München
The village of a million people, and the richest one in Germany
Munich is Bavaria's capital and Germany's third city, a prosperous, orderly, Catholic, beer-drinking place that likes to call itself a Millionendorf — a village of a million. It is the most expensive city in the country and, by most surveys, the one Germans would most like to live in.
Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, founded Munich in 1158 by burning the bishop of Freising's toll bridge over the Isar and building his own beside a settlement of monks, the Munichen that gave the city its name. The Wittelsbachs took it in 1180 and ruled Bavaria for 738 years; Munich became their capital in 1506, and King Ludwig I, in the 19th century, built the neoclassical city of the Ludwigstraße and the Pinakothek to make it a German Athens. The first Oktoberfest was a royal wedding party in 1810. A short-lived Soviet republic was crushed in 1919; Hitler's beer-hall putsch failed here in 1923 and the Nazis later named it the capital of their movement, with Dachau opened in 1933 and the Munich agreement signed in 1938. The bombing destroyed half the centre, which was rebuilt on the old plan. Siemens moved here from Berlin, BMW grew, the 1972 Olympics were held and marred by the massacre, and the city became the richest in Germany.
The Altstadt is the walnut at the centre: Marienplatz, the Frauenkirche's two domes, the Viktualienmarkt and the Residenz inside the ring of the old walls. Maxvorstadt, north, is the museum quarter of the three Pinakotheken and the Lenbachhaus and the campus of the two universities; Schwabing beyond it was the bohemia of 1900 and is now the comfortable district beside the Englischer Garten. Lehel runs east to the Isar; across the river Haidhausen and the Au are the old villages with the French street names. South of the centre the Glockenbachviertel and Isarvorstadt are the bars, the gay quarter and the young; Ludwigsvorstadt around the Hauptbahnhof is Turkish and Balkan; the Westend borders the Theresienwiese where the Oktoberfest is held. Neuhausen and Nymphenburg, west, have the palace; Giesing and Sendling, south, are the working districts; Bogenhausen, east, is the expensive one. The Olympiapark and BMW are north, the Allianz Arena and the airport beyond.
Beer organises the year. The six Munich breweries alone may serve at the Oktoberfest, which runs for sixteen days from late September and draws roughly six million people to the Theresienwiese; the rest of the time the beer gardens — the Hirschgarten, the Chinesischer Turm, the Augustiner — are where the city sits, with its own food in a basket, which the rules allow. Weißwurst before noon, Schweinsbraten, Brezn and Obatzda are the diet. The Pinakotheken, the Lenbachhaus with the Blue Rider painters, the Deutsches Museum and the Bavarian State Opera are as good as any in Germany. Bayern Munich win the league most years at the Allianz Arena and 1860 in Giesing are the ones people love. Surfers ride the Eisbach wave in the Englischer Garten all year and sunbathers there wear nothing. Tracht is worn without irony, the Alps show on a Föhn day, and the lakes and ski slopes are an hour by train.
The hard parts start with money: rents are the highest in Germany, roughly double the national average, and finding a flat is the city's obsession and its politics. The winters are long, grey and cold, the Föhn gives half the city headaches, and the rain falls in every month. The S-Bahn all runs through one tunnel that fails regularly, and the second one is years late and several times over budget. Bavaria is conservative and the city is not, and both are certain they are right; a certain smugness is the local vice. The Oktoberfest is overtourism concentrated into sixteen days. What Munich offers is the best-run big city in Germany — clean, safe, solvent, with an integrated transport network, two of the country's best universities, the head offices of BMW, Siemens and Allianz, the Isar to swim in, and the Alps at the end of the line.
Where People Live
Altstadt
Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel, the Frauenkirche, the Viktualienmarkt with its beer garden, the Residenz and the Hofbräuhaus, all inside the ring of the old walls and the Altstadtring. The shops on Kaufingerstraße and the crowds go with it.
Maxvorstadt
The museum and university quarter north of the centre: the three Pinakotheken, the Lenbachhaus, the Brandhorst, the NS documentation centre on the site of the Nazi party headquarters, and the LMU and TUM campuses with the student cafés of Türkenstraße.
Schwabing & the Englischer Garten
The old bohemia of Kandinsky and Thomas Mann, now the leafy, comfortable district along Leopoldstraße, with the Englischer Garten — the Eisbach surfers, the Chinesischer Turm beer garden, the nude sunbathers on the Schönfeldwiese — as its garden.
