Address: Frauenplatz 1

Transportation: U and S lines to Marienplatz

Hours: Sat.- Thurs. 7:00am- 7:00pm, Fri .7:00am- 6:00pm

    Frauenkirche is the largest church in the Bavarian capital of Munich and can hold over 20,000 people.  It is a catholic cathedral and a very popular tourist spot.  The cathedral has two towers, and the south tower can be climbed to obtain a magnificent panoramic view of the city and the nearby Alps.  The Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV’s tomb is located inside this church. 

    Marienplatz is a square at the center of the city.  The Rathaus-Glockenspiel and New Town hall are located in the Marienplatz, and St. Peter’s and Frauenkirche are both in close proximity. 

Address: Alte Romerstrasse 75

Hours: Tues.- Sun. 9:00am- 5:00pm

Transportation: S2 train to Dachau station, then bus 726 towards Saubachsiedlung to KZ- Gedenkstatte.

Tickets: Free, audio guide €2

    Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany and is located about 10 miles from Munich.  It was open from March of 1933 until 1945 and it’s believed over 200,000 prisoners were housed here.  Estimates suggest that 25,000 died in the camp and another 10,000 in its subcamps mostly from disease, malnutrition, or suicide.  The camp was liberated by the Americans on April 29, 1945. 

    The camp currently hosts exhibits that describe the camps progression over the 12 years it was active.  These exhibits show what types of people were interned here and how they were forced to live.  Visitors are allowed to walk through one of the barracks, torture rooms, bathrooms, and even the crematorium used by the Nazis.  The concentration camp at Dachau is a very powerful and saddening sight to see, but definitely worth seeing.

    The Rathaus-Glockenspiel is a Munich tourist attraction consisting of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures that occurs daily at 11:00am, and again at 5:00pm and midnight in the summer months.  The show lasts about 15 minutes.  It is installed in the New Town hall in the Marienplatz and it chimes and re-enacts two different Bavarian stories from the 16^th century.  The first story told is the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V (also the founder of the Hofbräuhaus).  A Bavarian knight jousts a Lothringen knight, and so far the Bavarian knight has a perfect record.  The second story is known as the Schäfflerstanz, or cooper’s dance.  A plague hit town in the 16^th century and everyone went into hiding, and the first people back in the streets were barrel makers who performed a dance to show everyone it was alright to come out. 

Address: Rindermarkt 1

Transportation: S1-7

Hours: Mon.- Fri. 9:00am- 6:00pm, Sat. and Sun. 10:00am- 6:00pm

    St. Peter’s Church is the oldest church in the city of Munich.  It was built in the end of the 12^th century, although it was destroyed by the great fire in 1327.  The church was reconstructed in 1368.  The tower of St. Peter’s can be climbed, which provides the best view of the city, the Marienplatz, and the Alps. 

Address: Neuhauser Strasse 52

Transportation: U and S lines to Karlsplatz

Hours:  Mon.- Sat. 7:00am- 4:30pm, Sun. 8:00am- 4:00pm

    St. Michael’s is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps, and it was constructed between 1583 and 1597 and originally built for the Jesuits.  

Transportation: U3-6 to Odeonsplatz

Hours: 10:00am- 1:00pm, 2:00- 4:30pm, closes at 3:00pm on Sat., closed Sundays

    Theatine Church was built from 1663 to 1690 by Ferdinand Maria and his wife, as a token of gratitude to the birth of their long awaited heir Prince Max Emanuel.  Ferdinand had promised to built a beautiful church if God would grant him a son, and once his son was born, he was true to his promise. 

Transportation: Giselastrasse and Universitat stations

    The English Garden is one of the world’s largest urban parks (larger than New York’s Central Park), and was designed by Benjamin Thompson.  Schönfeldwiese is an area of the park in which nude sunbathing has been permitted since the 1960s.  This park also has a standing wave in the artificial stream, on which surfer’s gather and attempt to surf the wave for as long as possible.  This park contains four popular beer gardens including the famous Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower), which is Munich’s second largest with over 7,000 seats.   

