Munich & Bavaria, Germany
Beer gardens, Neuschwanstein, and the Alps an hour south. Oktoberfest in late September; Christmas markets in December.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3° | -4° | 65 mm | |
| Feb | 6° | -3° | 57 mm | |
| Mar | 9° | 0° | 69 mm | |
| Apr | 14° | 3° | 66 mm | |
| May | 18° | 8° | 116 mm | prime |
| Jun | 21° | 12° | 111 mm | prime |
| Jul | 23° | 14° | 107 mm | |
| Aug | 23° | 14° | 110 mm | |
| Sep | 18° | 10° | 87 mm | prime |
| Oct | 14° | 6° | 68 mm | prime |
| Nov | 8° | 1° | 65 mm | |
| Dec | 4° | -2° | 68 mm | prime |
30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.
Cost
Serves travellers at Backpacker→Premium level. Typically around $160 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Oktoberfest September
Two weeks, six million visitors
Christkindlmarkt December
Markets on Marienplatz
Worth knowing
Germany still leans on cash more than its neighbours. Beer gardens, bakeries and smaller restaurants may be cash only, and the bill is paid at the table. Round up rather than leaving a percentage.
money · editorial
Sundays are properly closed in Germany. Shops and supermarkets shut and only restaurants and museums stay open, so buy food on Saturday. The famous castles use timed entry tickets that sell out well ahead.
know before · editorial
Oktoberfest, which runs from late September into early October, takes the whole city: rooms are booked out far ahead and prices double. In the Alps, November and April are dead months when the lifts have stopped and nothing has opened.
when not to go · editorial
The Altstadt is central and expensive. Maxvorstadt is museums and students. Haidhausen and Schwabing are residential with good food and an easy ride in. The area around the main station is convenient for trains and little else.
where to stay · editorial
U-Bahn and S-Bahn in the city, regional trains out to the lakes and the castles. A car only makes sense for the alpine roads and the smaller villages, and it is a nuisance in Munich itself.
getting around · editorial
Munich airport, with S-Bahn lines into the centre in around forty minutes. The city is also a main-line rail hub, so arriving by train from elsewhere in Europe is genuinely easy.
getting there · editorial
Quests
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Marienplatz
The Glockenspiel plays at eleven and at twelve. It runs fifteen minutes; bring patience.
The Eisbach wave
A standing wave on a city river, surfed all year, snow included.
Nymphenburg Palace
Seven hundred metres of facade and a straight canal in front of it.
Viktualienmarkt
A permanent market since 1807, with the maypole in the middle.
Neuschwanstein
Two hours south. The castle Disney copied, and which was never finished.
Olympiapark
The tent roof from 1972 still looks like the future.
See
See Neuschwanstein from a distance, from the Marienbrücke
Eat
Eat Weißwurst before noon, as the rule requires
Weisswurst before midday
That is the rule and it is taken seriously. With sweet mustard and a pretzel.
A one-litre Maß
Hold it by the handle, hand over the top. It will be heavy.
Obatzda in a Biergarten
Cheese mashed with butter and paprika. You are allowed to bring your own food.
Moment
Spend an afternoon in a Biergarten under the chestnut trees
Watch the Eisbach surfers for half an hour
An orderly queue, one at a time, for fifty years.
A whole afternoon in a Biergarten under chestnut trees
The trees are there because they kept the beer ice cool. They still keep you cool.
Trail
Climb the Olympiaberg
A hill made of war rubble. The city, and on a clear day the Alps.