Glockenbachviertel & Isarvorstadt
South of the centre along the Isar: the gay quarter of Müllerstraße, the bars and restaurants of Gärtnerplatz, the Deutsches Museum on its island and the Isar beaches below the Reichenbach bridge. Where the young rent and the rents show it.
Haidhausen & Au
Across the river, the old villages of day labourers now the gentlest neighbourhood in the city — French street names, the Gasteig cultural centre, the Wiener Platz market and the Auer Dult fair on the Mariahilfplatz three times a year.
Neuhausen & Nymphenburg
The west: the Wittelsbachs' summer palace and its park, the Hirschgarten, the largest beer garden in the city, the Botanical Garden and Neuhausen's Rotkreuzplatz, a solid, family neighbourhood that is quietly among the best places to live.
Giesing & Sendling
The working-class south — 1860's Grünwalder Stadion in Giesing, the wholesale market and the Isar meadows in Sendling, the Flaucher beer garden on the river gravel — with a cheaper stock of flats than anywhere else inside the ring.
Bogenhausen
The expensive east beyond the Prinzregententheater: villas along the Isar heights, the Villa Stuck museum, the Arabellapark towers and the Prinzregentenstraße running in to the Haus der Kunst and the surfers' bridge.
Restaurants & places to go
Airports
Munich International Airport (MUC) 29 km to the centre
Munich, BY, DE — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 77 airlines (Lufthansa Cargo, Air Berlin, Condor Flugdienst, TUIfly…) · direct flights to 191 destinations incl. Madrid, Manchester, Catania, Heraklion, Malaga… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 77 airlines, 191 direct destinations
- Lufthansa Cargo LH (Embraer 195, A319, A320, CRJ-900, A321, CRJ-700…) · 129 routes: Amsterdam*, Ancona*, Ankara, Athens, Bangkok*, Barcelona, Bari*, Beijing, Belgrade*, Berlin, Bilbao, Birmingham*, Bologna, Boston, Bremen, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Cagliari, Cairo*, Catania, Charlotte, Chicago, Chisinau*, Cluj-napoca*, Cologne, Copenhagen*, Delhi, Donetsk*, Dortmund, Dresden, Dubai, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Duesseldorf, Faro, Florence, Frankfurt, Gdansk, Geneva … +89 more
- Air Berlin AB (737-800, A320, A321, A319, 737-700, Dash 8-400…) · 45 routes: Abu Dhabi*, Alicante, Amman*, Antalya, Arrecife, Berlin, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Enfidha, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Helsinki*, Heraklion, Ibiza, Istanbul, Karpathos, Kavala, Kerkyra/corfu, Kos, London*, Madrid*, Malaga, Menorca, Moscow, Mytilini, Naples, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Preveza, Punta Cana, Rhodos, Riga*, Samos, Tel-aviv … +5 more
- Condor Flugdienst DE (32S, 757, 767) · 20 routes: Agadir, Antalya, Arrecife, Chania, Dalaman, Djerba, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Hurghada, Ibiza, Jerez, Kerkyra/corfu, Kos, Palma de Mallorca, Punta Cana, Rhodos, Santa Cruz De La Palma, Tenerife
- TUIfly X3 (737-800) · 14 routes: Antalya, Boa Vista, Dalaman, Duesseldorf, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Jerez, Kerkyra/corfu, Kos, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodos, Tenerife
- Scandinavian Airlines System SK (CRJ-900, A319, A320, A321, Embraer 195, CRJ-700…) · 8 routes: Belgrade, Copenhagen, Gothenborg*, Helsinki*, Madrid, Mulhouse, Oslo, Stockholm*
- United Airlines UA (767-400, A330-300, A340-600, 767-300, 777) · 8 routes: Boston*, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles*, New York*, Newark, San Francisco*, Washington
