As a tour guide I want to share with you The Best Things To Do in Munich, Germany.
I will show you main attractions, visit famous breweries, stumble upon surprising discoveries
and explore the amazing heritage of the most popular city in Germany.
Welcome to the capital city of Bavaria, the largest German State.
Old town is home to most attractions and this bell tower, affectionately known as Old Peter,
will give you the best overview of the historic city centre.
The 300 feet high bell tower has a viewing platform, but there are 306 steps to get there.
Tower belongs to the oldest parish church built when monks founded the city in the 1100s.
No wonder that the name of the city derives from a German word for monk.
Over the past 800 years St. Peter's church has seen many reconstructions, but its main
features include a ceiling fresco and a baroque main altar with a golden figure of St. Peter.
Interestingly in one of the side chapels is a glass case with a skeleton covered in gold
and decorated with precious stones belonging to Saint Munditia.
Just a stone's throw away is Munich’s main square that has always been the heart of the
city.
Square got its name after a column in the middle, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a protector
of Bavaria.
It was built as a gratitude to Mary for keeping Munich safe while it was occupied by Sweden
in the 1600s.
Square also has not just one, but two town halls.
The Old Town Hall is from the 1300s and features distinctive tunnels.
With the rapid growth of the city in the 1800s the Old Town Hall eventually became too small.
That is why a new, impressive Town Hall was built and it reflected the power and the wealth
of Bavaria.
It features a 280 feet high clock tower with a viewing platform and this one does have
an elevator.
But the tower is famous for housing one of the most popular Munich landmarks...
the Glockenspiel.
It’s worth planning a visit around its chimes as 43 bells play music every day at 11 am,
at noon and at 5 pm.
While the bells can play different songs, the figurines will always display the same
two historical events.
The upper floor shows a royal wedding from 1568 when this square hosted a jousting tournament
and the Bavarian knight triumphed over his opponent from Lorraine.
The lower floor shows the Coopers' Dance, when barrel makers were the first to get back
to the streets to amuse the people after a severe plague in 1517.
By tradition the dance is performed every seven years.
Here is also Fish's fountain, the most famous meeting spot in Munich.
Also if you wash your wallet here on Ash Wednesday, you will spend the rest of the year without
financial worries.
But your financial worries will grow worse if you take a walk between the main square
and Karlsplatz square.
This pedestrian area is the most important shopping area of Munich with beautiful shops.
Shopping continues even underground where you can find Europe's largest underground
shopping center, a modern and stylish Stachus Passagen.
Besides lovely shops, the pedestrian area offers great historical attractions and literally
the biggest one is Munich’s Cathedral.
The Massive 15th century church has huge twin bell towers, a symbol of Munich.
Twin towers are such an important landmark that no new building is permitted to exceed
their height.
One of the bell towers offers the highest vantage point in the old town and before you
ask, yes, it has an elevator.
Massive church has a simple, vast interior split by a double row of 22 pillars.
According to legend the Devil himself provided money for the construction.
His condition was that the building would have no windows to celebrate darkness.
When the Devil stepped into the church he could see no windows, although there was light.
After taking a few steps, the pillars revealed the windows.
Angry Devil stamped his foot, forever marking the floor with his footprint.
But Munich has even more popular places of devotion, its world famous beer halls.
And this is it, the Hofbräuhaus, one of the world’s most famous taverns and the cradle
of Bavarian beer culture.
Every day huge crowds of people visit its immense beer halls, especially during the
Oktoberfest.
According to the legend, the Duke of Bavaria found the beer in Munich so bad that he commissioned
his own state brewery.
In 1589 The Hofbräuhaus brewery was built to produce beer for Bavarian royalty.
In the 1800s the Hofbräuhaus opened to the public and it quickly became the centre of
public and political life.
The brewery was moved to the suburbs, while the original building was remodeled to house
beer halls.
Its historical rooms are considered to be the cradle of Bavarian tavern culture and
in one of them Hitler even founded the Nazi Party.
100 years old tables are reserved for the regulars’ marked with a word Stammtisch
as tavern has more than 100 active groups of regulars who store their own personalised
beer mugs in a beer mug safe shelf.
Sure, old churches, old squares and old breweries are expected in Munich.
But the next three discoveries will surprise you.
First is an endless staircase called Umschreibung.
It stands as a sculpture in the atrium of an office building not far from Oktoberfest
fairground.
Two spiral staircases interlocked with each other are creating a continuous loop in the
form of a double helix.
Structure is impressively balanced on one point and represents a movement without destination.
Another surprise is a popular summer beach, although hundreds of kilometers away from
the sea.
River Isar has a popular section known as Flaucher with wide pebbled shores that invite
people to barbecues, swimming and relaxing.
The area got its name after the bar-keeper Johann Flaucher.
In the 19th century this man changed the former forester's lodge into one of the most visited
beer gardens in Munich.
Surprisingly the city centre of Munich has some serious surfing.
Artificial river Eisbach provides consistent waves that attract surfers and onlookers all
year round.
The waves on the Eisbach river are at the entrance to one of the biggest city parks
in Europe, English Garden Park.
The Park was designed in the style of an English landscape park hence its name.
Its landmark is a temple-like building called Monopteros that stands on a man-made hill
and offers a beautiful view of the city.