Address: Konigsplatz 3

Hours: 10:00am- 5:00pm, open until 8:00pm on Thurs., closed Mondays

    The Glyptothek Museum houses ancient Greek and Roman sculptures in Munich, Germany.  The sculptures housed here range from 650 BC to 550 BC, with a few notable sculptures being the Aegina temple figures, portrait of Homer (460BC), and the busts of Roman emperors Augustus, Nero, and Septimius Severus. 

Address: Neuschwansteinstr. 20

Hours: April- Sept. 9:00am- 6:00pm; Oct.- March 10:00am- 4:00pm

Tickets: €9

    Neuschwanstein is a 19^th century Bavarian Palace, which was Walt Disney’s inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle.  The castle was opened to the public in 1886, and since then has seen over 50 million visitors walk through its doors.  In the summer months up to 6,000 people a day visit the castle.  It takes about 2 hours by train to get to Neuschwanstein Castle from Munich.   

Address: Hirschgarten 1

Transportation: S line to Laim

Hours: 9:00am - midnight

    Hirschgarten is a public park in the city of Munich, which contains the city’s largest beer garden. It seats over 8,000 people, and deer are kept on the grounds.

Address: Platzl 9

    Hofbräuhaus is one of the world’s most famous beer halls, and it is the best beer hall in the capital of beer.  Munich is the home of the original Hofbräuhaus, and it is definitely worth visiting.  Delicious food and giant mugs of Bavarian beer are the norm at this beer hall where the people are friendly and everybody drinks and has a good time together.  It’s Bavarian tradition to say “Prost”, cheers your mugs, hit the bottom of the mug to the table, and finish with a drink of some of the world’s finest beers.  The Hofbräuhaus was built by Duke Wilhelm V in 1589, and is a state owned brewery to this day.  

Address: Meet at the designated tour time at the old town hall in Marienplatz

Cost: 24€, 18€ for backpackers staying in select hostels

Hours: 3/1 – 4/14 Daily at 12:30: 4/15 – 8/31 Daily at 11:30 and 4:00: 9/1 – 11/10 Daily at 12:30

    Mike’s Bike Tour is a great way to view the beautiful city of Munich and partake in a few of their rituals.  The standard tour last 4 hours, and includes visits to 19 of Munich’s greatest attractions.  There is a 45 minute break for lunch or supper at a local beer garden, which is a good time to meet some of your fellow tourists.  After lunch the tour continues for another two and half hours, so make sure you don’t have too many beers during the break.  One of our staff learned this the hard way.  Regardless, there isn’t a better way to see Munich than Mike’s Bike Tour.    

Flights: Flughafen Munich (MUC) handles all of Munich’s international flights. S1 and S8 run from the airport to the train station (Hauptbahnof) every 20 min.

Trains: The Hauptbahnoff is Southern Germany’s main hub and operates lines to Berlin, Paris, Prague, Vienna, Zurich, Salzburg, and Amsterdam.  If you want to backpack Munich and are coming from Italy, Paris or Amsterdam, consider taking an overnight train.

Public Transportation:  MVV handles Munich’s public transportation network, which consists of U-bahn, S-bahn, buses, and trams.  Hours for the U-bahn are Su-Th 5am-12:30am  F-Sa 5am-2am and the S-bahn operates 3:30am-3am.  Night buses and trams operate throughout the early morning hours.  Eurail passes grant access to the S-bahn but different tickets are needed for the other systems.  Single tickets cost €2,40 and a 10 strip ticket costs €10 and multiple people can use them.  If you plan on visiting Dachau, you’ll need to take the S2 train. 

Transportation: Ostbahnhof metro stop

Address: Friedenheimer Brucke 7

Transportation: U1 and 7 to Rotkreuzplatz, bus 183 to Steubenplatz

Hours: 7:00pm- 3:00am, open until 5:00am Fri. and Sat.

Underground music at its best-- Backstage features live bands that play reggae, punk, alternative, and indie. Check out the website (http://www.backstage-online.com) for concert listings.