If you’re looking for Alpine clichés, they’re all here, but Munich also has plenty of unexpected cards down its dirndl. Folklore and age-old traditions exist side by side with sleek BMWs, designer boutiques and high-powered industry. Its museums include world-class collections of artistic masterpieces, and its music and cultural scenes are second only to Berlin's.
MarienplatzSQUARE
The heart and soul of the Altstadt, Marienplatz is a popular gathering spot and packs a lot of personality into a compact frame. It's anchored by the Mariensäule (Mary's Column), built in 1638 to celebrate the victory over Swedish forces during the Thirty Years' War. At 11am and noon (also 5pm March to October), the square jams up with tourists craning their necks to take in the cute carillon in the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall).
St PeterskircheCHURCH
Some 306 steps divide you from the best view of central Munich from the 92m tower of St Peterskirche, Munich's oldest church (1150). Inside awaits a virtual textbook of art through the centuries. Worth taking a closer peek at are the Gothic St-Martin-Altar, the baroque ceiling fresco by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and rococo sculptures by Ignaz Günther.
ViktualienmarktMARKET
Fresh fruits and vegetables, piles of artisan cheeses, tubs of exotic olives, hams and jams, chanterelles and truffles – Viktualienmarkt is a feast of flavours and one of central Europe's finest gourmet markets.
FrauenkircheCHURCH
The landmark Frauenkirche, built between 1468 and 1488, is Munich's spiritual heart and the Mt Everest among its churches. No other building in the central city may stand taller than its onion-domed twin towers, which reach a skyscraping 99m.
Alte PinakothekMUSEUM
Munich's main repository of Old European Masters is crammed with all the major players that decorated canvases between the 14th and 18th centuries. This neoclassical temple was masterminded by Leo von Klenze and is a delicacy even if you can't tell your Rembrandt from your Rubens. The collection is world famous for its exceptional quality and depth, especially when it comes to German masters. Note that some sections are closed for renovation.
Neue PinakothekMUSEUM
The Neue Pinakothek harbours a well-respected collection of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and sculpture, from rococo to Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). All the world-famous household names get wall space here, including crowd-pleasing French Impressionists such as Monet, Cézanne and Degas as well as Van Gogh, whose bold pigmented Sunflowers (1888) radiates cheer.
Pinakothek der ModerneMUSEUM
Germany's largest modern art museum unites four significant collections under a single roof: 20th-century art, applied design from the 19th century to today, a graphics collection and an architecture museum. It's housed in a spectacular building by Stephan Braunfels, whose four-storey interior centres on a vast eye-like dome from where soft natural light filters throughout blanched white galleries.
LenbachhausMUSEUM
Reopened to rave reviews after a four-year renovation that saw the addition of a new wing by Lord Norman Foster, this glorious gallery is once again the go-to place to admire the vibrant expressionist canvases of Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Paul Klee and other members of the ground-breaking modernist artist group called Blue Rider, founded in Munich in 1911.
Schloss NymphenburgPALACE
The Bavarian royal family's summer residence and its lavish gardens sprawl around 5km northwest of the city centre. A self-guided tour kicks off in the Gallery of Beauties, where 38 portraits of attractive females chosen by an admiring King Ludwig I peer prettily from the walls. Other highlights include the Queen's Bedroom with the sleigh bed on which Ludwig II was born, and the King's Chamber resplendent with trompe l’oeil ceiling frescoes.
BMW MuseumMUSEUM
The silver-bowl-shaped museum comprises seven themed 'houses' that examine the development of BMW's product line and include sections on motorcycles and motor racing. Even if you're not a petrol head, the interior design – with its curvy retro feel, futuristic bridges, squares and huge backlit wall screens – is reason enough to visit.
The museum is linked to two more architecturally stunning buildings: the BMW Headquarters (closed to the public) and the BMW-Welt showroom (admission free). Plant tours are available from 9am to 4.30pm on weekdays.
AIR
Munich Airport (www.munich-airport.de) is about 30km northeast of town and linked to the Hauptbahnhof every 10 minutes by S-Bahn (S1 and S8; €10.40, 40 minutes) and every 20 minutes by the Lufthansa Airport Bus (€10.50, 45 minutes, between 5am and 8pm).
Ryanair flies into Memmingen's Allgäu Airport (www.allgaeu-airport.de), 125km to the west. The Allgäu-Airport-Express travels up to seven times daily between here and Munich Hauptbahnhof (€17, €12 if bought online, 1½ hours).
BUS
Buses, including the Romantic Road Coach, depart from Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof at S-Bahn station Hackerbrücke near the main train station.
TRAIN
All services leave from the Hauptbahnhof, where Euraide is a friendly English-speaking travel agency. Frequent fast and direct services include trains to Nuremberg (€55, 1¼ hours), Frankfurt (€101, 3¼ hours), Berlin (€130, six hours) and Vienna (€91.20, four hours), as well as twice-daily trains to Prague (€69.10 six hours).
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