Activities and Sights in Munich

Marienplatz is Munich’s central square, anchored by the Neo-Gothic Neues Rathaus and its Glockenspiel, which performs daily at 11 am and 12 pm (plus 5 pm in summer). It’s a major U- and S-Bahn hub and a starting point for pedestrian streets leading to Viktualienmarkt. The square hosts the Christkindlmarkt during Advent.

Munich’s vast Englischer Garten is one of the world’s largest urban parks, stretching from the city center to the northeast. Highlights include the Eisbach river surfing wave, the Monopteros hilltop temple, and beer gardens at the Chinesischer Turm and Seehaus. Expect lakes, meadows, cycling paths, paddleboats, and designated nude sunbathing areas. Free, open year-round.

Nymphenburg Palace is a vast Baroque complex in western Munich, built from 1664 as the Wittelsbachs’ summer residence. Visitors can tour the grand state rooms and the Rococo Steinerner Saal, stroll formal gardens and canals, and explore park pavilions like Amalienburg and Badenburg. On-site museums include the Marstallmuseum and the Nymphenburg Porcelain Museum.

Deutsches Museum, on Munich’s Museum Island, is one of the world’s largest science and technology museums. Its extensive, hands-on galleries cover aviation, space, computing, mining, physics, chemistry, and musical instruments. Expect interactive demonstrations and historic originals, from early aircraft to laboratory apparatus. Additional branches include the Verkehrszentrum transport museum and Flugwerft Schleissheim aviation site.

Viktualienmarkt is Munich's central open-air food market, just south of Marienplatz. Originating in 1807, it hosts around 140 stalls selling fresh produce, cheese, meat, fish, baked goods, and Bavarian specialties, plus flowers and gourmet items. A maypole and a popular beer garden, serving rotating Munich breweries, add atmosphere. Open Monday-Saturday; closed Sundays/holidays.

Olympiapark, built for the 1972 Summer Olympics, is a vast complex of stadiums, arenas, and landscaped parkland. Highlights include the tent-like roof architecture, the Olympiastadion, and the Olympic Tower with citywide views. Visitors can join stadium roof-climb tours, attend concerts and festivals, stroll around the lake, or cycle its paths. Easily reached by U-Bahn.

Hofbräuhaus am Platzl is Munich’s most famous beer hall, originally founded in 1589 as a ducal brewery. Today it offers lively oompah music, communal tables, and Bavarian classics like pork knuckle, sausages, and giant pretzels, plus liter steins of Hofbräu beer. Expect crowds; reservations help. Located near Marienplatz, it also has a courtyard beer garden.

BMW Welt & Museum in Munich, beside Olympiapark and the BMW headquarters tower, showcases the brand’s past and present. BMW Welt offers free entry to displays of current vehicles and technology, plus vehicle handovers. The adjacent museum (ticketed) traces BMW’s history with classic cars, motorcycles, engines, and design exhibits. Access via U3 Olympiazentrum station.

Asam Church (St. Johann Nepomuk) is a compact Rococo gem on Munich’s Sendlinger Straße. Built in the 1730s–1740s by the Asam brothers—painter Cosmas Damian and sculptor Egid Quirin—it features dense stucco, gilding, and ceiling frescoes. Originally a private chapel beside their residence, it’s renowned for its theatrical altar and dramatic light effects.