fuerteventura with Goldcar. It was our first visit to the island and it got off to such a bad start we were predisposed not to like the island after it. It was so bad Andy was moved to write a rant about the experience (I’m usually the ranter). Thankfully our experiences thereafter diluted the bad taste the Goldcar experience had left.

Longest wait, Marseille
Two things stick in my mind about arriving at Marseille Airport. It seemed to take an eternity before we were handed the car keys, the process seemed to take oh-so-much longer than anywhere else. Waiting in a greenhouse of a car rental office when it was 30C plus didn’t help. The other is the runway jutting out into the Etang de Berre lagoon – WOW. For all the fussiness, I like Marseille Airport.

You can’t be serious, Coyhaique
Chile’s Coyhaique Airport is a sweet and friendly big shed of an airport, and one I shall always have very fond memories of thanks to the kindness of the staff there. However, I did exclaim “you can’t be serious?” at one point when returning our Mitsubishi pick-up truck. Over nearly three weeks we’d driven hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres on the (in)famous Carretera Austral without any mishap other than the car wearing a dusty overcoat. The girl responsible for checking the car was returned in a decent state had commented “it’s so dirty I can’t tell if there’s any damage.” To be fair, after my McEnroe outburst the girl laughed and ticked the ‘all okay’ box on her docs.

A stunner of a way to arrive, Lisbon
It can take a long time to get out of Lisbon Airport. But once free of its clutches, if heading south across the Tagus, the experience is unique. After a few minutes you escape the city to cross the Tagus on the Vasco da Gama Bridge, until recently the longest bridge in Europe at just over 17km in length (12km being over water). It is an architectural marvel. Our first experience crossing it included a dreamy sunset of endless pastel bands drifting across the sky, an army of fisherman wading in the mudflats on each side of the bridge, and a flamboyance of flamingos in the wetlands at its southern end.

Bizarre Basel
Although only 3.5km from the Swiss city it’s named after, Basel Airport is in France so is jointly operated by France and Switzerland. The same car hire companies have different branches located in separate areas. Which you use depends on whether you pick up your hire car in France or Switzerland. It isn’t an issue collecting the car, but returning it is a minefield. You can’t leave a French hire car at a Swiss drop off point. If you try, you’ll be directed to the ‘correct’ country even though it’s the same company. Although they share the one building (only a couple of hundred metres separates them as the crow flies), you can’t just drive across the airport from one to the other. Nope, you have to leave the airport, join the motorway and seek out the correct entrance to the other country’s part of the airport. I know this because we got it wrong on a Monday morning when the motorway was gridlocked and the time left for being able to check in was running out. We only managed to catch our flight because a member of Avis’s French staff took pity on us and allowed us to leave our Swiss hire car in a French parking bay.

The joy of travel.

It is utter balderdash (not a word I usually use, but it’s a lovely rich old term which fits).

The cuisine they’re referring to is Spanish and a bit too out there for those who come out in hives if they stray too far from a plate of meat and two veg. Ironically, if the food really was geared towards German guests these moaners would be in their culinary element.

There is much about Germany which makes it a perfect match for British tastes.

On the face of it Germany currently doesn’t fare too badly in terms of being a popular destination with British travellers. It’s the sixth most popular country in the world for Brits to visit. But it only gets a fraction of the numbers first choice Spain gets (source: Office for National Statistics). Additionally 44% of visitors to Germany head to one of 11 cities and towns with Berlin and Munich hogging the lion’s share of the tourism pie. It could do better if more Brits realised what the country had to offer, especially outside the well known cities.

During four visits to Germany in the last three years we’ve regularly repeated one phrase.

“Brits would love this.”

Familiar food

German gastronomy is hale and hearty fare and features lots of meat, rich sauces, seasonal vegetables and fruit. It’s not dissimilar to olde worlde British cooking. There’s something comfortably nostalgic about a plate of wild boar sausages draped with bacon, red cabbage hills, dumplings, yellow creamy mash, pear and grapes – as though I’ve slipped into the pages of Mrs Beeton’s cookbook. From Bavaria to the Black Forest we’ve feasted on food which has felt oddly familiar. In lodges, wooden platters overflowing with cheese, cold meats, salad, radishes, gherkins, bread and butter seem like the German cousin of the ploughman’s lunch. And there is also that most sinful of afternoon traditions, kaffee und kuchen. It’s a place where it’s not naff to order Black Forest Gateau.

