Bavaria
Munich
Munich works as a base for both beer halls and the Alps: ride the S-Bahn in from the airport, then build day trips to Neuschwanstein and Dachau around your city time.
Best length
2-3 nights
Airport
Munich Airport (MUC), ~35km north-east of the centre
Airport to centre
S1/S8 S-Bahn ~40-45 min; no fast airport express train
Best base
Altstadt near Marienplatz for sights; Ludwigsvorstadt by the Hauptbahnhof for day trips
In short
Munich at a glance
Munich works best as a 2- to 3-night city break that doubles as a launch pad: base yourself within walking distance of Marienplatz, spend the days on the Altstadt squares, beer halls and the English Garden, and give over a full day to either Neuschwanstein or the Dachau memorial. Use the U-Bahn and S-Bahn rather than taxis, book the airport S-Bahn or the Lufthansa Express Bus on arrival, and time it for May–September beer-garden weather or late September if you actually want Oktoberfest.
The short version
- Stay inside the Altstadt ring near Marienplatz or in Ludwigsvorstadt by the Hauptbahnhof for the easiest first trip and quick reach to the day-trip trains.
- The Hofbräuhaus is the famous beer hall but a tourist scrum; locals drink at the Augustiner-Keller and the Chinesischer Turm beer garden in the English Garden instead.
- Give a full day to Neuschwanstein — it's ~2 hours each way by train to Füssen plus a bus, so book the castle slot online before you go, as same-day tickets sell out.
- Oktoberfest runs roughly mid-September to the first Sunday in October on the Theresienwiese; if that's not your trip, avoid those two weeks, when hotel prices double.
- Two or three nights covers the Altstadt, a beer garden, the Residenz or a museum, and one big day trip before you take the ICE on to Nuremberg or Berlin.
The mistake first-timers make with Munich is treating the Hofbräuhaus as the whole experience and the city as a one-night stopover. Munich is both a proper Bavarian city break — a tight Altstadt of squares, the Residenz, the Pinakothek galleries and the vast English Garden — and the best launch pad in southern Germany, with Neuschwanstein, the Alps and the Dachau memorial all reachable on a day return. Get the framing right and you stop queuing for an over-touristed beer hall and start drinking under chestnut trees at the Augustiner-Keller where the locals do.
Two or three nights is the honest amount: one day on the Altstadt and a beer garden, one for a museum or the Residenz, and one big day trip out to the castle or the camp memorial. Time it for the May-to-September garden weather and steer well clear of the Oktoberfest fortnight unless that is the point of the trip, because the room rates double. Below, the structured planning — where to stay, which day trip to choose, how to get in from the airport, and a realistic budget in pounds — picks up from here.
Plan your Munich trip
Keep a first trip focused: book the big timed sights, then leave room for neighbourhoods and food.
Top things to do in Munich
Marienplatz & Glockenspiel
Marienplatz is Munich's central square, free and open day and night, dominated by the neo-Gothic Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) finished in 1905. Its draw is the Glockenspiel in the tower: 43 bells and 32 life-size figures that re-enact the 1568 ducal wedding and the coopers' dance for about 12-15 minutes at 11am and noon every day, plus 5pm from March to October. Watching is free. For the postcard view down onto the square climb St Peter's church tower across the way (306 steps, about €5), not the town-hall lift — and visit the square itself early or after dark to skip the tour-group crush.
Neuschwanstein Castle
You cannot just turn up at Neuschwanstein and walk in — the interior is seen only on a fixed 30-minute guided tour with a stamped time slot, and the official online tickets routinely sell out days ahead in summer. Reserve your timed slot at shop.ticket-center-hohenschwangau.de before you leave the UK, or book an organised coach tour from Munich that bundles the ticket. Treat it as a full day: it's roughly two hours each way by train to Füssen plus a bus, and you still have a 30–40 minute uphill walk (or a horse-drawn carriage) to the gate.
Nymphenburg Palace
Nymphenburg is the Wittelsbachs' summer palace on the western edge of Munich, reached in about 15 minutes on tram 17 from the Hauptbahnhof — no booking, no timed slot, you walk up and buy at the door. The big decision is the ticket: palace-only is €8 and covers the Steinerner Saal banquet hall and Ludwig I's Gallery of Beauties, while the €15 combination ticket (the Gesamtkarte) adds the Marstallmuseum royal-coach collection and the four park palaces — but those park pavilions close from mid-October to the end of March, so the combination ticket only makes sense in summer. The vast formal park behind the palace is free to walk and is what most of your time actually goes on.
