Sights of Munich
What a whirlwind Munich was! I’m very thankful that Oleksandr and his family hosted me. During my short stay, I got to celebrate my birthday at Oktoberfest and visit a few interesting spots in the capital of Germany.
Unless otherwise indicated, admission is free and opening hours are 24/7. City center and directions in this post are oriented around Marienplatz.
BMW Welt
Am Olympiapark 1, 80809 München, Germany
BMW Welt is one building out of three that you can visit to learn more about BMW’s history and product development. This third of the complex is like a huge showroom of current vehicles with a few historical ones sprinkled throughout.
Out of all the cars on display, I loved the Isetta most. There’s also an entire section devoted to the Mini brand.
Admission and hours
Visiting BMW Welt is free, but admission is charged for the museum and plant tours. The building is open Mondays-Saturdays 07:30-midnight and Sundays 09:00-midnight. For specific features of the building, check their detailed hours.
Getting there and back
From Marienplatz, you can take U-bahn line 3 to the Olympiazentrum station in less than 20 minutes. BMW Welt is a five-minute walk from the station.
English Garden
If you want to take a break from the big city hustle and bustle, head to the English Garden, particularly the northern half. There always seemed to be a form of water nearby, whether in the form of a pond, creek, or small waterfall.
And who knows? You might see some striped geese amongst the sunbathers!
Getting there and back
It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the park from Marienplatz.
Altes Rathaus
Marienplatz 15, 80331 München, Germany
The Old Town Hall dates back to the 14th century and is now home to the Toy Museum. (I didn’t go inside the building, so admission and hours were irrelevant.) It has multiple statues around the perimeter, including one of Juliet from the tragic Shakespeare play.
Neues Rathaus
Marienplatz 8, 80331 München, Germany
The New Town Hall has been actively used for government business since 1874.
It also attracts tourists daily because of the glockenspiel that plays every day at 11:00. In summer, it also plays daily at 12:00 and 17:00.
Munich is sister cities with quite a few places around the globe.
If you look carefully, you’ll spot some interesting details, such as these rats from the plague.
Admission and hours
You can pay to take an elevator to the top of the tower during the following times:
- October-April: Monday-Friday 10:00-17:00
- May-September: daily 10:00-19:00
Oktoberfest
Theresienwiese, Bavariaring, 80336 München, Germany
Since 1810, Oktoberfest has been getting people wasted on beer in Munich every year. There were 11 large tents this year, the most famous party tent being the Hofbräu Festzelt. You’ll encounter more foreigners than locals here. I love how they used 600kg of hops to make the wreaths hanging from the ceiling, and Aloisius the angel showers people with beer on occasion.
Arguably the best beer at the festival is made by Augustiner. This tent was where I grabbed my first beer of the day, and I also met a sweet couple (Griffin and Paige) from Chicago on their honeymoon.
My second tent was Löwenbräu because I heard it has the best traditional music. It also had the most number of people attempt to chug their entire maß of beer in front of the entire hall. I met an Australian guy who was also celebrating his birthday (along with his friends), and Emily from LA and Barrett from NY were solid drinking partners.
Emily’s favorite beer is Paulaner, so that was my third stop. An Aussie bought me a birthday maß, and I really should have stopped drinking halfway through this beer. We met three Spanish dudes from Valencia here.
My last tent of the night was Hacker-Pschorr’s Festzelt, which is the most beautifully designed tent and is nicknamed the Heaven of the Bavarians. I don’t remember if I drank my last maß or not since I was seeing more stars than were painted on the ceiling.
Admission and hours
No admission is actually charged at the entrance, but each maß beer was €11.00-11.50 this year. Tents are mostly open from 10:00-22:30 on weekdays and 09:00-22:30 on weekends. Music starts around noon and ends when the tents close.
You can also make reservations for tables in each tent, but it’s quite expensive, so be prepared for sticker shock. I just went in and found seats in the sections for people without reservations. This was pretty easy to do before 18:00 on a Monday.
Getting there and back
You can either walk less than half an hour to reach it from Marienplatz, or take the U-bahn line 4 or 5 to the Theresienwiese station.