Beer drinkers

Like the Brits, the Germans are seriously into their beer. A sunny afternoon in a jolly army camp-sized beer hall downing frothy ales from ceramic jugs so big you need two hands to lift one is a giddily authentic experience. There’s no need to wait till Oktoberfest to get merry with the locals, you can enjoy Anymonthfest in Germany’s bierkellers.

Good wine

Stay in one of the picture postcard country hotels around rural Germany and you’ll quickly notice many people have bier with meals rather than wine. Open a menu and you’ll discover why. Wine in hotels is ridiculously expensive, bearing no relation to the price on the bottle in supermarkets where it’s actually good value. German wine is surprisingly good, ranging from smooth Spätburgunders (Pinot noir) bottled on sun-kissed slopes around Kaiserstuhl to cool, crisp Reislings from Mosel. Unlike Spain, France, Italy etc. Germany doesn’t try to pretend there are no other decent wines in the world. In supermarkets you get of choice of wines from other wine-growing countries.

Germans are polite

That might come as a revelation to anyone whose only experience of Germans has been in holiday resorts, battling over sunbeds or pointing out ‘actually there’s a queue you know’. A German friend told us some Germans encountered in holiday resort areas were just their equivalent of the ‘Brits abroad’ types we avoid like the plague. Of all the European countries we’ve explored on foot, Germany stands out for the sheer number of people who stop to ask if they can help when we’ve been lingering at signposts too long (usually because it takes ages to write down place names with a zillion letters in them). It’s the same travelling on public transport and in shops and hotels and so on. It’s a polite and orderly society. However, if you want to cause meltdown try paying by card rather than cash in a supermarket in any small town.

An overdose of walking routes

An activity we share a liking for is walking, it’s a national pastime. Subsequently Germany leaves many countries for dead when it comes to waymarking routes. There are well maintained paths everywhere and just about every junction has a signpost. It’s exceedingly helpful when following directions, but frustrating when writing them as every few yards (slight exaggeration) there’s another signpost with fingers pointing to multitudinous places with long names for us to record.

Sensational Scenery

The locations we’ve visited in Germany all had one thing in common, the scenery has been enchanting – from wild granite mountain ranges and once impenetrable forests to immaculate meadows and hypnotic lakes. These are lands where myth, legends and fairy tales are rife; a countryside so dramatic it should come with a Wagner soundtrack. The countryside hasn’t been abused and farming still is small scale. In some areas it feels as though time has stood still and the sight of a woodsman, axe over one shoulder, leading a little girl wearing a red cloak would seem perfectly normal.

Environmentally friendly

Whilst Britain is ahead of some European countries when it comes to environmental awareness. Germany is in another league. In cities like Freiburg bikes outnumber cars. But it’s the way plastic bottles are dealt with which really impresses me. Machines in supermarkets suck in empty water bottles and reward with vouchers you can put towards shopping in the store. A win-win system. It’s not new as such. In the 1970s in Scotland we used to pay for our Friday fish suppers from Ninian’s fish and chip shop by handing over empty lemonade bottles.

And then there’s also a shared love of football.

All these factors make Germany a destination which should appeal to British tastes. But there is one other vitally important reason why Germany is a good fit for British travellers. Despite the best efforts of trashy UK newspapers, the Germans actually like us. In the Black Forest a hotel owner pointed out that the Schwarzwald used to be highly popular with British visitors.

“I’d love to see the British come back,” he lamented.

The time is right for granting his wish.

Jack is co-editor, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Google+

A few seconds earlier Clive Tyldsley had commented his way into sporting legend.

“Can Manchester United score? They always score.”

Sorry Munich, but for fifteen years whenever I heard your name I automatically slotted Bayern in front of it and memories of a magical night in May 1999 would come flooding into my head on a red wave.

