Munich

Munich has a way of catching you off guard. You arrive expecting beer halls and baroque churches — and you get those, in abundance — but then you turn a corner in Haidhausen and find yourself in a quiet courtyard that feels nothing like a city of 1.5 million. The Bavarian capital packs an extraordinary range into a remarkably walkable centre, from the neogothic splendour of Marienplatz to the sprawling greenery of the Englischer Garten, one of the largest urban parks anywhere in the world. Few German cities wear their history quite so comfortably.

What to See in Munich

Glockenspiel

The Munich Glockenspiel is the city's most-watched spectacle. Forty-three bells and a cast of mechanical figures re-enact scenes from Munich's past on the tower of the Neues Rathaus, three times daily. Arrive a few minutes early — the square fills up quickly at the 11am and noon performances, particularly in summer.

Peterskirche

Munich's oldest church sits just a short walk from Marienplatz. Its tower — 91 metres of worn stone steps — rewards those who make the climb with what is widely regarded as the finest rooftop view over the old town. On a clear day, the Alps appear on the horizon like a stage backdrop.

Asamkirche

Tucked along Sendlinger Straße, the Asamkirche is easy to walk past without realising what lies inside. Step through the door and the Asam brothers' 18th-century Baroque-Rococo interior hits you immediately — every surface gilded, carved or painted with a density that borders on the overwhelming. Extraordinary, and entirely free to enter.

Theatinerkirche

That vivid yellow façade beside Odeonsplatz is impossible to miss. The Theatinerkirche is one of Munich's most elegant Baroque churches, its distinctive domes visible from several streets away. The interior is calmer than you might expect — cool, white and unexpectedly serene given the theatrical exterior.

Chinesischer Turm

A five-storey wooden pagoda in the middle of a park sounds improbable, but the Chinesischer Turm is one of the Englischer Garten's most familiar sights. It anchors a huge beer garden — one of the busiest in the city — where Münchners gather on warm afternoons regardless of whether there's a special occasion. Turn up, find a bench and join the queue for a Maß.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Around 120 kilometres south of Munich, King Ludwig II's Romanesque Revival castle sits above the Bavarian Alps with the composed confidence of something that knows it's been photographed a million times. It is a full day out from the city, but most visitors consider it essential. The castle famously inspired the design of Disney's fairy-tale castle — which gives it a curious double life in the popular imagination.

Glyptothek

Founded by Ludwig I and designed by Leo von Klenze, the Glyptothek on Königsplatz holds one of the world's finest collections of Greek and Roman sculpture. The building itself — neoclassical and quietly imposing — is as much a reason to visit as the works inside. Directly opposite, the Staatliche Antikensammlung rounds out an afternoon with ceramics, bronzes and gold- and glassware.

Bavarian National Museum

For a deeper understanding of the region, the Bavarian National Museum is hard to beat. Its collections span medieval art, traditional crafts, costumes and an internationally recognised display of nativity scenes. It is the kind of museum that rewards a slow visit — the sort of place where you keep meaning to leave and then find yourself in another room.

Audio Guide of Munich with Guipock

Walking around Munich with a Munich audio guide changes the experience considerably. Rather than standing in front of the Glockenspiel wondering what you're missing, you actually understand what's being depicted — and why it mattered. The Guipock app is built for exactly this kind of self-guided city visit.

The audio is produced using high-quality generated audio, available across a wide range of languages and regional accents — including en-GB, en-US, en-AU, de-DE, de-AT, fr-FR, fr-CA and more. Whether you prefer to hear your Munich audio guide app in a familiar British accent or you're travelling with family members who'd rather listen in German or French, everyone is covered from the same download.

Navigation is handled via a GPS-guided map that tracks your position as you move through the city. When you reach a point of interest, Guipock notifies you so you can open the audio guide for that stop — no fiddling with a map trying to work out which church you're looking at, and no worrying about missing something important because you took a wrong turn.

Signal in the Englischer Garten or around the Königsplatz museums isn't always reliable. That's not a problem: the app supports offline download, so you can pull everything onto your phone before leaving your hotel and use it freely without mobile data for the rest of the day.

Travelling as a family? The family code feature means a single purchase covers everyone in the group. Each person listens from their own device, in their own preferred language — no sharing phones, no waiting. And for younger visitors, the children's mode adapts the commentary to a shorter format with language and details suited to children, so they stay engaged rather than tuning out halfway through.

How to Make the Most of Your Visit to Munich

Most of Munich's historic centre is very manageable on foot. Marienplatz sits at the heart of it, and the majority of the old-town sights — Peterskirche, the Asamkirche, the Viktualienmarkt, the Hofbräuhaus — are within a ten- or fifteen-minute walk in any direction. For longer stretches, the city has an integrated public transport network covering the U-Bahn underground, S-Bahn suburban rail, trams and buses, all on a single fare system.

From the airport, the S1 and S8 lines run directly to the Hauptbahnhof in around 40 to 45 minutes. There is also a Lufthansa Express Bus service that stops in Schwabing on the way into the centre — a useful option if you're staying in the north of the city.

Two full days gives you enough time to cover the main sights without feeling rushed. A third day is worth considering if you want to visit Neuschwanstein Castle or spend a proper afternoon in the Englischer Garten. The Englischer Garten alone can absorb several hours — the park is genuinely vast, and it's easy to lose track of time between the beer garden at the Chinesischer Turm and the river surfers at the Eisbach.

The neighbourhood of Schwabing, north of the city centre, retains a Bohemian atmosphere that dates back to the early 20th century. Haidhausen, on the east bank of the Isar, is quieter and more residential — good for an evening walk or a meal away from the tourist circuit. The Viktualienmarkt, with over 140 stalls and an open-air beer garden in the very centre of town, is the best place to eat well between sights without sitting down for a full lunch.

Munich is a year-round destination, but the city is at its most vivid in late spring and early summer, when the beer gardens open and the Englischer Garten fills with locals making the most of the longer days. If you're visiting during Oktoberfest in late September and early October, book accommodation several months in advance — demand is significant and prices reflect that.