Another park landmark is the Chinese Tower from the late 1700s.
Around a wooden tower with five floors is the second largest beer garden in Munich with
about 7,000 seats.
The 25 metre tall tower was built as an observation deck.
Tower was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in its original style although it
no longer serves as an observation deck due to security reasons.
But one of many Munich city parks hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the summer
Olympic Games in 1972.
Unique Olympic Stadium with its world-famous tent roof was used for the opening and closing
ceremonies and now hosts cultural and sport events.
Here is also a green Olympic mountain rising above the Olympic lake.
After World War II Munich was heavily damaged and the area was used as a rubble dump.
But the Olympic Games gave the opportunity to transform a mountain of debris into a green
mountain with a 360 observation deck.
But the best view of Munich and the Alps is from the highest building in the city and
one of the highest towers in Europe.
The TV tower, known as Olympic Tower, has a viewing platform 190 meters above ground
that provides the widest and most spectacular panoramic view and can be visited daily from
9 am to 11 pm.
Right next to the Olympic park are the headquarters of world famous car and motorcycle brand BMW.
The complex is marked by a distinctive skyscraper and futuristic architectures of BMW Museum
and BMW World.
The BMW Museum is inside a famous circular building opened in 1973.
It shows more than 100-year history of the company, exhibits of cars, motorbikes and
engines, tracking milestones and BMW’s design from its roots to present day.
The museum is connected to another masterpiece of modern architecture, BMW World.
Here you can see the latest BMW cars and motorbikes and you can also tour the factory.
Back in the old town is a hidden gem, widely overseen by tourists.
It’s this church from the 1700s that was built as a private chapel by two brothers.
But due to its crazy interior it soon became a public church named after the two brothers.
As a private chapel it could avoid restrictions that normally apply to churches and if you
peek inside you will see why.
Unfortunately it’s absolutely crazy and over the top Baroque interior can be seen
only from the entrance.
Still, you can see almost everything from the iron gates, although there are so many
details that you’ll never be able to see them all.
Sitting area of the church represents earth and is relatively dark and gloomy, but the
higher up you look the brighter the church becomes.
The brightly lit top level opens onto the sky and is dedicated to God and eternity.
As the seat of the Bavarian kingdom Munich has an impressive Royal palace.
Its western side opens up to this square with a boulevard, and both of them were commissioned
by King Ludwig I. King Ludwig was a fan of Italian architecture
and art as can be seen from a replica of the Loggia dei Lanzi from Florence.
It is dedicated to the Bavarian army as it houses bronze statues of Bavarian generals.
Opposite to the Royal palace is the striking bright yellow facade of Theatiner Church also
in the style of the Italian Baroque.
Square opens up towards the city's grandest boulevard, royal avenue of Ludwigstrasse that
used to serve for state parades.
And this was the seat of the Bavarian kingdom, the largest inner-city palace in Germany.
The Munich Residence was the seat of government and residence of Bavarian dukes, electors
and kings for more than 400 years, until the end of the First World War.
Much of the Residence was destroyed during the Second World War, but it was gradually
reconstructed and refurbished to its original state and once again reflects the power and
wealth of the Bavarian monarchs.
It is one of the largest museum complexes and to see its 130 rooms will take some time.
King Ludwig I expanded the Residence complex and decorated it in his bellowed Italian Renaissance
style.
At the ticket office you won’t find guided tours, but you can go around on your own using
a free audio guide.
Be sure to check an amazing barrel-vaulted banquet hall with frescos, created to show
off the extensive Royal collection of antiques.
You also shouldn’t miss a Treasury with a collection of jewels spanning more than
1000 years, including the Crown of Princess Blanche, the oldest-surviving royal crown
of England.
Worth checking out are also beautiful Royal Gardens known as Hofgarten.
They are surrounded by impressive arcade-style passages decorated with frescoes and home
to the German Theatre Museum.
At the centre of the park stands a pavilion from the 1600s, popularly known as Diana Temple.
This is a very popular and relaxing park with free entrance.
On the outskirts of Munich are the most impressive remains of royal splendour that dominated
Bavaria over centuries.
One of the largest royal palaces in Europe served as a summer residence of Bavarian kings
and its width even exceeds the famous French Versailles.
When founded in the 1600s, a lavishly-decorated Baroque-style palace was built on the open
field outside the city.
You can visit the interior to admire well preserved exquisite decoration and furnishings
of the era.
The highlights include a Rococo-style ballroom, the Queen's Bedroom with the bed on which
famous King Ludwig II was born, and a collection of portraits of beautiful women admired by
Ludwig I.
The palace also houses various museums including one of the world's most important collections
of court carriages and the world's largest collection of porcelain.
The enormous garden surrounding the Palace is based on the French gardens of Versailles
with a symmetrical layout and the magnificent grand staircase.
The rest of the park is predominantly an English landscape park with romantic little castles,
pavilions, lakes and bridges.
At the ticket office you can get an audio guide, but there is also a Park app that helps
you discover the property.
There's a lot to see here, so be prepared to do a lot of walking and to spend at least
half a day.
But besides amazing attractions, you should also explore Munich’s amazing food and beer
in the top right corner.
Also check my favourite Munich’s tours and experiences in the description below.
My name is Rok, Super Thanks for the thumbs up and for watching and see you next time.