Munich Tourist Attractions

The city of Munich offers many tourist attractions and several dozen museums. Tourists can enjoy many local tours and day trips.

At Karlsplatz (Stachus), there is the Fussgangerzone or pedestrian zone, that is the main shopping district of Munich city. A popular attraction here is the Neues Ratheus, which is the new town hall. The town hall features an 85-meter/279 foot tower with a viewing platform at the top. It is also famous for it’s Glockenspiel or carillon, with mechanical dancers that perform the Schläffertanz or the Fish Fountain cooper’s dance. The dances are performed daily at 11am and 12pm, and in the summer at 5pm. The old town hall (Altes Ratheus) was destroyed twice over the years, once by fire in 1460, and lastly during the Second World War.

The Frauenkirche is featured on most of Munich’s postcards and is know as the ‘Church of Our Lady’. It is a Roman Catholic Cathedral with an interior that is longer than a football field. The south tower is open for visits most of the year, and stands approximately 100 meters tall and is 40 meters wide. Inside the church is the famous ‘footprint of the devil’.

Another church worth visiting is the Asamkirche, with elaborate architecture and a fairy-tale Bavarian Baroque interior.

All tourists love to see the Residenz Palace. The palace was built in 1385 and it’s first occupant was Duke Stephan III. It has many different architectural styles due to the additions built over the centuries. Inside the Residenz Palace is the Residenz Museum, which consists of around 120 rooms of interesting art, furnishings and other treasures. There is also the Antiquarium, Ancestral Gallery, Porcelain Gallery and the rococo-style Cuvillies Theater. The Schatzkammer requires a separate ticket for viewing the marvelous houses fashioned from precious gems and metals.

Today’s Viktualienmarkt is a modern and lively market with 140 shops and stalls. It is a favorite place for those who love to cook, as every type of vegetable and exotic fruit, venison, meat and sausage, fish and poultry, is for sale. The market has grown considerably since it was established in 1807, and is often the site of festivals and other special events.

Olympiapark is a site to see in Munich. It was originally built for the XXth Olympic Games in 1972, and today has an ice rink, an indoor pool, a residential district and student residences. Adventurous tourists can participate in a roof-climb, and enjoy a tour from on top of the stadium’s roof.

Other local attractions include the Tierpark Hellabrunn (Munich’s zoo), the Botanischer Garten and Bavaria Filmstadt.

The Maxvorstadt district is home to Munich’s leading art museums. Some of the museums here are the Glyptothek for Greek and Roman antiquities, the Neue Pinakothek for 18th to early 20th century art, the Alte Pinakothek for European paintings from the Middle Ages, and the Pinakothek der Moderne with collections of contemporary paintings and sculptures, design and applied arts, as well as the Bavarian state graphics collection.

Egyptian art can be admired at the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, and the Münchner Stadtmuseum outlines the history of Munich. The old town hall features the Spielzeugmuseum with a large collection of European and American dolls and toys.

The Deutsches Museum is Germany’s national technology and science museum. It features an underground mine that is definitely worth a visit. It also has two satellite collections, which are the Verkehrszentrum (transportation center) and the Flugwerft aviation museum.

One of the newer museums in Munich is the BMW Museum that opened in 2008. Visitors to the museum can also attend a BMW factory tour.

Other museums include the Bier und Oktoberfest Museum, the SiememsForum, the Filmmuseum, the Bayerisches National Museum, the Haus der kunst and the Jüdisches Museum.

Sightseeing in Munich can start right away, on your arrival at Munich Airport. Stop to visit the Besucherpark (Visitor’s Park) on your way to Munich and see the three historic aircraft on display in the huge exhibition center.