5 Days in Munich
Updated: Jul 10, 2025
When: September 2023
Danielle’s Highlight: Walking around downtown to different beer gardens with friends
Jason’s Highlight:
Where we stayed: WunderLocke, Sending. This was a lovely hotel with apartment-like rooms at a reasonable price. The lobby is hip and well styled with a coffee and alcohol bar. They have breakfast, lunch, and dinner options as well. It was less than a 5 minute walk to the train. It took about 15-20 minutes to get downtown. A 1 hour train ride to the airport or a 35 minute taxi ride.
TLDR: Munich is a fun city with history and lots of beer. Like other European cities, it is filled with historic and beautiful churches and buildings that will fill your afternoon. There are many WW2 monuments and sites within the city and that are nearby. It has plenty of great German food but is diverse enough that you can find any sort of restaurant. If you like beer, there’s no doubt you’ll have a fun time, especially in September. We were shocked with how affordable Munich was. They also have excellent public transportation. We recommend at least 2 days, but 3-4 days would be plentiful here.
Itinerary: This is our 5 day itinerary
Day One: We left SLC at 1:00 PM and with about 4 hours of sleep, landed in Munich at 10:00 AM. (See more on flight travel tips). It took us about 2 hours to get off the plane and drop our bags off at our hotel. The train is right outside the airport. After dropping our bags off, we headed to the Viktualienmarkt for lunch. We then walked over to St. Peter’s church and climbed the 10 flights to the top. Next was searching for Dirndls and Lederhosens. We went to Angermaier near the Viktualienmarkt, but some friends went to Leder Fischer a few days later and found much lower prices. After the ladies finished buying the dirndls, we met up with the guys at Doma which was around the corner. We finished the evening with dinner at Wirtshaus Zum Straubinger.
Viktualienmarkt: Make sure you have cash! I actually don’t remember the name of the beer garden we ate at, but you have several options to chose from and I think they are all similar. It was fun to stroll around and look at the vendors.
St. Peter’s: For 5 euros, you can walk to the top of the church where you’ll find a beautiful, 360 view of Munich. It’s a little challenge to get to the top but worth the view!
Doma: Cool atmosphere and good service. We went for cocktails/beers. They do sell food but we wanted to something different.
Wirtshaus Zum Straubinger: Jason’s favorite meal of the trip. He got the schnitzel and said it was great. Danielle got the pork which was a bit dry… overall it was a good beer garden.
Day Two: We were so eager to go to Oktoberfest Tuesday that we decided to just swing by this day (Sunday) for a beer. We took the train to the Oktoberfest area and decided to eat first. We went to Cafe Kustermann and had a traditional German breakfast. We then walked over to Oktoberfest and enjoyed beers and radlers. A radler is 50% beer and 50% lemonade soda. After our large and refreshing beverages, we made our way downtown and went to the Munich Residenz. We then walked through the garden’s behind the Residenz while we headed towards two WW2 landmarks. Near the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, you can see the White Rose Pavement Memorial and the Wunden der Erinnerung (Wounds of Memory) wall. We were starving by this point and found a nearby beer garden, Atzinger. After dinner we walked to the Eisbachwelle to watch people surf on the manmade wave. We took the route that went through the park which I highly recommend! Right next to the wave is an awesome little walk-up bar called Fräulein Grüneis, which we loved! We decided to finish the night with a bar near our hotel. If you happen to stay near where we did, you have to check out Harry’s!
Cafe Kustermann: Cute cafe with sit down or to go food. Lots of pastries, coffee, and the traditional breakfast consisting of a weisswurst, a pretzel, and a beer. It is on the route from the train to Oktoberfest.
Munich Residenz: Huge, fancy palace filled with history and ornate decor. You can spend hours here if you want, or take the short options (they had multiple short or long split offs as you walk through) to speed up your visit.
White Rose Pavement Memorial: Find scattered, bronze replicas of the leaflets distributed by students who opposed the Nazis. This is in front of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (48.1507, 11.5804). It took us a while to find, but look in front of the main front doors.
Wunden der Erinnerung: A brick wall that was damaged during WW2 and was never replaced. A quick stop but still powerful to see.
Atzinger: Classic beer garden with a wide variety of foods. We all got the burgers which were pretty good. If you’re nearby, it’s worth a stop but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
Eisbachwelle: A manmade wave right in downtown! We did not surf (1. no surf board, 2. no wet suit), but it was fun to watch the surfers and not be surrounded by concrete for a minute.
Fräulein Grüneis: A little bar with no frills outdoor seating and sting lights overhead. I would definitely come by here again for either a seat, or to grab a drink for a walk through the park!
Harry’s: If you’re in the Sendlinger area, this is a tiny dive bar that is perfect for that final drink before calling it a night.
White Rose Pavement Memorial, Wunden der Erinnerung, Eisenbachwelle, Fraulein Gruneis
Day Three: Breakfast was a coffee shop within the train station, and was surprisingly decent. We started the day early and booked a guided tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp. This was a heavy experience but if you travel to Munich, I wouldn’t miss this. Our original plan was to then go to the Nymphenburg Palace, but our group was hungry and we wanted something more relaxing. We went to lunch at Ruff’s which was near Karlspaltz, and then walked around Old Town, visiting the Asam Church and Frauenkirche. Right across from Frauenkirche is an Augustiner beer garden which we stopped at. We then made our way to the Dallmayr Delikatessenhaus for souvenirs and a treat. Next up was Herr Schafts Zeiten, a Paulaner bar. This had great ambiance and was perfect for a beer (or radler) and was dice games. We then went to the famous Hofbrauhaus which was like a mini Oktoberfest. We had heard the food wasn’t too great here, so we ended our night at Osteria Il Tenore for an Italian dinner.