- US Airways US (A320, A321, A330-200, A330-300, A340-300, A340-600…) · 8 routes: Athens*, Doha, Istanbul*, Johannesburg, Lisbon*, Philadelphia, Singapore, Thessaloniki*
- Norwegian Air Shuttle DY (737-800) · 6 routes: Alicante, Gran Canaria, Malaga, Oslo, Stockholm, Tenerife
- LOT Polish Airlines LO (Embraer 195, CRJ-900, CRJ-700, A319, A320, Embraer 175) · 5 routes: Gdansk*, Krakow*, Poznan*, Warsaw, Wroclaw*
- Meridiana IG (A320) · 5 routes: Brindisi*, Cagliari*, Catania*, Naples*, Olbia*
- Aegean Airlines A3 (A320, A319) · 4 routes: Athens, Heraklion, Kalamata, Thessaloniki
- Air Canada AC (A330-300, Embraer 195, 777-300ER) · 4 routes: Montreal*, Sofia*, Toronto, Vancouver*
- Air Dolomiti EN (Embraer 195) · 4 routes: Bari, Florence, Venice, Villafranca
- Croatia Airlines OU (Dash 8-400, A319, A320, Embraer 195) · 4 routes: Dubrovnik*, Split, Zadar, Zagreb
- easyJet U2 (A319, A320) · 4 routes: Edinburgh, London, London, Manchester
- Air China CA (330, A340-600) · 3 routes: Athens, Beijing, Shanghai*
- Iberia Airlines IB (A320, A319, A321) · 3 routes: Barcelona*, Madrid, Malaga*
- Swiss International Air Lines LX (CRJ-900, Embraer 195, CRJ-700, AR1) · 3 routes: Geneva*, Mulhouse*, Zurich
- Tunisair TU (736) · 3 routes: Djerba, Enfidha, Tunis
- Adria Airways JP (A319, CRJ-900, CRJ-200) · 2 routes: Ljubljana, Pristina
- Aer Lingus EI (A320) · 2 routes: Cork, Dublin
- Aeroflot Russian Airlines SU (A319, A320) · 2 routes: Moscow, St. Petersburg
- Air Baltic BT (A330-200, A330-300, 345, 737-300, 735, 73C…) · 2 routes: Abu Dhabi, Riga
- Air France AF (318, A319, A320, A321, 767-400, A320) · 2 routes: Atlanta*, Paris
- Air India Limited AI (A330-300, A340-600) · 2 routes: Delhi*, Mumbai*
- Air Malta KM (A319, A320) · 2 routes: Catania, Malta
- American Airlines AA (A319, A320, A321, A330-300) · 2 routes: London*, Philadelphia
- Austrian Airlines OS (CRJ-900, Fokker 100, A319, A320, CRJ-700, Embraer 195…) · 2 routes: Graz*, Vienna*
- British Airways BA (A319, A320, A321, FRJ) · 2 routes: Billund*, London
- Cyprus Airways CY (A320) · 2 routes: Frankfurt, Larnaca
- El Al Israel Airlines LY (737-800, 767-300, 737-700) · 2 routes: Madrid, Tel-aviv
- Finnair AY (A320, A319, A321) · 2 routes: Catania*, Helsinki
- Germania ST (737-700) · 2 routes: Erbil, Sulaymaniyah
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL (737, 767-400) · 2 routes: Amsterdam, Atlanta*
- Nouvel Air Tunisie BJ (A320, A321) · 2 routes: Djerba, Enfidha
- Royal Air Maroc AT (737-800, 737-700) · 2 routes: Casablanca, Marrakech
- Royal Jordanian RJ (A319, Embraer 190) · 2 routes: Amman, Vienna*
- S7 Airlines S7 (A320, A321, 737-800, 767-300) · 2 routes: Moscow, Novosibirsk*
- Singapore Airlines Cargo SQ (777-300ER) · 2 routes: Manchester, Singapore
- South African Airways SA (A319, A330-200, A340-300, A340-600) · 2 routes: Johannesburg, Manchester*
- SunExpress XQ (737-800) · 2 routes: Antalya, Izmir
- TAP Portugal TP (A319, A320, A321) · 2 routes: Faro*, Lisbon
- Tarom RO (737-300, 737-700) · 2 routes: Bucharest, Sibiu
- Turkish Airlines TK (737-800, A320, A321) · 2 routes: Istanbul, Istanbul
- Ural Airlines U6 (A320) · 2 routes: Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg
- Virgin Atlantic Airways VS (777-300ER) · 2 routes: Manchester*, Singapore*
- Virgin Australia VA (777-300ER) · 2 routes: Manchester*, Singapore*
- VOLOTEA Airways V7 (717) · 2 routes: Bordeaux, Nantes
- Vueling Airlines VY (A320) · 2 routes: Barcelona, Malaga
- Air Europa UX (Embraer 190) · 1 route: Madrid
- Air Lituanica LT (Embraer 175, CRJ-200) · 1 route: Vilnius
- Air Sicilia BM (ERJ-145) · 1 route: Bristol
- Alitalia AZ (A319, 32S) · 1 route: Rome
