The Deutsches Museum occupies an entire island in the middle of the Isar River. Once known as the Coal Island, this spot served as a site for rafting wood and storing fuel until the city of Munich donated it for the project in nineteen oh…
The Essential Munich
This tour walks you through the absolute must-see historic landmarks, royal plazas, and cultural institutions in the heart of Bavaria's capital.
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1. Deutsches Museum
2. Viktualienmarkt
The Viktualienmarkt is marked by the tall, blue-and-white painted maypole that rises above its central beer garden. This open-air market serves as the primary food hub for the heart of Munich, occupying a sprawling area between the…
3. St. Peter's Church & Tower
St. Peter’s Church is identified by the ninety-one-meter tower that locals call Alter Peter, or Old Peter. Standing on a rise known as the Petersbergl, this is the oldest recorded parish church in Munich. Its history is tied to the city’s…
4. Marienplatz
Marienplatz is identified by the towering Mariensäule, a column topped with a golden statue of the Virgin Mary that has presided over the center of the square since sixteen thirty-eight. This square has been the heart of Munich since the…
5. Frauenkirche
The Frauenkirche is defined by its twin brick towers capped with rounded, copper onion domes. These towers rise nearly ninety-nine meters above the city, and municipal regulations prevent any new buildings in the center of Munich from…
6. Hofbräuhaus München
The Hofbräuhaus München is recognizable by its three-story facade and its central location at the Platzl, where it has stood since seventeen hundred and seven. Originally commissioned in fifteen eighty-nine by Duke Wilhelm the Fifth, it…
7. Munich Residence
The Munich Residence is the largest inner-city palace in Germany. You can identify this massive complex by its ten interconnected courtyards and its sprawling facade that shifts between Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical…
8. Eisbachwelle
The Eisbachwelle is a standing wave that forms on a man-made river at the edge of the Englischer Garten. You can identify the spot by the crowd of onlookers gathered at the water's edge, watching surfers take turns riding a continuous,…
9. BMW Welt
BMW Welt is distinguished by its vast, cloud-shaped steel roof that appears to float above the ground, supported by only eleven columns. Designed by the Vienna-based architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, this futuristic structure in Munich…