BMW Museum & BMW Welt
Munich's BMW visit is really two buildings facing each other across the Petuelring by the Olympiapark. The bowl-shaped BMW Museum is the ticketed one — €10 (about £9) for adults — and walks you through 125 years of cars, motorcycles and the M division. BMW Welt, the swooping double-cone delivery centre over the road, is free to walk into and where new owners collect their cars. Get there in 15 minutes on the U3 to Olympiazentrum, allow about two hours for both, and pre-book the separate BMW Group plant tour weeks ahead if you want to see the production line.
Where to stay first
The areas that make a first visit easier — not an exhaustive directory.
Altstadt (old town)
£££ premiumInside the medieval ring around Marienplatz: you walk to the Glockenspiel, the Viktualienmarkt, the Residenz and the main beer halls, and you're a short U-Bahn hop from the Hauptbahnhof for day trips. It's the priciest area for beds but saves you a transfer every morning.
Best for: First-timers, short stays, no transit faff
Ludwigsvorstadt (around the Hauptbahnhof)
££ mid-rangeThe station district just west of the Altstadt: better-value hotels, walkable to Marienplatz in 15 minutes, and the most convenient base if you're doing the Neuschwanstein or Nuremberg day trips, since the long-distance and Füssen trains all leave from here. Some streets behind the station are scruffy at night.
Best for: Value, day-trippers, early train departures
Maxvorstadt and the Museum Quarter
££ mid-rangeThe university and art-museum district north of the centre, home to the three Pinakothek galleries and a younger, café-and-bookshop feel. Quieter and a touch cheaper than the Altstadt, with trams and the U-Bahn linking you in.
Best for: Museums, couples, a calmer base
Schwabing
££ mid-rangeLeafy, well-heeled neighbourhood bordering the English Garden, with the Chinesischer Turm beer garden and Leopoldstrasse's cafés on your doorstep. It's a 10-minute U-Bahn ride from the Altstadt, so better for a slower trip than a one-night sprint.
Best for: Beer gardens, the English Garden, slower stays
Airport to city centre
| Option | Time | Cost | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 or S8 S-Bahn to Marienplatz / Hauptbahnhof | ~40-45 min | about €14.30 single, or use a day ticket | Cheapest; runs every ~10-20 min |
| Lufthansa Express Bus to the Hauptbahnhof | ~45 min | about €13 single | Useful with luggage, no changes |
| Taxi to the centre | ~35-45 min | usually €60-€80 | Best for late arrivals or groups |
| Pre-booked private transfer | ~40 min | from about €70 per car | Door-to-door, fixed price |
When to go
Sweet spot: May to September is the sweet spot for Munich: warm enough for the beer gardens and the English Garden, long evenings, and easy day trips to the castle and the Alps. May–June and early September give the best balance of weather, crowds and price, before the Oktoberfest fortnight and the July-August peak push hotels up.
Munich has two clear peaks. Oktoberfest, roughly mid-September to the first Sunday in October on the Theresienwiese, is when the city is fullest and dearest — beds book out months ahead and rates double, so plan around it either way. The other peak is the four weeks of Christmas markets to 23 December, when the Marienplatz Christkindlmarkt and the cold draw the crowds; pack for it. January to March is cheapest and quietest — cold and often grey, but good for the Pinakothek galleries and the Residenz, and the closest the Alps get for a ski day trip.
What it costs
UK return flights to Munich (MUC) run from about £40-£90 off-peak on easyJet, Ryanair or Lufthansa booked ahead, £120-£200 in the school holidays, and they spike for the two Oktoberfest weeks in late September. Direct routes leave from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Bristol; the short hop is ~1h50 from London.
Daily budget per person
All euro figures use £1 ≈ €1.16 (June 2026). Munich is the priciest German city for beds and beer-hall meals — budget a little more than Berlin. The fastest way to overspend is booking over the Oktoberfest fortnight, when hotel rates roughly double; come in May–June or September outside those two weeks for the same weather at half the room rate.
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