Destination
Type of Activity
Editors Pick
Read MoreAlter Peter
Climbing the 500-plus steps to the top of this tower, which rises above St. Peter's church in central Munich, is a great way to get the lay of the land from above or to work off a hearty lunch.
Read MoreBMW World
Located in a futuristic-looking building, the BMW Museum showcases the manufacturing history of the German car brand. Car aficionados will love it here; the museum is one of the most-visited sights in Munich. Tours of the Munich plant (adjacent) can...
Read MoreCinema Lounge
A real insider tip is the fact that the small, uber-comfortable movie theater in the Bayerischer Hof has a regular film program and tickets can be booked online. You can order drinks at Falk’s Bar across the way and enjoy...
Read MoreDay Trip: Bavarian Alps
If you drive just 30 minutes south of Munich, the landscape quickly becomes rural. An hour further and you're in midst of the Bavarian Alps, whose piece-de-resistance, the Zugspitze, rises to a proud 9,718 feet in the Wetterstein mountain range....
Read MoreDay Trip: Berchtesgaden National Park
This national park, a two-hour drive from Munich, offers scenic vistas and challenging hiking. From here, you can also drive to the Koenigssee, a deep glacial lake that is quite scenic and near the famous Watzmann, one of the region’s...
Read MoreDay Trip: Bregenz
Home to one of Europe’s most famous summer festivals, Bregenz is located in Austria on the eastern shores of Lake Constance, central Europe’s third-largest freshwater lake. The surrounding area is beautiful for hiking. Music aficionados lucky enough to score tickets...
Read MoreDay Trip: Dachau Memorial
It's an emotionally challenging day trip but visiting the memorial site of this former concentration camp is an important and powerful addition to a Munich itinerary. The fact that it is located only a thirty-minute drive northwest of Munich is...
Read MoreDay Trip: Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Visiting this quaint town, with its frescoed buildings, feels like stepping back in time. Take the Zugspitzbahn to ascent to Germany’s highest peak: the Zugspitze.
Read MoreDay Trip: Lake Starnberg
A favorite local escape, Lake Starnberg is just a 45-minute drive away from the city (during summer weekends, the traffic is as bad as that to the Hamptons, so avoid leaving on a Friday afternoon). For a local taste, head...
Read MoreDay Trip: Neuschwanstein Castle
This fantasy castle (the Disney logo is based on its outline) draws the expected crowds. The history behind the palace is as dramatic as its Romanesque Revival towers: built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in part as an homage...
Read MoreDay Trip: Romantic Route
This former trade route, now cheesily dubbed Romantische Strasse, kicks off in Würzburg and snakes toward Füssen (home to Neuschwanstein), past some of Germany’s most picturesque towns, castles and sweeping landscapes. It’s often more of a highway than a romantic...
Read MoreDay Trip: Schloss Herrenchiemsee
Those turned off by the crowds of Schloss Neuschwanstein and without the time to embark on the Romantic Route with its many castles, can take the one-hour drive to this chateaux right on Lake Chiemsee. Built as a German answer...
Read MoreEnglischer Garten
The city’s large green playground is bigger than Central Park and encompasses a lake, large meadows and such attractions as a Japanese teahouse and a Chinese pagoda (modeled after the Great Pagoda found in London’s Royal Botanic Gardens). A whimsical...
Courtesy KunsthalleRead MoreKunsthalle München
This small but well-funded gallery hosts three themed exhibitions every year that range from ancient works and decorative art to modern studies in design, photography and science. They are always extremely well curated and have included everything from illuminated manuscripts...
Read MoreLenbach Haus
Part of the Kunstreal that also contains the Pinakotheken and Sammlung Brandhorst, Lenbach Haus is known for its singular collection of the Blaue Reiter, a group of expressionist artists that included Kandinsky, Marc and Klee and lasted from 1911 through...
Read MoreLenbachhaus
This small yellow mansion, surrounded by a charming garden of hedges and fountains holds a beautiful permanent collection of 20th century art, including Art Nouveau and contemporary pieces, as well as the largest collection of works produced by the Blaue...
Read MoreMuseum Brandhorst
Architecture buffs should see the Museum Brandhorst, in a building with a multi-hued, ceramic-slabbed façade that was quite controversial when it opened in 2009. It features the private modern collection of Udo and Anette Brandhorst, including pieces by Warhol, Baselitz,...
Read MoreMuseum Villa Stuck
With all the rest of Munich’s art offerings, only truly devoted fans of Art Nouveau should take the time to tour Villa Stuck, across the Isa River (about a 10-min taxi ride to the City Center). But those who are...
Photo by Nathan Ishar, courtesy NS-DOKRead MoreNS Dokumentationszentrum
For travelers seeking to dive deep into Munich’s relationship with the Third Reich, NS Dokumentationszentrum is worth a stop. The museum is set inside the building that once housed the headquarters of the Nazi Party (officially the National Socialist German...
Nymphenburg Palace, Munich. Photo by Bayerische SchlösserverwaltungRead MoreNymphenburg Palace
Once used as a summer residence for the Bavarian royals, this baroque style chateau sits on sprawling grounds with English gardens and a lake. Although it may be an exaggeration to refer to Nymphenburg Palace as the “Versailles of Munich”,...
Read MoreOktoberfest
The first thing you need to know about the event that most of the world associates with Munich: it’s held in September, more precisely the two weeks leading up to the first weekend in October.
Read MoreOlympic Stadium Roof Climb
If you’ve climbed Sydney’s Harbour Bridge you will be perfectly prepared for the lofty adventure at Munich’s Olympiastadium. The excursion takes two hours after which you have reached the roof of the stadium was built for 1972’s summer Olympics.
Photo by Haydar Koyupinar. Courtesy Pinakothek der ModerneRead MorePinakothek Museums
The three Pinakothek museums are located in Munich’s so-called Kunstreal, the arts district that also holds the Lenbachhaus and Sammlung Brandhorst. There are three Pinakotheken and all are worth a visit.
Read MoreResidenz
The colossal Residenz, the home of the Bavarian kings, is best visited with a guide you can get you to the interesting parts of it (including the Treasury) and back out without getting weighed down by too much history. The...
Read MoreSammlung Goetz
If you visit only one private collection in Munich, make it the excellent Sammlung Goetz (open by appointment only). In her years working as a gallery dealer Ingvild Goetz amassed an enviable collection of modern art, which she displays in...
Read MoreTop Churches
Munich has a host of stunning churches. Most famous is the Frauenkirche, whose twin towers with their bulbous tops are the city’s iconic landmark (to this day, no building is allowed to built taller than this cathedral). The yellow-hued Theatinerkirche...
Read MoreVisit a Beer Garden
Another typical Munich experience are the many different beer gardens (Biergärten). There are twenty major ones throughout the city, the most famous/best of which are located in the Englischer Garten: the snazzy Seehaus draws the beau monde, the one at...