That’s now changed. A visit to Bavaria’s capital did the trick. It was only a flying visit lasting a couple of days, but it was long enough to replace reruns of the Champion’s League final with memories of a city that had charmed us.

First Thoughts on Munich
‘Where do pedestrians cross the road?’ Between us and our hotel, the Torbrau (easily spotted as it is right beside the Isartor, a medieval gate built in 1337), was a road. Sure, there was a crossing right in front of us; however, it seemed to be a crossing designed for cyclists. There was no little green man. I was completely unsure of the etiquette; I’d never encountered a cyclist’s crossing before. Would I be breaking the law if I used it?

Viktualienmarkt
Here’s a Munich tip. If time is short, don’t start an exploration of Munich at the Viktualienmarkt. Within a few minutes of nodding appreciatively at pristine spires that matched exactly the vision of Bavarian architecture I’d had in my head, we were sitting in the sunshine nursing a bier and people watching in the Viktualienmarkt, the oldest food market in Munich. It’s a magnetic place that is difficulty to drag yourself away from – the stalls look fabulous, the little statues of local tradespeople add interest and there can be some colourful characters around. A woman in questionable military garb, jackboots, peaked cap and with red lipstick so bright it could make the sun blink, drew more stares than just ours.

Schrannenhalle
Here’s a Munich tip part 2. If time is short and you’re a foodie, avoid the Schrannenhalle as well. The indoor market (gourmet food and gourmet food stalls) is another time bandit. In between both we passed something else I’d never seen before, a shop devoted to muesli.

Walking and Watching
It’s not always about famous landmarks, interesting museums, quirky corners. We love to simply walk around towns and cities checking out shops, bars, restaurants… markets; basically absorbing the life and soul of the place. What was rapidly apparent in Munich was the streets bustled with a youthful, vibrant vibe. It felt like an energetic city, but not frantically so. There is simply an infectious and appealing buzz that made fans of us.

Marienplatz
Munich’s main square since 1158, Marienplatz used to be the place for buying food and watching knights show off their prowess with their big lances. It’s claimed that a local butcher creates the weisswurst Bavarian sausage in the platz. It’s now the spot to watch an animated Glockenspiel on the Neues Rathaus play out scenes from the 16th century to mark 11am and midday. We missed this tourist highlight – probably distracted by the Viktualienmarkt.

Odeonsplatz
Odeonsplatz looks at first as though it’s austere and serious. Palaces and monuments border a square which has seen more than its fair share of violent clashes. Now all is cool and calm; it’s a place where students hang out… so we did the same. As we people watched, I spotted that every so often someone passing the lions at the entrance to the Residenz on one side of the square would absently reach up and rub an odd little face at the base of the lion statues. Apparently it’s a good luck thing.

The Other Side of the River
Thanks to an Eat the World tour we did something we wouldn’t have otherwise done, we ventured into the Haidhausen District. Once the poor relations to the world on the other side of the Isar River, Haidhausen is quietly bohemian with charismatically quirky shops and cafés. We ate a cake that required a special oven to make it, drank lavender flavoured hot chocolate and bought prosecco cheese whilst being shown pretty squares which had risen from the dark days of decay when the area experienced much of the inner city problems that had plagued many European cities.

Food Two
Only having a couple of days and having some timing outside of our control sent us into a sort of frenzy of indecision and we made a couple of knee jerk decisions when it came to food. Subsequently on the afternoon we arrived it was so late we grabbed the first thing we spotted – and ended up munching a couple of boreks on a bench on Tal. We fared far better later, choosing a romantic and trendy little gourmet restaurant called Zwickl just off Viktualienmarkt. So many scrumptious things to eat, so little time.

Isartor and the Red Carper Bar
As if our taster tour of Munich hadn’t been enough to convince us it was a city worth a longer, return visit, there was also one of the most fun ideas for a bar I’ve ever seen. The Red Carpet Bar was only a temporary affair, consisting of a red carpet and a beer tent set up inside the old gate, Isartor. To enter the bar you had to had to walk the red carpet to a barrage of camera flashes. As the night progressed some red carpet exits became more stagger than swagger.

