Munich in 3 days

How to see Munich in just three days

Day 1

Start the day off with a tour of the Residenz Palace, the most impressive downtown palace in Europe, now a museum of Renaissance, baroque, and rococo excess. (Best bit: the Schatzkammer (Treasure House), home to the 1,000-year old Bavarian crown jewels.)

In the late morning, take in the Old Masters paintings by Dürer, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens, Titian and more in the Alte Pinakothek.

Just before noon, mosey on down to the lively, cafe-lined main town square of Marienplatz to see the noon clock tower show on the faux-medieval Rathaus (town hall), then grab lunch in a beer hall—or, if it’s summer, the biergarten in the middle of the Viktualienmarkt.

Afetr lunch, enjoy the displays in the hodgepodge collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, then set off for what everyone really comes to Munich for: drinking enormous tankards of beer.

Have dinner downstairs in Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl Am Dom—or just nibble on würstel as you crawl from beer hall to beer hall.

Day 2

In the morning, head out to Schloss Nymphenburg for more royal splendor in a gaggle of baroque buildings and museums—plus a park to rival Versailles, with more than 500 acres of grassy lawns, English-style gardens, canals, and pavilions.

In the afternoon, stroll the Englischer Garten park stretching for three miles along the west bank of the Isar River, with a biergarten under the shadow of a faux 1790 Chinese pagoda, swimming holes, and even a nude sunbathing spot. Look for the modern art galleries that ring its southern edge.

In the late afternoon, investigate the scientific wonders of the Deutsches Museum, a fantastic see-and-touch science museum with displays including the world's very first automobile (an 1886 Benz), diesel engine, electric dynamo, and the lab bench at which Hahn and Strassmann first split the atom in 1938.

Day 3

On the morning of Day Three, head out of town for another excursion, either to the somber concentration camp museum at Dachau or—if you can get an early start—to see Mad King Ludwig’s fantastical Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle of turrets and snapping banners built as if it inhabited a Wagnernian opera and that later inspired Cinderella's castle at Disneyland.

Depending on what time you get back into town, wind down your Munich adventure with one last stein of beer at a biergarten or bierhalle.

Tips & Links

Useful Munich links & resources
SIGHTS

Tourist info: Muenchen.de, Bavaria.by, Germany.travel

Tours & activities: Viator.com, City-Discovery.com, Intrepidtravel.com, Gadventures.com

LODGING Hostels & camping: Hostelworld.com, Gomio.com, Hostelbookers.com, HostelsClub.com, Hostelz.com, Booking.com, Venere.com, Muenchen.de (campgrounds list)

TRANSPORTAirports: Munich-airport.de, Allgaeu-airport.de (Ryanair, flybe, Wizz) Public transport: Mvv-muenchen.de Driving/parking: Muenchen.de

Bike rentals & tours: Viator.com, Mikesbiketours.com

 

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This article was by Reid Bramblett and last updated in September 2013.
All information was accurate at the time.

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Copyright © 1998–2013 by Reid Bramblett. Author: Reid Bramblett.