Best Things to Do in Munich

Munich balances grand royal interiors with outdoor life along the Isar and under the trees of its parks. Here are the ten experiences that define a first visit.

1. Marienplatz and the view from Alter Peter. Watch the Glockenspiel figures spin on the New Town Hall tower, then climb the 300 steps of neighbouring St Peter's Church (Alter Peter) for a clear-day panorama that stretches from the twin domes of the Frauenkirche to the snow-capped Alps.
2. The Munich Residenz and Cuvilliés Theatre. Walk the shell-encrusted Renaissance Antiquarium hall, the dazzling Treasury of crown jewels and the red-and-gold Rococo tiers of the Cuvilliés Theatre inside Germany's largest urban palace.
3. Grazing at the Viktualienmarkt. Browse over 100 permanent stalls of Alpine cheeses, warm pretzels, cured meats and honey around the blue-and-white maypole, then sit in the central shaded beer garden, which rotates through all six historic Munich breweries.
4. The English Garden and Eisbach river surfers. Watch wet-suited surfers carve turns on the standing wave at the Eisbach bridge by the Haus der Kunst, then walk north past the Monopteros hilltop temple to the beer garden at the Chinese Tower.
5. Old Masters and modern art in the Kunstareal. Spend a morning with Dürer, Bruegel and Rubens at the Alte Pinakothek, blue-horse Expressionism at the Lenbachhaus and glowing modern ceramic facade of the Museum Brandhorst.
6. Schloss Nymphenburg and its Royal Carriages. Take Tram 17 west to the Wittelsbach summer palace for the Hall of Beauties, the canal-lined park pavilions and King Ludwig II's gilded sleighs in the Marstallmuseum.
7. An evening in a historic beer hall or Augustiner cellar. Skip tourist traps by heading to the vaulted brick cellars of the Augustiner-Keller, Schneider Bräuhaus (for wheat beer) or the upstairs festival hall of the Hofbräuhaus.
8. Deutsches Museum on Museum Island. One of the world's oldest and largest science and technology museums, sitting on an island in the middle of the Isar River.
9. Olympiapark and BMW Welt. Walk beneath the sweeping translucent tent roofs built for the 1972 Olympics, ride the lift up the Olympic Tower and tour the futuristic glass cone of BMW Welt and the BMW Museum across the footbridge.
10. A day trip to Dachau, Salzburg or the Bavarian Alps. Use a regional train pass to visit the sobering Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (30 minutes), Mozart's Salzburg (90 minutes) or Lake Tegernsee and Füssen in the Alpine foothills.