Your Guide to a Weekend in Munich

I admit, Munich was not how I imagined it would be. And that’s not a bad thing. I originally thought it was going to be less modern than it was. But it’s about as modern a city as there is in the world. It’s also got a historic district and the two blend together very nicely.  

The German city is in Bavaria (south eastern part of Germany) and is home to roughly 1.5 million people. With its size, there’s no shortage of options at  your disposal during a visit. But what should you do if you’re planning to hit it and then quit it after a few days? Here’s your list:
​

Hofbrauhaus

Okay, so this is a basically the place in Munich nowadays where if you don’t go, your visit to Munich “never happened.” It’s big. It’s crowded. It’s loud. And this is important: you seat yourself. Having said that, it’s a fun place to have a meal. I would recommend going because it is worth the experience. A company doesn’t open locations worldwide unless it’s good. Pro tip: if the upper floors are open, eat there.


Day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle

​Arguably my favorite part of the visit, this was a trip Crystal and I took (via train) from Munich to Füssen, Germany. Füssen is about a two hour ride from Munich. Once in Füssen, we took a short bus ride to the little mountain town just below Neuschwanstein.

I would recommend buying a tour of the castle in Munich. We used Viator to book one of the tours they offered. It wasn’t too expensive either. It was a fun and fascinating day.

​
BMW museum

​Even if you’re not a “car” person, this should still make the list of things to do. BMW and Munich have a long history together. The museum tells that story, along with the history of BMW and how it became the global power it is today. While you’re on the BMW campus, you can also test drive cars and more. Yes, you should go. It’s not that expensive, and it’s certainly a very unique experience.

​
Drink at a local biergarten

​I like doing things that aren’t advertised as “touristy” because it gives you a sense of what the city is really like. Finding a local biergarten to have a cold one is one way you can do that. The one Crystal and I went to was called Löwenbräukeller and it was quite spectacular.

​
Take a hop-on, hop-off tour

​I would highly recommend doing one of these. 

If you’re not familiar, a hop-on, hop-off tour is exactly how it sounds: you buy a ticket, get on a bus, get off when you want, and get back on when you want. The tour I did in Munich took us all over the downtown area, to the BMW museum, their old Olympic park, and back.

The best part about one of these is you can see a lot of the city at your pace. You can do it as fast or as slow as you want. 

​
Viktualienmarkt

Crystal and I didn’t spend much time here. In fact, we basically just briefly saw it, but it’s a place I would have liked to spend more time at and would certainly recommend it for you.

It’s basically a huge farmers market.


Bottom line

Munich is a great place to visit with a seemingly endless amount of things to do and beer to drink. I would highly recommend checking it out.

If you have any questions about Munich, let me know! I’d love to answer them. And if you want to know the one thing you should not do when planning a trip, go ahead and fill out the two lines below to find the answer. You'll also gain instant access to my FREE library of travel resources!