Fun, fascinating and friendly – Munich is our kind of city.

Sitting at one of the tables outside the Hotel Torbrau’s Schapeau restaurant, there’s a regular wave of applause from beneath the Isartor medieval gate opposite. This weekend is the start to an ‘art in the streets’ festival and an enterprising pop-up bar has laid a crimson strip of carpet, lit it with rows of spotlights and called itself The Red Carpet. Everyone who enters is greeted like a top model on the runway. Sitting here, I’ve got a perfect front row seat for the spectacle yet I’m just a few strides from the privacy, space and comfort of my room. Come to think of it, that’s not a bad metaphor for  the Hotel Torbrau and Munich.

Buzz Trips view
The Hotel Torbrau is a stylish, comfortable and warmly welcoming hotel, splendidly situated for exploring the heart of this lively city and manages to cater seamlessly for business, tourist and beer festival goers. Despite its impeccable pedigree as the city centre’s oldest hotel, a constant buzz of activity gives the place a hip feel which, combined with its contemporary décor, laid back style and brilliant staff who make it their business to remember every room number for every guest, create the perfect city base and somewhere you really don’t want to leave.

Rooms
Originally built at the end of the 15th century and extensively rebuilt following bombing during WW2, the hotel now combines clean, contemporary lines and free wifi with plush carpets, period furniture and heavy drapes to provide a warm and inviting environment. We had a double deluxe room with masses of wardrobe space; a large desk and enough sockets to keep even the most avid social media junkie happy; oodles of floor space and a generous-sized en-suite. As well as fast and free wifi in the room, there was complimentary mineral water, a practice I wish more hotels would adopt and one that more than compensated for the lack of a mini bar.

The Hotel Torbrau has a number of single rooms which are ideal for business or solo travellers, and are a better economic option than paying a single supplement on a double room. Our room overlooked a small courtyard which is popular with smoking guests and if you’re one of them, you should request a room on the 2nd floor for easy access to it.

Facilities
The hotel lobby is bright and sleek, a lot like the staff who run it who make life incredibly easy for guests. Room keys are ready as soon as you enter the lobby, advice and information is thorough and they even did our online check-in for us (thank you, Andreas, we did get the whole row to ourselves ), all of it accompanied by genuine smiley faces. The lounges and sitting areas remain in keeping with the hotel’s classic style, with wood panelling, comfy chairs and thick carpets. Don’t miss the quirky little museum set into a recess on the first floor landing. Too small and low a space to use for anything functional, the museum recreates living conditions in what the hotel would presumably have looked like when it first opened its doors in 1490. Completely authentic…right down to the plastic daisy in the serving wench’s hair.

Breakfast is served in the bright and airy dining room on the first floor with views over the busy street below, and combines a self service buffet with waiter service orders for hot meals and drinks. There’s a very good selection of fresh fruits, cereals, cheeses, cold meats, juices, cakes and breads and the coffee is good (poor hotel coffee is one of my pet hates).

A fusion of Italian and Bavarian menus, the Schapeau Restaurant is sited next door to the lobby and is a popular hangout for locals, pretty much throughout the day. Perfectly placed at the entrance to the Alstadt, the pavement tables are a great people-watching spot and the menu serves a tasty selection of snacks and full meals as well as cocktails, coffees, wines and naturally, beers.

Hotel Torbrau; +49 (0)89 24 234-0; double room with breakfast from €215, deluxe from €310, single from €162.

Andrea (Andy) Montgomery is a freelance travel writer and co-owner of Buzz Trips and The Real Tenerife series of travel websites. Published in The Telegraph, The Independent, Wexas Traveller, Thomas Cook Travel Magazine, EasyJet Traveller Magazine, you can read her latest content on Google+

“This is hot chocolate with lavender,” says Kositza, handing us each a mug of creamy, frothy and fragrant deliciousness.
Surrounded by the heady nostalgia of childhood trips to the sweet shop, it’s a tasty and colourful start to our tour of the Haidhausen District.

Lying across the Isar River to the south east of Munich, the Haidhausen District pre-dates its cosmopolitan neighbour and rival. Over the centuries this charismatic district has morphed from mud-strewn slum frequented by those who couldn’t afford to live across the river to one of the most desirable residential areas in Munich.

“In the 19th century it was said that three out of every four beggars in Munich came from Haidhausen,” Ernst tells us as we make our way through the leafy streets of the French Quarter, sampling as we go, on our Eat-The-World Haidhausen District tour.

Choosing only those outlets whose products are lovingly created on the premises using traditional ingredients and methods, Ernst Haas, a financial consultant in his ‘day’ job, takes us on a walking tour, regularly stopping to sample the goods and infusing a fascinating history with anecdotal fun. In an Italian coffee and wine house, serenaded by a sultry soundtrack of Blues, we bite into savoury Genovese crostinis spread with tomato and pesto. At a family butchers the owner temporarily abandons his busy counter to bring us a small tray of organic raw mett (sausage meat) and sausage mayonnaise salad on crusty bread.

Wandering through the French Quarter, we stop at a cheese specialists where we’re treated to Wurstsalat and a traditional cheese pate made from leftover Camembert or Brie mixed with paprika, herbs and onions to form a rough paste.
“Here they mature cheeses on the premises, storing them at the right temperature and conditions to bring them to their best and they have cheeses from across the world,” Says Ernst. “They also have a cheese that takes a bath in prosecco for eight months but the good news is that you can still drive after you have eaten it!” Intrigued, we ask to try a sample. It’s a cheesy taste sensation and we buy a large chunk to take home.

After the cheese and sausage we head to the pretty gardens of Weissenburger Platz and opposite the fountain to Spoon Up where Kristina has been serving delicious home made soups, lunches, and in winter mulled wine, for the last four years. After travelling through Asia extensively, Kristiana became hooked on the nutritional value and savours of the many soups she encountered.
“In Asia they eat soup all the time, they love soup, especially with noodles. In Myanmar they have soup for breakfast, fish soup, which is really nutritious. That’s when I started to think about doing this,” she tells us.

While we chat, a bowl of creamy carrot soup with fresh orange segments and feta cheese arrives. The addition of orange chunks adds texture as well as taste to the carrot base and the salty feta lifts it even more. It’s delicious.

Now ready for dessert, we arrive at the family bakery of Café Wölfl on Kellerstrasse where the current proprietor has been baking behind the shop since he was four years old and learning at his father’s knee.
All the cakes are hand made and everything is done by hand, the slow and old fashioned way. In the window a large layer cake catches our eye:
“That’s baumkuchen, or tree cake,” says Ernst. The baumkuchen is a specialised, old fashioned cake which is cooked in its own oven. A layer is added and then the cake is rotated and baked before another layer is added and so on. The whole process takes an entire day. Something of a rarity in cake shop windows nowadays, people come here just for the baumkuchen.
Pieces of the finished product are sold by weight, or covered in chocolate or in bananas and butter cream and then covered in marzipan as illustrated by the tempting Countess Cake which is being slowly twirled before our eyes.

It’s too much to resist, and clutching our fat slice of Countess Cake we headed to the wooden houses and country village surroundings of Preysingstrasse where we bid Auf Wiedersehen to Ernst and sit on a sunny bench to enjoy the last, sinful treat of our tour.

Getting to know an area through the family businesses that have plied their trade in its streets for generations and through those that have brought a new angle to old favourites, is an informative, fun and delicious way to get to know a city. The Eat The World tour gave us a tasty insight into an area we would never have set foot in without them and we would have missed so much.

A huge danke schön to Ernst and to the team at Eat-The-World.Com

Eat-The-World.Com offer a year-round variety of food tours in 12 cities across Germany in German and English. Tours cost €30, last for 3 hours around lunch time and include samples of food and drinks as well as insights into history, architecture and naturally, the food specialities of a district. Full details and booking through the Eat-The-World.Com website.

Andrea (Andy) Montgomery is a freelance travel writer and co-owner of Buzz Trips and The Real Tenerife series of travel websites. Published in The Telegraph, The Independent, Wexas Traveller, Thomas Cook Travel Magazine, EasyJet Traveller Magazine, you can read her latest content on Google+