Hello everyone! Munich, (German name München), is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria. It’s also the 3rd biggest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg.
Munich is famous for its breweries and the Weissbier (white beer or wheat beer) is a speciality from Bavaria. When I first got to know Munich, I know it’s famous for beer, it’s the headquarter of BMW and its Oktoberfest – the world’s largest Volksfest, held annually in Munich. It usually lasts for 16-18 days with more than 6 million people from around the world attending every year. During this festival, of course, large quantities of beer are consumed.
As I mentioned in my previous post about the three art museums (the Alte and Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne), today I’m gonna take you to have a look round Marienplatz, from where you can easily visit Saint Peter’s Church, St.Michael’s Church, Frauenkirche, the old and new Town Hall and for beer lovers, the Hofbräuhaus. Also, we will go a little bit further to have a look at the Olympiapark, where the 1972 Summer Olympics took place. Besides these, I’ll also shoe you what other attractions that Munich has and you can decide in which you’re interested.
Marienplatz
Marienplatz is a central square in the city centre of Munich. It has been the city’s main square since 1158.
Today the Marienplatz is dominated by the New City Hall (Neues Rathaus) on the north side, in whose tower the Glockenspiel draws millions of tourists a year. At the east side Munich’s Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) is located. Also, nearby are the Saint Peter’s Church, St.Michael’s Church and Frauenkirche.
Saint Peter’s Church
St. Peter’s Church is a Roman Catholic church in the inner city of Munich. It is also the oldest church in the district.
Here I strongly recommend a climb to the top of the tower. 299 steps and a great view!
If you want to enjoy a view of the entire city center from the tower of St. Peter’s parish church, you must first climb no less than 299 steps. Once you reach the top, the panoramic view of Munich’s center makes up for the effort. When the weather is very good, the view even reaches to the Alps.
- The full price ticket is only 3 Euros (reduced price for 2 Euro)and it’s absolutely worth it if you can willing to do some climbing.
- The church is open from 9:00 – 19:30 on weekdays and 10:00 – 19:30 on weekends.
The tower:
- Summer hours (March to June and October): Monday – Friday: 9:00 – 18:30. Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 10:00 – 18:30.
- Summer hours (July to September): Monday – Friday: 9:00 – 20:30. Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 10:00 – 18:30.
- Winter hours: Monday – Friday: 9:00 – 17:30. Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 10:00 – 17:30.
St.Michael’s Church
St Michael is a Jesuit church in Munich, and it’s also the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The style of the building had an enormous influence on Southern German early Baroque architecture.
For more info about the opening hours please click here.
Frauenkirche
Frauenkirche (English name, Cathedral of Our Dear Lady) is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city, mostly because of the two, as I call them, “Onion” towers. The church towers are widely visible because of local height limits. According to Wikipedia, when you enter the church, “from the main portal, the view seems to be only the rows of columns with no windows and translucent “walls” between the vaults through which the light seems to shine. The spatial effect of the church is connected with a legend about a footprint in a square tile at the entrance to the nave, the so-called “devil’s footstep”.”
Opening hours: every day 7:30 – 20:30
Unfortunately, the tower is still under renovation so you can’t really climb up now.
If you wanna know more about the cathedral or tours please click here. (However, unfortunately the info is only available in German, if you have specific questions please contact me and I’ll try to help you to find out the answer.)
Hofbräuhaus – Heaven for Beer Lovers
To be honest, I’m not a beer lover, or even worse, I don’t really like beer……However, even if you’re like me, you don’t like beer, still, come here and immerse yourself in the cheerful atmosphere here. With live music and women dressed in traditional bavarian clothes selling pretzels, here is a restaurant you should never miss. Unfortunately, they don’t have small glass of beer, but if you look closely at the menu you will find a drink called wheat beer with lemonade. Actually, it’s not bad. 🙂 By the way, don’t forget to oder a dish called Haxe. Even though I don’t like pork, I liked Haxe.
Admittedly there are so so so many people here, both locals and tourists, but the restaurant here is also huge, look closely, you will find a seat. Don’t be shy if you have to share a table for 8 with some other people. 🙂
The Restaurant is open from 9:00 – 23:30 everyday.
The Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München is a brewery in Munich, owned by the Bavarian state government. The Hof comes from the brewery’s history as a royal brewery in the Kingdom of Bavaria. The brewery owns the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, the Hofbräukeller and one of the largest tents at the Oktoberfest.
There are many types of beer brewed using original recipes handed down by Wilhelm V, the Duke of Bavaria. The current beers produced include a Weißbier and Helles, Maibock, Dunkel and Oktoberfest lagers.
According to Wikipedia, “the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus was founded in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm V. It is one of Munich’s oldest beer halls. It was originally founded as the brewery to the old Royal Residence. The beer quickly became quite popular thanks to the first brewer, Heimeran Pongratz, and the famous “Bavarian Beer Purity Law” of 1516 that stated that only natural ingredients could be used in the brewing process. Maximilian I, Wilhelm’s son and heir, did not care much for the popular Braunbier, which was the dark and heavy brown beer. So, in the beginning of the 17th century Maximilian I turned the brewery’s focus onto wheat beers and forbade all other private breweries to brew wheat beer, thus creating a monopoly. In 1612, Heimeran Pongraz’s successor, Elias Pichler, was under pressure to brew a stronger beer, hence the Maibock. In fact, the Maibock beer became so famous that it once saved the city from annihilation. When King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invaded Bavaria during the Thirty Years’ War in 1632, he threatened to sack and burn the entire city of Munich. He agreed to leave the city in peace if the citizens surrendered some hostages, and 600,000 barrels of Hofbräuhaus beer.”
Olympiapark
The Olympiapark München in Munich, is an Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. In the Olympic Area: there are Olympic sports facilities such as the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Hall with Olympic Tower. Also in this area are the Olympic Swim Hall and Olympic Event Hall. The Olympic Park adjoins the Olympic Area to the south, and it includes the Olympic Mountain and Olympic Lake.
I came here at dusk and if you didn’t tell me I wouldn’t have thought that here was for Summer Olympics. It was so quiet and beautiful. The lake, the hill, the sunset, the entire atmosphere, it feels that everything is gonna sleep soon.
I guess in the daytime, it’s quite different here. If you are interested in various activities here such as Roof Climb, Flying FoxFlying Fox, Stadium-Tour incl. Olympia-Lobby, Tour de Park (once Adventure-Tour), Teambuilding, iChallenge please click here for motor info.
Also, if you are interested in cars, BMW museum is closeby. For more info concerning opening hours please click here. For more info concerning tickets please click here.
Some Other Attractions
In this section, I added captions to all the pictures that I remember or recommend you to go and have a look. I especially recommend here Bayerische Staatskanzlei, Hofgarten, English Garden, Siegestor, Karlstor, Victuals Market and Bavaria Statue.
Bayerische Staatskanzlei
Hofgarten
Bayerische Staatsoper
English Garden
Siegestor
Siegestor
Sirgestor
Siegestor
Siegestor
Siegestor
Siegestor
Karlstor
Victuals Market
Victuals Market
Bavaria Statue
Bavaria Statue
Thank you for reading my post, I hope now you have some ideas about where to go and what to see in Munich. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me. I wish you a pleasant journey in Müchen. 🙂
