And have the lot

And have the lot.” British visitors who like to start with something familiar can take refuge in the Hard Day’s Night pub, serving Strongbow cider and John Smith’s bitter. That will warm you up nicely for a night of fried chicken and fine lager at Oktoberfest.After all that rich food and strong beer, what you need – at least in the view of the organisers – is a trip on Eurostar. This variant has nothing to do with trains through the Channel Tunnel from London to Paris. The twists and turns of Munich’s Eurostar reminded me of some of Salvador Dali’s more tortured creations.

It is the name of an awesome rollercoaster that subjects passengers – and, crucially, their stomachs – to a tumult of g-forces. Stand well clear.One night this week, I turned up for The Crawl at the appointed time and place – 7.30pm at the easyEverything internet caf?opposite the main station No one else was there. So I went for a Kandinsky with a Klee chaser, followed by an hour’s quiet reflection in the company of some of the 20th century’s other great artists. One of the most entrancing exhibits is a wardrobe, into which you are invited to step – and peer through the back into a world full of miscellany.Bavaria is not quite as magical a kingdom as Narnia, but thanks to Ludwig its capital has depth and diversity, drawing good people and good ideas to a corner of southern Germany. And if a few fans of L?brau mistake Bauhaus for Brauhof (brewery) and crash through the doors of Der Moderne, the curators have placed a handy object in the design segment: a Dyson vacuum cleaner. In Munich, beauty can be in either the eye or the stomach of the beholder.TRAVELLERS’ GUIDEGetting there: Simon Calder paid £108 return for a Heathrow-Munich flight on Lufthansa, through the online agency Opodo (0870 241 7051, ).The German national airline also flies to Munich from Birmingham London City and Manchester.British Airways (0845 77 333 77, ) flies to Munich from Gatwick, Heathrow and Birmingham. The only no-frills flights are on Go (0870 60 76543, ) from Stansted.You can reach Munich by rail, using Eurostar (the trains, not the rollercoaster) via Brussels and Cologne for £155 return.

The journey takes around 13 hours, and can be booked through German Rail (0870 243 5363).Accommodation: he stayed at the splendid “4 You Ecological Hostel” (00 49 89 55 21 660, ), at Hirtenstrasse 18, just north of the main station, where a bed costs €22 (£14) per night. A buffet breakfast, including all-you-can-eat organic muesli, costs an extra €4.35 (£3). More expensive accommodation options are widely available.The main attractions: Oktoberfest begins today, and ends on 6 October. The new gallery, Pinakothek der Moderne, Barer Strasse 40, Munich (00 49 89 238 05 360, ) opens 10am-5pm daily except Monday, with late opening until 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays.