Germany · Bavaria's beer-garden capital
🍺Munich
Wittelsbach royal city with the Alps as its backyard — beer halls older than most countries, Baroque churches, BMW HQ, and Oktoberfest's 6 million drinkers each September.
- Best season
- May–September
- Mid-range
- €110–€180 / day
- Backpacker
- €60–€95 / day
- Country
- Germany
Safety
Very safe — one of Germany's safest cities. Standard care at Hauptbahnhof at night.
Best travel season
May–September. Oktoberfest late Sept–early Oct doubles hotel prices; Christkindlmarkt late Nov–Dec.
Daily budget
Mid-range
€110–€180 / day
Backpacker
€60–€95 / day
Where to stay
- Altstadt-Lehel — Marienplatz, Frauenkirche, most walkable
- Maxvorstadt — museums, university, cafés
- Glockenbachviertel — LGBTQ+ heart, hip bars
- Schwabing — leafy, Englischer Garten, boho classic
Hostels
- Wombat's City Hostel Munich — near Hauptbahnhof
- The 4You Hostel Munich — modern, near Hauptbahnhof
- Euro Youth Hostel — long-running backpacker classic
Transportation
U-Bahn
8 lines. Single Innenraum €3.90, day pass €9.20; MVV app for tickets.
S-Bahn
8 lines through the shared tunnel; reaches airport with MVV M zone ticket €15.30.
Tram
13 lines. Same ticket.
Bus
Same ticket. Night N-buses on weekends.
Bicycle
MVG Rad share; Munich has extensive cycle paths and rides the Isar all the way to the Alps.
Airport — MUC
Munich Franz Josef Strauß Airport
28 km northeast; two terminals with a shared 'MUC-Air' plaza and beer hall.
Airport to city center
S-Bahn S1/S8
Every 10 min to Hauptbahnhof/Marienplatz in 40 min, €15.30 airport zone.
Lufthansa Airport Bus
Every 15 min to Hauptbahnhof in 45 min, €13.
Taxi
€70–90 to Marienplatz.
Attractions
Must-see
Marienplatz & Glockenspiel
The city's heart with the Neues Rathaus and its 43-bell glockenspiel show at 11:00, 12:00 and (Mar–Oct) 17:00.
Monument
Frauenkirche
Two 99 m brick onion domes — Munich's landmark. Interior open free of charge.
Park
Englischer Garten
3.7 km² — larger than Central Park. Chinese Tower beer garden, standing-wave surfers on the Eisbach.
Must-see
Residenz München
Wittelsbach city palace with 130 tourable rooms and the Treasury.
Museum
Alte Pinakothek
European old masters — Dürer, Rubens, Rembrandt — in Klenze's 1836 palazzo.
Museum
Deutsches Museum
World's largest science and technology museum, on an island in the Isar.
Must-see
Viktualienmarkt
Since 1807 — daily produce market with a permanent beer garden at its center.
Monument
Nymphenburg Palace
Wittelsbach summer palace with 200 ha of gardens; carriage museum and porcelain factory.
Hidden gem
BMW Welt & Museum
Coop Himmelb(l)au's swirling delivery centre next to the 1972 four-cylinder tower.
Must-see
Dachau Memorial (day trip)
First Nazi concentration camp, opened 1933; sobering essential visit, 20 min by S-Bahn.
Food & drink
Local dish
Weißwurst + Brezn + Weißbier
Boiled veal-and-pork sausage with sweet mustard, pretzel, wheat beer — before noon only. Zum Weißen Bräuhaus is the classic.
Local dish
Schweinshaxe
Roasted pork knuckle with dumplings and sauerkraut. Try at Wirtshaus in der Au.
Restaurant
Hofbräuhaus
The world-famous 1589 beer hall — touristy but the oompah, litre steins, and vaulted room are the real thing.
Restaurant
Augustiner-Keller
5,000-seat beer garden under chestnut trees; Munich's oldest brewery.
Restaurant
Tantris
1971 Michelin-starred temple of Bavarian fine dining, recently restored to original interiors.
Café
Café Frischhut ('Schmalznudel')
Fried Bavarian pastries served hot since 1973, off the Viktualienmarkt.
Vegan
Prinz Myshkin
Long-standing vegetarian institution near Marienplatz.