- All Nippon Airways NH (A340-600, 787-8) · 1 route: Tokyo
- Asiana Airlines OZ (A321) · 1 route: Istanbul
- Brussels Airlines SN (A319, A320, Embraer 195, CRJ-900) · 1 route: Brussels*
- Delta Air Lines DL (767-400) · 1 route: Atlanta
- Egyptair MS (737-800) · 1 route: Cairo
- Emirates EK (A380) · 1 route: Dubai
- Ethiopian Airlines ET (A319, A320) · 1 route: Frankfurt*
- Etihad Airways EY (A330-300, 345, A340-600) · 1 route: Abu Dhabi
- Germanwings 4U (A319) · 1 route: Dortmund
- Hainan Airlines HU (A320, A321, 737-800, 737-700) · 1 route: Berlin
- Icelandair FI (75W) · 1 route: Keflavik
- Intersky 3L (Dash 8-300) · 1 route: Marina Di Campo
- Luxair LG (Dash 8-400, ERJ-145) · 1 route: Luxemburg
- Niki HG (Embraer 190) · 1 route: Vienna
- Oman Air WY (A330-200, A330-300) · 1 route: Muscat
- Pegasus Airlines PC (A320, 737-800) · 1 route: Istanbul
- Polet Airlines (Priv) YQ (S20) · 1 route: Voronezh
- Qantas QF (A380) · 1 route: Dubai*
- Qatar Airways QR (787-8) · 1 route: Doha
- SATA International S4 (A320) · 1 route: Porto
- SkyWork Airlines SX (D38) · 1 route: Bern
- TAM Brazilian Airlines JJ (A340-600) · 1 route: Sao Paulo*
- Thai Airways International TG (747) · 1 route: Bangkok
- Ukraine International Airlines PS (734) · 1 route: Kiev
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Oberpfaffenhofen Airport (OBF) 23 km to the centre
Weßling, BY, DE — Indoor waiting areas, but some gates board by bus or on foot across the apron — plan for the weather on the day.
Schleissheim Airfield 12 km to the centre
Oberschleissheim, BY, DE
Dachau-Gröbenried Airfield 16 km to the centre
Bergkirchen, BY, DE
Straßham Ultralight Airfield 27 km to the centre
Forstern, BY, DE
Altstetten Ultralight Field 29 km to the centre
Altstetten, BY, DE
Regional airports
Further out, but often the cheapest way in — the airports the low-cost carriers use. Each links to its own town's guide for getting from there into the city.
Memmingen Allgau Airport (FMM) 101 km to the centre
Memmingen, BY, DE — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 8 airlines (Ryanair, Germanwings, Wizz Air, Air Berlin…) · direct flights to 21 destinations incl. Calvi, Palma de Mallorca, Alghero, Alicante, Belgrade… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Feeder airport · 101 km from München · Ryanair, Germanwings, Wizz Air · Getting around Füssen (Fuessen) →
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 8 airlines, 21 direct destinations
- Ryanair FR (737-800) · 14 routes: Alghero, Alicante, Chania, Dublin, Faro, Gerona, London, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Porto, Rome, Shannon, Tenerife, Trapani
- Germanwings 4U (CRJ) · 2 routes: Berlin, Hamburg
- Wizz Air W6 (A320) · 2 routes: Belgrade, Skopje
- Air Berlin AB (A320) · 1 route: Calvi
- Intersky 3L (ATR 72) · 1 route: Naples
- Niki HG (A320) · 1 route: Calvi
- TUIfly X3 (737-800) · 1 route: Palma de Mallorca
- Wizz Air Ukraine WU (A320) · 1 route: Kiev
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Local transit
MVG
U-Bahn, tram, bus · Munich's U-Bahn, trams and buses. · Fares: MVV ticket or Deutschlandticket · Airport: S1 and S8 S-Bahn from the airport, about 40 min
Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund GmbH (MVV)
Public transit · Schedules & GTFS data
Trains & rail
Bayerische Oberlandbahn
Rail operator
Bayerische Regiobahn
Rail operator
RailAdventure
Rail operator
Deutsche Bahn
National rail
Rennsteigbahn GmbH & Co. KG
National rail
Coaches & shuttles
FlixBus
Intercity coach
Private aviation
On-demand charter, jet cards and the semi-private scheduled carriers that serve this city.
