3 Days in Munich: Palaces, Beer Gardens and Alpine Views

This three-day plan covers Munich's royal history, great art collections and beer garden culture at an unhurried pace, with easy options to swap Day 3 for an Alpine castle or Salzburg train trip if you prefer the mountains. Remember that most museums close on Mondays and shops close on Sundays.

Day 1: Marienplatz, the Residenz, Viktualienmarkt and a Historic Beer Hall

• 09:00: start on Marienplatz and climb the 299 steps of St Peter's Church (Alter Peter) while the morning air is clear, then step inside the brick hall of the Frauenkirche.
• 10:30: walk over to Schneider Bräuhaus or Augustiner for a traditional late-morning Weißwurstfrühstück (poached white veal sausages, sweet mustard and warm pretzels), returning to Marienplatz at 11:00 to watch the Glockenspiel.
• 11:30: stroll through the cheese, honey and pretzel stalls of the Viktualienmarkt and detour down Sendlinger Straße to see the Baroque Asamkirche.
• 14:00: walk north to Odeonsplatz (Theatinerkirche and Hofgarten) and spend two hours inside the Munich Residenz (Antiquarium, Treasury and Cuvilliés Theatre).
• 18:30: dinner and wooden-barrel Edelstoff lager under the chestnut trees or in the brick vaults of the Augustiner-Keller, or an evening stroll past the Hofbräuhaus.

Day 2: The Kunstareal Museums and the English Garden

• 09:30: ride the U2 or tram to the Kunstareal in Maxvorstadt. Pick one or two galleries based on your taste: Dürer and Rubens at the Alte Pinakothek, Kandinsky and the Blue Rider at the Lenbachhaus, or Warhol and Cy Twombly at the Museum Brandhorst.
• 12:30: lunch at a café in Maxvorstadt around Schellingstraße or Türkenstraße.
• 14:00: walk east through the Hofgarten to Prinzregentenstraße to watch the river surfers on the Eisbach Wave at the entrance to the English Garden.
• 15:30: follow the park paths past the Monopteros hilltop temple to the Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm) for an afternoon beer and giant pretzel with Obatzda cheese dip under the trees, continuing north to the Kleinhesseloher See boating lake if the evening is warm.

Day 3: Nymphenburg Palace, Olympiapark & BMW Welt (or an Alpine Day Trip)

• 09:30: take Tram 17 west to Schloss Nymphenburg to tour the main palace, the silver-and-blue Rococo Amalienburg hunting lodge in the park and the gilded royal sleighs of the Marstallmuseum.
• 13:00: lunch at the nearby Königlicher Hirschgarten beer garden or in Neuhausen.
• 15:00: head north to Olympiapark to walk beneath the sweeping 1972 tent roofs, tour the futuristic glass cone of BMW Welt and the BMW Museum, and watch sunset from the Olympic Hill (Olympiaberg) before dinner in Haidhausen or the Glockenbachviertel.
• Alternative Day 3 (Train Day Trip): use a Bayern-Ticket from Hauptbahnhof for a morning visit to the Dachau Memorial Site, a full day in Salzburg (90 minutes) or a train-and-bus trip to Füssen and Neuschwanstein Castle.