Best things to do in Munich, including free and rainy-day options

Munich is compact enough that you can walk the old town in a morning and still reach a beer garden by afternoon. The table below sorts the main options by what they cost and how long they take, so you can build a day without crossing the city twice.

Start at Marienplatz, where the Glockenspiel in the new town hall chimes twice a day and the crowd gathers below. The Frauenkirche, Munich's twin-towered cathedral, is a few minutes' walk and free to enter outside services. From there the Viktualienmarkt food market is the natural lunch stop: stalls sell sausages, cheese, bread and beer, and there is a beer garden in the middle of it.

The Englischer Garten is the city's best free afternoon. It runs for kilometres along the Isar, with lawns, paths, a Chinese tower beer garden and, at the southern end, a standing wave where surfers queue on the river. Bring a picnic or buy at the beer garden; there is no entry fee.

For rain, the Deutsches Museum is the big one, covering science and technology across several floors, and the Pinakothek group covers art from old masters to modern. The Residenz, the former royal palace, has a long sequence of rooms and a treasury. All three are large; pick one per wet day rather than trying to combine them.

Olympiapark, north of the centre, is free to walk and gives the best view of the city from the hill built from wartime rubble. BMW Welt next door is free to enter; the BMW Museum beside it charges. This is the easiest half-day with children.

Day trips are the reason many people come. Neuschwanstein and Füssen are the classic, but they need a full day and a booked castle slot. Garmisch-Partenkirchen puts you under the Zugspitze for hiking or skiing. Ingolstadt is a shorter train ride and works as a half-day for the car museums and old town. Salzburg is about 1 h 30 by train and can be done as a long day.

Munich is not a cheap city, but the free options are genuinely good, so a day can be built at almost any budget. The figures below are 2026 estimates and will move with the season.

Buy transport tickets before boarding and validate them where required; inspectors do check. A day ticket usually beats single fares once you make three or more trips. The airport is on the S-Bahn, so the same network covers arrival.

Book Oktoberfest accommodation and any Neuschwanstein slot months ahead if those are your reasons for coming. Otherwise May to October gives you the beer gardens and the Alps at their best, and December brings the Christmas markets. Munich is a safe city by European standards, but keep the usual watch on bags in crowds and at the station.