Munich, Germany – My Top 7 Free Things on Our to-do List

In May of 2018 we were spending a couple of weeks in Europe for our 20th anniversary.  While we were looking forward to spending a few days in Vienna in Austria and Prague in the Czech Republic, we were going to be in Munich Germany for a little more than a week. I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally get to Germany.  This city looks so amazing and interesting. I have German ancestors and couldn’t wait to wait to visit some of biergartens, try some local fare, and see some of the amazing landscape. As with the other cities, we have a few things planned but also wanted to mix in a few free things while in the area. Therefore I eagerly did some research and found quite a few free things. Thus I decided to share with all of you in case you are planning your own trip to Munich. Here is the list of my top 7 free things we hope to do on our trip (in no particular order). I will also let you know which places we visited and share a little about our experience while visiting.

Frauenkirche

Known as the Cathedral of Our Dear Lady this church serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city. The church towers are widely visible because it was built before local height limits were implemented in 2004.

Sadly we didn’t make it to the Frauenkirche, but we saw it from a few different places while running around the city. It looks very impressive and is still on our to-do list the next time we are in Munich. Have you been? If so, please share your experience there.

Hofbräuhaus

The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, Munich’s famous “hofbrauhaus”, was founded in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm V. It is one of Munich’s oldest beer halls. It was founded as the brewery to the old Royal Residence, which at that time was situated just around the corner from where the beer hall stands today. The beer quickly became quite popular thanks to the first brewer, Heimeran Pongratz, and the famous “Bavarian Beer Purity Law” of 1516 that stated that only natural ingredients could be used in the brewing process.

We made it to Hofbräuhaus a couple of times while in Munich and had a great time both times.  I mean come on, how can you not with bier and music, lol.  One night we made some new friends (picture above) and made the experience even better. You can see everyone was having a spectacular time. 🙂  The place is big, but not as big as I thought it would be. I can’t even imagine what it must be like during Octoberfest. Must be insane. I hope to make it back again one day soon. Here is a link to my Hofbräuhaus post.

Asamkirche

St. Johann Nepomuk, better known as the Asam Church (German: Asamkirche), is a Baroque church built from 1733 to 1746 by the brothers, sculptor Egid Quirin Asam, and painter Cosmas Damian Asam as their private church. It is considered to be one of the most important buildings of the southern German Late Baroque.  I hear the inside is beautiful and I hope to see it while we are there.

Olympic Park

Olympic Park is the site of the 1972 Summer Olympics. This landscaped park contains sports facilities, lakes, bicycle paths, concert venues, restaurants, a football stadium, as well as its landmark “tent-style” roofs. We have been to the ones in Park City, Utah, and Olympic Park in Atlanta, so this is definitely on our list to see.

While walking around a little bit, we were able to see some of the venues. We were mostly there to see the BMW Welt building (picture at the bottom of post) across the street, and the Sea Life Aquarium. It was very nice and we enjoyed people watching and seeing some ducks swim in the little lake.  It was quite peaceful when we were there, but there wasn’t much going on, and it was a rainy day. Still, it was pleasurable strolling around and taking some pictures while soaking in the atmosphere.

The Glockenspiel at Marienplatz

Apparently, this is part of the second construction phase of the New Town Hall, it dates from 1908. Every day at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (as well as 12 noon in the summer) it chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century to the amusement of mass crowds of tourists and locals. It consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures. This looks fun to see and sounds like it draws quite a crowd.

We made sure to visit this area near the time of a performance.  It was kind of cute and only lasted about 15 minutes. The whole area of Marienplatz is interesting and I am going to share a post on it. I will come back and update this post with a link when it is published.

Viktualienmarkt

The Viktualienmarkt developed from an original farmers’ market to a popular market for gourmets. In an area covering 22,000 m² (240,000 sq ft), 140 stalls and shops offer flowers, exotic fruit, game, poultry, spices, cheese, fish, juices, and so on. Most stalls and shops are open during the official opening hours (Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.), but the Biergarten doesn’t open until 9 a.m. Many stalls close at 6 p.m., before the standard closing time. There are special opening hours for flower shops, bakeries, and restaurants.

This market is amazing. You can read more about it on my post – Viktualienmarkt Farmers Market. It is a great market and I loved walking around and talking to the vendors. They have a lot of fruit and vegetable, and brot (bread, yum). We actually ordered some food, had a bier, and listened to some music while in the area. It’s not very far from the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz. If you are in the area, make sure to check it out.

Englischer Garten

With an area of 3.7 km² (1.4 sq mi) (370 ha or 910 acres), it is one of the world’s largest urban public parks. Stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count Rumford (Reichsgraf von Rumford), for Prince Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. Thompson’s successors, Reinhard von Werneck (1757–1842) and Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell (1750–1823), advisers on the project from its beginning, both extended and improved the park.

We actually drove around this garden a lot but never were able to walk around inside of it. It was ALWAYS raining while we were in the Munich area. I am disappointed that we weren’t able to visit, as it looked really serene and peaceful. Maybe someday we will be able to explore it. We did enjoy what we were able to see while driving around different sides of it. It is quite large.

Hope you enjoy these pictures and information.  Here is a link to a website with more info and things to do while in Munich.  If you have some more free things to do in Munich that you want to share, please comment below and I will be happy to add them to my post. Happy Travels.

P.s. That pic above is of the BMW Welt building. It’s free to go in and explore, but there are fees for tours, etc. But it is very interesting inside and I fell in love with the brand while on the tour. I am working on a post and will share the link once it is finished. Again, happy travels.