Things to do in Munich

Munich never stopped behaving like a capital. The Wittelsbachs ruled from here for seven centuries and left a court city: palaces, collections, formal parks. The beer culture came from the same court, which handed out the brewing rights.

What the Wittelsbachs left

The old walls are gone. The ring road still follows them, and almost everything below sits inside it.

• The Residenz. The largest city palace in Germany, with the Renaissance Antiquarium of 1571 inside it. Museum, treasury and the Cuvilliés theatre together cost twenty euros.
• Nymphenburg. The summer palace out west, with the state carriages and sleighs in the old stable block.
• Marienplatz. The Glockenspiel plays at eleven and at noon all year, and at five as well from March to October.
• The Englischer Garten. Larger than Central Park, with a standing wave on the Eisbach. The city now allows only experienced river surfers on it, so this one is for watching.

Walking tours handle the centre, which suits it. Schwabing and the Glockenbachviertel sit just outside it, and hold the evening. Everything else on sale here drives out of town before nine.

The one-euro Sunday

The Bavarian state art museums charge a euro on Sundays instead of nine or ten. Building a day around that is normal. All of them shut on Mondays.

• Alte Pinakothek. Old masters, nine euros most days and one on Sunday, open late on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Pinakothek der Moderne. Art, design and architecture in one building, on the same terms.
• The Neue Pinakothek is closed. Renovation until 2029, with its nineteenth-century highlights moved to the Alte Pinakothek's east wing and the Sammlung Schack.
• Not in the scheme. The Deutsches Museum, one of the largest science and technology collections anywhere, prices itself.

Beer as a unit of measurement

Ask for a beer here without saying which and you get a Helles. Say the size, though.

• Maß and Halbe. A Maß is a full litre, eight to eleven euros in a beer garden. A Halbe is half that, and what most locals drink on a weekday.
• Bring your own food. Bavarian law lets you eat your own Brotzeit in the self-service part of a beer garden. Your own drink, no.
• Viktualienmarkt. Its beer garden rotates all six Munich breweries, changing every five or six weeks, posted at the counter.
• Closing. By law the music stops at ten, service at half past, and the garden is clear by eleven. Munich is not Berlin.

Practical

• Shop hours. Bavaria kept the strict version: shops close at eight and all day Sunday, and 15 August is a public holiday here.
• Oktoberfest. Sixteen days ending on the first Sunday of October, on the Theresienwiese, held since 1810. Beds cost several times normal and go months ahead.
• Weather. Munich sits 520 metres up and runs colder than most of Germany. On Föhn days the Alps appear on the horizon, and locals blame the wind for their headaches.
• From the airport. Forty minutes on the S-Bahn, and a day ticket beats two singles.
• Cash. Beer gardens and the market are cash first.