Munich
Neighborhoods
Each district has its own personality
Munich Neighborhoods
Find the right area for your travel style
Altstadt (Old Town)
The civic and tourist heart of Munich: Marienplatz with the New Town Hall glockenspiel show at 11am and noon, the Frauenkirche's twin onion domes, the Residenz palace complex, the Hofbräuhaus, and the Viktualienmarkt food market. Crowded with tour groups 10am-4pm; quieter mornings and after dinner.
Maxvorstadt (Museum Quarter)
The university and museum quarter just north-west of the old town: three Pinakothek museums covering Alte (Old Masters), Neue (19th-century, currently closed for renovation), and Moderne (20th-21st century), plus the Brandhorst, Glyptothek, and Lenbachhaus. Student energy from LMU and TUM, independent cafes and bookshops, and the Königsplatz neoclassical square as the architectural anchor.
Schwabing & Englischer Garten
Schwabing is the historic bohemian / student quarter of Munich, north of Maxvorstadt: independent bookshops, cafes, and brunch spots cluster around Türkenstraße and Hohenzollernstraße. The Englischer Garten - at 4 sq km, larger than Central Park - anchors the whole district to the east, with the Eisbach surfers at the south end, the Chinesischer Turm beer garden in the middle, and the Kleinhesseloher See lake to the north.
Olympiapark & Nymphenburg
The western Munich axis: Olympiapark with the 1972 architecture (the iconic tent-canopy roof), the Olympiaturm viewpoint, BMW Welt and the BMW Museum next door, plus a 15-minute U-Bahn ride south to the Nymphenburg Palace summer residence with its formal gardens. Touristy but architecturally and culturally substantial.