Munich 5 Day Itinerary

Munich is not the cheap, rough-edged city that Berlin gets credit for being, and it does not try to be. It is expensive, orderly, extremely good-looking, and has the largest urban park in Europe, the oldest beer garden culture on the continent, and three world-class art museums within a ten-minute walk of each other. Five days here is enough time to get under the surface rather than just box-ticking the Marienplatz selfies.

Getting from the airport into the city

Munich Airport (MUC) is 40 kilometres northeast of the centre. The S-Bahn lines S1 and S8 both connect the airport to Marienplatz in about 40 minutes and run every 10 minutes between them throughout the day and evening. A single ticket costs around €14.30 in zone 5 (which covers the airport zone). A better option if you are staying three or more days is the MVV IsarCard or a day pass; the Airport City Day Ticket covers the full journey for around €16.30. Buy at the machines in the airport lower level before boarding, stamp it, and keep it for inspectors. Taxis cost roughly €65-80 to the city centre depending on traffic. The Lufthansa Airport Bus runs to the main station for around €12 and takes 45 minutes.

Where to stay

The Lehel and Maxvorstadt neighbourhoods put you within walking distance of Marienplatz and the Pinakothek museums without the Altstadt tourist premium. Schwabing, north of the English Garden, is quieter and popular with longer-stay visitors. Budget: €100-140 per night for a clean mid-range hotel. If you want to splurge once, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten on Maximilianstrasse is the historic choice, with rates starting around €300.

Day 1: Arrival, Altstadt, and First Beer

Once you have checked in, walk to Marienplatz. The Glockenspiel on the Neues Rathaus performs at 11am, noon, and 5pm (3pm in winter); it is a mechanical carillon clock that re-enacts a 16th-century jousting tournament and is more enjoyable than it sounds. The Altes Rathaus, the Gothic hall at the eastern end of the square, dates to the 15th century and houses a small toy museum that most visitors skip.

For an early dinner on Day 1, Augustiner Bräustuben in Landsberger Strasse is the place to go. This is where Munich locals actually drink, not the tourists-by-the-thousand Hofbräuhaus. The communal tables, the Schweinshaxe (crispy roasted pork knuckle), and the unfiltered Augustiner lager from wooden barrels are the genuine article. Budget about €20-25 per person including drinks. Get there by 6pm to secure a seat without a wait.

Day 2: Nymphenburg Palace and the English Garden

Nymphenburg Palace, four kilometres west of the city centre, is the summer residence the Wittelsbachs built and expanded from 1664 onwards. The main building and its hall of beauties (a gallery of 36 painted portraits commissioned by Ludwig I of women he found attractive) are worth an hour. The baroque gardens behind the palace are free to walk and contain canals, fountains, and hunting lodges. Entrance to the palace itself costs around €8.

In the afternoon, take the U-Bahn or a 30-minute walk to the English Garden. At 3.7 square kilometres it is larger than Central Park in New York and feels more like countryside than city. The Eisbach wave, a standing river wave where surfers queue to take turns on a 10-second ride in a channel beneath a bridge near the Haus der Kunst museum, is one of Munich’s most unexpected sights. Watching on a sunny afternoon is free. The Chinese Tower beer garden in the middle of the garden seats around 7,000 people and is good for an afternoon Mass (the litre stein), though the food is unremarkable. Better to drink here and eat elsewhere.

Day 3: Museums and Glockenbachviertel

The Kunstareal in Maxvorstadt contains three Pinakothek galleries within five minutes of each other. The Alte Pinakothek holds Dutch and Flemish masters (Rubens, Dürer, Rembrandt) in a neoclassical building that was bomb-damaged in the war and deliberately left partially unrestored; the patched walls are part of the experience. The Pinakothek der Moderne has the best design and applied arts collection in Germany. Pick one in the morning and spend two hours rather than rushing both.

