Munich

Munich: The City That Invented a Drinking Holiday and Then Got Embarrassed by Its Own Invention

A litre of beer at Oktoberfest 2026 costs between EUR 14.80 and EUR 15.90, depending on the tent. That price was EUR 6 in 2005. The trajectory is not subtle, and there’s a legitimate argument that what once was a local harvest festival has become one of the world’s most expensive mass tourism events dressed in traditional costume. Oktoberfest 2026 runs September 19 to October 4; the 38 tents (14 large, 20 small, 4 in the Oide Wiesn historic section) fill up months in advance. Most Munich residents watch the whole spectacle from a distance and go to their neighbourhood biergarten instead. This is worth knowing before you book flights specifically for the Wiesn – but not necessarily a reason not to go.

Oktoberfest started in 1810 as a horse race celebrating the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig. The beer tents came later, the 6 million visitors later still, and the considerable civic ambivalence arrived somewhere in between. Munich is a serious city with serious institutions – the Alte Pinakothek, the BMW Museum, the Deutsches Museum, two Michelin three-star restaurants, a functioning royal summer palace at Nymphenburg – and Oktoberfest sometimes overshadows the rest of it internationally. That is unjust to Munich and to the festival.

Munich is Germany’s most distinctive large city. It sits on the River Isar at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, its skyline punctuated by the twin onion domes of the Frauenkirche, its grand boulevards lined with palaces, museums, and beer halls of such age and seriousness that the beer-hall tradition is UNESCO-listed intangible heritage. The Englischer Garten, one of the largest urban parks in the world, contains a permanent standing wave where locals surf year-round. A light-rail ride of 40 minutes gets you to the Alps. October aside, Munich functions as one of the most civilised large cities in Europe.

The Essential Sights

Marienplatz: The central square since 1158. The Neo-Gothic New Town Hall dominates the north side; its Glockenspiel chimes at 11am and noon with 32 life-sized figures enacting a 1568 royal wedding. The performance is short and the crowds around it are large; see it once and then move on to more interesting things.

Frauenkirche: The 15th-century cathedral with twin onion-domed towers that define the Munich skyline. The “Devil’s Footprint” in the entrance lobby has a story attached to it that involves tricking the Devil into thinking he couldn’t see a single window from that spot in the vestibule, due to the alignment of the pillars. He couldn’t. He stormed off. The mark remained.

Viktualienmarkt: The city’s main food market since 1807. Charcuterie, cheese, game, flowers, and a central beer garden shaded by chestnut trees. On a clear morning it is one of the best markets in Germany.

Residenz: The Wittelsbachs’ main city palace, 130 rooms and ten courtyards ranging from Renaissance to Rococo. The Antiquarium is a 66-metre Renaissance hall; the Cuvilliés Theatre is a Rococo jewel box that puts most theatre interiors in Europe in a difficult position.

Nymphenburg Palace: The Baroque summer palace built from 1664 to 1675, west of the city. Extensive parkland, canals, fountains, and the Amalienburg hunting lodge. Better than most visitors expect, partly because Versailles gets the attention and Nymphenburg gets underrated by comparison.

BMW Museum and BMW Welt: The car museum in the four-cylinder tower; the Welt showroom is free to enter and genuinely interesting even if you have no particular interest in BMW. A short walk to the 1972 Olympiapark, whose Frei Otto canopy roof is a genuine engineering landmark.

Englischer Garten: 417 hectares of English-style park running through the city, larger than New York’s Central Park. The Eisbach standing wave at the Prinzregentenstrasse bridge draws surfers in all weathers; the Chinese Tower beer garden is one of Munich’s largest.

Art Triangle (Kunstareal): Three world-class painting museums near Konigplatz. The Alte Pinakothek has Durer, Rubens, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt in quantities that justify a full morning. The Pinakothek der Moderne covers 20th-century art and design. The Lenbachhaus holds the Blue Rider collection (Kandinsky, Klee, Marc) – arguably the most important collection of German expressionism in one building.

Dachau Memorial Site: 25 minutes by S-Bahn. The first Nazi concentration camp, opened in 1933. A sobering and important visit.

Eating Munich

Bavarian cooking is hearty, meat-forward, and designed to justify beer.

  • Weisswurst: The white veal-and-parsley breakfast sausage, eaten before noon, peeled on the plate with sweet mustard and a pretzel. Ordering this at 3pm marks you as someone who hasn’t read the instructions.
  • Schweinshaxe: Crispy roasted pork knuckle, shareable, best ordered without looking at the calorie count
  • Obatzda: Spiced Camembert spread with paprika and onion, served with a giant pretzel at any biergarten – one of those combinations that shouldn’t work as well as it does
  • Kaiserschmarrn: Torn caramelised pancake with plum compote, the right dessert after all of the above
  • Beer: Six Munich breweries supply Oktoberfest and everything around it. Augustiner makes what Munich beer devotees consistently identify as the cleanest helles in the city, served at Augustiner-Keller and Augustiner Braustuben. The beer halls since 1791 allow Bavarians to bring their own food as long as they buy the beer.

Munich’s fine dining is serious. The city now has two Michelin three-star restaurants, four two-star restaurants (including Tantris, Atelier at Bayerischer Hof, Komu, and Alois at Dallmayr), and nine one-star restaurants. Tohru in der Schreiberei received its three stars in the 2025 guide, an elevation that attracted attention beyond Germany. THE CLOUD by Kafer opened at BMW Welt in summer 2025 in the former EssZimmer space, with a new chef team and high expectations.

Activities and Day Trips

Neuschwanstein, Ludwig II’s fairy-tale castle, is two hours south by train and bus. Book timed entries online weeks ahead – demand is constant and walking up to find the day sold out is an avoidable frustration. Dachau is the more important journey; Neuschwanstein is the more popular one. Salzburg is 90 minutes by train and worth a day. The Zugspitze (Germany’s highest mountain at 2,962 metres) is accessible from Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a summit cable car.

Strong Beer season (Starkbierzeit) in March is the Oktoberfest of the cognoscenti: stronger Doppelbock beers, rowdier halls, a fraction of the summer crowds, and a much more Munich-feeling event than the international phenomenon it spawns every September. The Paulaner at Nockherberg tent is the centre of it.

Practical Tips

Munich Airport connects by S-Bahn S1 or S8 (40 minutes) to the main station. The MVV ticket system covers U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams, and buses; a day ticket is practical for most visits. Cash matters – many beer halls and traditional restaurants still prefer it or require it. During Oktoberfest, city-wide prices increase substantially and accommodation availability collapses; book six months ahead if you’re going deliberately. The Winzerer Fahndl tent is under new management for 2026 for the first time in decades, which means programme and menu changes worth factoring in if that tent was specifically on your list.