Germany · Bavaria
Plan your Munich trip
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01Your itinerary
02Where to stay
Altstadt
Best for first-timers and short stays who want everything on footThe old town core, within walking distance of Marienplatz, the Frauenkirche and the Residenz. Central, comfortable, and priced accordingly — you are paying for proximity, not atmosphere, since few locals actually live here.
A mid-range hotel a few streets off Marienplatz
Being able to walk to the main sights and the Viktualienmarkt in minutes is the whole case for staying in the Altstadt.
€€€A business hotel near the Karlsplatz (Stachus) transit hub
Puts you on top of the U-Bahn and S-Bahn interchange, useful if you're also planning day trips out of the city.
€€Maxvorstadt
Best for museum-focused visits and a quieter baseThe museum quarter and university district — wide boulevards, the three Pinakothek galleries, and a calmer, more residential evening feel than the centre while staying an easy walk or one tram stop from it.
A boutique hotel near the Pinakotheken
Ideal if the museums are the point of your trip — several galleries are within a ten-minute walk of each other here.
€€€Glockenbachviertel and Gärtnerplatz
Best for food, nightlife and a younger crowdMunich's trendiest quarter — independent boutiques, the best concentration of bars and restaurants in the city, and the centre of Munich's LGBTQ+ scene. A ten-minute walk from Marienplatz with a completely different energy after dark.
A design-led hotel on a quiet Gärtnerplatz side street
Puts you in the best restaurant neighbourhood in the city while staying an easy walk from the old town.
€€€Schwabing
Best for longer stays and park accessThe former bohemian quarter, now comfortably upscale, bordering the Englischer Garten's northern edge. Leafy, calm, and well connected by U-Bahn, with good cafés and easy park access.
An apartment-hotel near Münchner Freiheit
A short walk to the Englischer Garten and the Eisbach surfers, with the U-Bahn putting the centre ten minutes away.
€€Haidhausen
Best for value and a more local feel without losing convenienceAcross the Isar to the east, sometimes called the French Quarter for its 19th-century grid of streets. Residential, gently gentrified, and consistently better value than the centre for a comparable level of comfort.
A mid-range hotel near Max-Weber-Platz
Two tram stops from Marienplatz, with a genuinely good, less touristy restaurant scene on your own doorstep.
€€Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.
03Tickets & tours
Marienplatz and the Neues Rathaus
The city's central square, dominated by the neo-Gothic New Town Hall and its Glockenspiel, a mechanical carillon that re-enacts a 16th-century royal…
Tip The Glockenspiel plays at 11am and noon year-round, with a 5pm show added March to October — check the time before you plan around it, since it's brief and easy to miss.
Frauenkirche
Munich's cathedral and skyline-defining silhouette, twin brick towers capped with distinctive Renaissance copper domes that a city ordinance keeps…
Tip Climb the south tower for the best rooftop view of the old town's red roofs against the Alps on a clear day — it's an elevator most of the way, not a punishing climb.
Englischer Garten
A vast 18th-century park, larger than New York's Central Park, threaded by the Eisbach stream where wetsuited surfers ride a standing wave at the…
Tip Head to the Chinesischer Turm beer garden in the park's south for the classic self-service, bring-your-own-picnic experience under a five-tiered wooden pagoda.
Deutsches Museum
The world's largest museum of science and technology, spread across an island in the Isar, with everything from a walk-through coal mine to historic…
Tip It's genuinely too large for one visit — pick two or three sections in advance rather than trying to see all of it, and budget at least three hours even then.
Residenz Munich
The former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs, a sprawling complex of over ninety rooms including the glittering Antiquarium, one of the largest…
Tip Buy the combined ticket covering the Residenz museum, treasury and Cuvilliés Theatre — seeing all three in one visit is significantly better value than paying separately.
Viktualienmarkt
A permanent open-air food market just off Marienplatz, running since the early 1800s, with stalls selling Bavarian cheese, cured meats, produce and…
Tip Closed Sundays, like almost everything retail in the city — come on a weekday morning when the stalls are freshest and least crowded.
Nymphenburg Palace
The Wittelsbach dynasty's Baroque summer palace, set in a formal park with canals, follies and a porcelain manufactory that still produces…
Tip Skip the palace interior if you're short on time and just walk the free park — the canal, the Amalienburg hunting lodge, and the deer park make for a proper half-day on…
BMW Welt and BMW Museum
A striking architectural showroom and adjoining museum beside BMW's four-cylinder headquarters tower, tracing the company's design and motorsport…
Tip BMW Welt itself is free to walk through and worth a look even if you skip the paid museum next door — check ahead if a factory tour is running, since those need advance…
Day trips from Munich
Neuschwanstein Castle
Ludwig II's fairy-tale 19th-century castle near Füssen, the direct inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Day tripDachau Memorial Site
The first Nazi concentration camp, now a preserved memorial and museum roughly 25 minutes from central Munich by S-Bahn and bus.
Day tripThe Bavarian Alps and Zugspitze
Germany's highest peak is reachable by train and cogwheel railway from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, about an hour and a quarter south of Munich, with a…
Day tripAndechs Monastery
A working Benedictine monastery brewery on a hilltop above the Ammersee lake, about an hour away, where monks have brewed strong beer since the 15th…
Day tripEverything to do in Munich
Skip-the-line tickets, guided tours and day trips, all in one place on Booking.com.
04Getting there & around
Getting around
Munich's public transport, the MVV network of U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses, is fast, clean and exactly as punctual as the stereotype promises. Buy a day ticket (Tageskarte) or, better, load a Deutschlandticket if you're staying a month or connecting onward by regional train elsewhere in Germany; single tickets are poor value…
Flights
Compare fares into Munich and pick dates that suit the days you planned.
Airport transfers
Book a private or shared ride from the airport so the first evening starts at your door, not at a ticket queue.
Car hire from Munich
Only worth it for day trips beyond the city — in town, the plan above works on foot and public transport.
Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.