In the afternoon, walk south to Glockenbachviertel. This is Munich’s creative, LGBTQ-friendly neighbourhood with independent coffee shops, small galleries, and restaurants that are not performing Bavarian tradition at tourists. Wirtshaus zum Straubinger in this area does classic Bavarian food with a lighter hand than the tourist spots in the Altstadt, including Saure Zipfel (white sausages in a vinegary onion broth) and good local cheeses. Dinner here runs €25-35 per person.

The Deutsches Museum on Museum Island in the Isar river is the largest science and technology museum in the world by floor area and deserves its own half-day. If the itinerary feels overfull, swap Day 3 afternoon for a longer museum morning here.

Day 4: Dachau Memorial Site

The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site is 16 kilometres northwest of Munich and reachable by S-Bahn and bus in about an hour from Marienplatz. Entry is free. Guided tours cost €3 for the audio guide. This is not a comfortable experience, which is the point. The camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps, opened in 1933, and the memorial is meticulously documented with survivor testimony, photographs, and preserved structures including the roll-call square, barracks foundations, and the crematorium. Budget at least 3 hours. The guided tour, which departs at set times and is available in English, is worth taking on a first visit.

Return to Munich in the afternoon. Viktualienmarkt, Munich’s permanent outdoor food market a short walk from Marienplatz, closes around 6pm on weekdays; if you get back in time it is the best place to pick up cheese, cured meats, and produce. There is also a small beer garden in the middle of the market.

For dinner, Zum Dürnbraü on Tal Strasse has been a tavern on that site since 1487 and serves uncomplicated Bavarian standards (roast pork, dumplings, sauerkraut) at prices that are fair for the location. The dining room is small and slightly dark and has been there long enough to not need to impress anyone.

Day 5: Day Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein is the castle that inspired the Disney logo and receives roughly 1.5 million visitors a year. This requires advance booking, ideally months ahead in summer. Tickets cost €21 for adults (under 18 free), plus a €2.50 online booking fee, and include a timed entry for a 30-minute guided tour of the interior. The castle is near Füssen, two hours from Munich by train using the Bayern Ticket (which covers all of Bavaria on regional trains for €29 per person, or €50 for up to 5 people). Take the S-Bahn to Munich Hauptbahnhof and then a direct regional train to Füssen.

From Füssen, a bus covers the 5 kilometres to the castle village of Hohenschwangau. A horse-drawn carriage ride (around €8) takes you partway up; otherwise it is a 30-40 minute walk on a paved road. The views from the Marienbrücke footbridge above the castle are the iconic ones; arrive early and cross the bridge before the queues build. The castle interior is grandiose and unfinished, Ludwig II having died in 1886 before construction was complete, which gives the rooms a strange, ambitious incompleteness that is more interesting than a finished palace would be.

The Bayern Ticket is valid for the return journey. Try to catch a late afternoon train to be back in Munich by 7pm for a final dinner at Restaurant Tantris in Schwabing, the city’s flagship for contemporary German cooking with a Michelin star. Book weeks in advance. If Tantris is beyond budget, Gasthaus Isarthor near Isartor offers genuinely good Bavarian cooking at honest prices with a predominantly local crowd.

Transport within Munich

The MVV network covers U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams, and buses. A single ticket within the inner zones costs around €3.70; day passes are €9.20 for one person in the inner rings. Validate tickets before boarding (stamp in the blue machines on the platform). Cycling is excellent in Munich; rental bikes are available at many S-Bahn stations and the city bike share scheme operates throughout the inner city. Walking between the Altstadt, Maxvorstadt, and Glockenbachviertel is completely viable and often faster than waiting for the U-Bahn at off-peak hours.

Practical notes

Munich is an expensive German city by German standards. Expect to pay €5-6 for a coffee, €8-12 for a lunch plate, and €20-35 for dinner before drinks. Beer gardens typically allow you to bring your own food if you buy your drinks there, a rule that goes back to a 19th-century decree and remains in force. Water from Munich taps is excellent quality alpine water and there is no need to buy bottles.