Dachau Concentration Camp: This was a sombering and insightful experience that I highly recommend. We booked the “Dachau Tour from Munich” by “Go Tours Munich” through Viator. There are several tours to chose from. I was glad we did a tour, as it’s a huge place and our guide was able to provide a lot of knowledge that wasn’t on the informational plaques. However, I do think you could have a good experience without a tour.
Ruff’s Burger & Bar Glockenbach: This was recommended by our tour guide and we enjoyed it! I’ll say, none of the burgers in Germany matched the burgers I’ve had in the US (sorry!) but it was the best burger we had in Germany. It was a 10-15 minute walk from the Karlsplatz train station, where we came back from Dachau.
Asam Church and Frauenkirche: Asam is a super ornate, little church that was free to go into. It’s worth a pit stop on your way to Frauenkirche. Frauenkirche is a huge church similar to other European churches. It wasn’t as heavily decorated as others, but still a beautiful stop.
Dallmayr: Great spot to curve your sweet cravings and for souvenirs! They have wines, chocolates, various sweets, and a deli.
Hofbrauhaus: If you aren’t in Munich during Oktoberfest, then you should definitely swing by Hofbrauhaus just to get a taste of a big, beer drinking party. It is touristy, but because it’s fun. We skipped food here, as we were told by a local that HB is better for beer than cooking.
Osteria Il Tenore: Near Hofbrau, this was a small authentic appearing Italian restaurant. The pizza was delicious and I’d order that again! The bolognese and carbonara were not my favorite, but they were still good.
Day Four: Oktoberfest! We chose to go on a Tuesday so there would be less crowds and increase our chances of getting a table for our group of 9. Surprisingly we found tables at each tent we went to all day and night! Everyone says it’s best to get a reservation for a table, but we didn’t reserve in time and preferred the option to hop from tent to tent. I wouldn’t have wanted to sit at one table all day and night. Make sure you have plenty of cash and plan to tip a euro or two for drinks. The waitresses definitely expected a tip. There are sites that will go in depth on which tents are best for what. We just went in whatever tent we saw and they all were fun. They all had live music, beer, and drunk people. There are some tents that serve non-beer options. Also you can ask for water! but expect to pay. We ended the night at the Hofbrauhaus because we were told it is one of the biggest party tents. It lived up to the hype! Also do expect that people will be standing on benches by about 5pm, but don’t stand on the table! If you don’t want to drink a full mug of beer, you can ask for a radler ( a “radla” if you want to say it like the Germans) which is half beer, half lemonade.
Day Five: The hangover day. This day didn’t go according to plan… so I’ll tell you what we planned and what we actually did. Plan: rent a car and drive to the Neuschwanstein Castle. Our car rental was only $100 for the day. We wanted to drive because driving would take 1.5hr and train 3hr. We also wanted to stop along the way and check out the nearby lakes. There is another castle, the Hohenschwangau, that is right next to the Neuschwanstein and is also highly recommended online. Now for what we really did… realized that driving sounded awful, made sure we weren’t charged for the car yet, and found a brunch spot. While at brunch, we decided to officially bail on the castle and go to the Deutsches Museum of science and technology. Next up was dinner, gelato, and bed.
Spetz: This was a great breakfast and lunch spot. The salad was sooo good! I got the chicken sandwich but wish I’d ordered the salad. Everyone liked it.
Deutsches: When we chose this, it was because the website listed interactive exhibits. Though this was true, they weren’t as exciting as we had hoped. Definitely still a cool place to see, but I probably would have chosen another museum if I had a redo. This one just depends on the person. It is a huge museum though and you could spend hours there! My favorite sections were Health and Atoms.
Zum Dürnbräu: This was a very tasty dinner. We got the cheesy spaetzle and schnitzel. Both were delicious.
Overall Tips:
Flight tips: If you’re on the fence about upgrading your seat, do it!! We didn’t and faced the painful consequences. We did upgrade on our way home and it was 100% more comfortable. So, if an upgrade is a possibility for you, then definitely chose this option. I bought a foot swing/sling on Amazon that you hang over the tray table and this was wonderful. Obviously a good neck pillow is a life changer. The flight provided a light blanket and pretty lousy neck pillow; the neck pillow was only used as lumbar support. I find it’s best to just use earplugs for the most restful sleep (music and movies have too many pitch and volume changes that can wake you up). An eye mask also blocked out overhead lights and the nearby reader. My friend took Nyquil and said that helped. I wanted to avoid any possible hangover affect, so I took melatonin and a motion sickness med (I get motion sick and it makes you drowsy… win win).
Due to time and motivation we couldn’t see all the places we originally wanted to see. Some of the other places on our list were Nymphenburg Palace, the library in the Justizpalast, and Alte Pinakothek.
Pubic Transport: We had a big group so it was cheapest for us to buy the Bayern tickets for all day. This was about 29 euro for the day total. The train system is very easy and Google Maps worked well for getting us around. I would not rent a car except for a possible day trip out of the city.
Money: Bring cash! Most places did take card, but several were only cash. Tipping isn’t mandatory but you could tell some waitstaff expected it. We usually rounded up for the tip. Also be aware that in many bathrooms there is an attendant who expects to be tipped for keeping the bathroom clean. It was super awkward walking by and not tipping, but I have a small bladder and it adds up! Ultimately this tipping is optional.
Auf wiedersehen! Hope you enjoy this itinerary and your trip to Germany!
– D & J
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