Things to Do in Munich

The Oktoberfest – the undisputed highlight of the beer-drinker’s calendar – gets going in late September and carries on for two weeks. During this time, several million liters of liquid are sunk as the town gets hit by a tidal of wave of beer, wurst and ecstatic drunken revelers.

All big cities need a big park and Munich’s Englischer Garten is one of world’s very finest examples. Quiet wooded areas and paths along the river rub shoulders with boisterous beer gardens. There’s even a nudist sunbathing section…

Beer-related antics are by no means restricted to the Oktoberfest: Berlin’s beer gardens are one of the city’s main attractions to backpackers. If the infamous Hofbrauhaus seems just a little twee for you then the Hirschgarten and the Seehaus (with its views over the Englischer Garten) are great places to sink a view foaming glasses of finest Bavarian beer.

The Deutsches Museum is the largest museum dedicated to science and industry in Europe. This absolutely fascinating place is stuffed with all manner of exhibits explaining how an assortment of gadgets, gizmos and clicking, whirring things work!

The Residenz is Munich’s showcase sight. A complex of buildings as delicate and beautiful on the inside as they are imposing and grand on the outside, the Residenz is a testament to the fabled wealth of the Wittelsbach dynasty.