Air Hamburg
Charter · Embraer Legacy & Praetor, Falcon, Global · Germany's largest charter operator by fleet.
Padjet
Charter · Cessna Citation · German business-jet charter operator.
DC Aviation
Charter, management · Light to large-cabin · Charter and management from Stuttgart and Munich.
Air Charter Service
Broker · Any aircraft via operators worldwide · Global charter broker with 30+ offices; private jets, group charters and cargo.
ExecuJet
FBO, charter, management · Managed fleet · FBO network and management across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Tours & experiences
Tour
Sightseeing
Living Here
Getting about
- The MVV ties everything together: MVG's eight U-Bahn lines, the trams and buses, and the S-Bahn's eight lines that all funnel through the city-centre trunk tunnel. Fares are by zone (M for the city, then 1 to 6 outward); the Deutschlandticket, a monthly pass for all local transport in Germany at around 60 euros, is the residents' choice and works here, and single, day and group tickets are sold at machines or in the MVGO app.
- Munich is flat and among the best cycling cities in Germany, with lanes along the Isar, through the Englischer Garten and on most main streets; MVG Rad and the private schemes provide the bikes. The centre is walkable and the Altstadt largely pedestrian.
- Franz Josef Strauß airport is 40 kilometres north-east and about 40 minutes from the Hauptbahnhof on the S1 or S8, or on the Lufthansa express bus. The Hauptbahnhof, being rebuilt for the second trunk line, has ICE trains to Nuremberg in an hour, Berlin in about four, Vienna in four and Zurich in three and a half; the Bayern-Ticket covers regional trains to the lakes and the Alps.
- A car is common and largely unnecessary; parking is scarce and expensive, the Umweltzone requires a green sticker, and the A8 and A95 to the mountains jam every Friday afternoon and Sunday evening.
Health
- The Klinikum rechts der Isar (TUM) and the LMU Klinikum at Großhadern and in the city are the two university hospitals; the München Klinik group runs Schwabing, Bogenhausen, Harlaching and Neuperlach. Residents are covered by statutory (GKV) or private insurance, and the standard of care is high.
- Dial 112. The out-of-hours doctors' service is 116117; pharmacies (Apotheke) post the night and Sunday duty rota, and most things need a prescription.
- EU and UK visitors can use the EHIC or GHIC; others should carry insurance and expect to be billed. Doctors generally speak English, receptionists less reliably.
Work & study
- LMU and the Technical University (TUM) are both in the German excellence group and among the best universities in Europe; the Hochschule München, the art and music academies and the Max Planck institutes at Martinsried and Garching add to a student and research population of well over 100,000.
- BMW, Siemens, Allianz, Munich Re, MAN, Infineon and Linde are headquartered here, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon have large offices, the biotech cluster is at Martinsried, the media at Unterföhring and Bavarian broadcasting in the city, and the state government employs tens of thousands. Unemployment is among the lowest in Germany and the salaries the highest.
- English suffices in tech and research and nowhere else; German is needed for the Anmeldung (registering an address), the tax office and any landlord, and the landlord is the hard part — finding a flat takes months and a folder of documents.
Money & manners
- Euros. Cards are now accepted in most places, but many beer gardens, bakeries and market stalls remain cash only and a German will still carry notes. Tip 5 to 10% by naming the rounded total when you pay; VAT (MwSt) is included, and bottles carry a Pfand deposit refunded at any supermarket.
- Grüß Gott is the greeting; Sunday is quiet by law, with shops shut and noise frowned on; punctuality is a courtesy, not a suggestion. In a beer garden you may bring your own food but must buy the drink, and the Maß is a litre. Tracht at the Oktoberfest is worn by locals, not just visitors.
- Winters are cold and grey from December to February with snow that usually settles, and the Föhn wind brings sudden warm days and headaches; summers are warm with afternoon thunderstorms, and it rains in every month. The Oktoberfest, from mid-September, gets whatever weather it gets.