Western residential quarter with Nymphenburg Palace gardens and traditional beer halls.
Daytime
(2)Nymphenburg Palace and gardens, Hirschgarten beer garden, Rotkreuzplatz market square.
Hirschgarten
Munich's largest biergarten — eight thousand seats under ancient chestnut trees in the former royal hunting park, where the deer the place is named for still wander in an enclosure at the edge of the garden. Hirschgarten has been pouring beer since 1791, which is more or less forever in the context of Munich drinking history, and the scale of the operation is the first thing you notice: a grid of long communal tables in deep shade, the cook's counter running half a football field of Bavarian food, families with toddlers beside groups of old men who have sat at the same table every Sunday for thirty years. The beer comes from the Königlicher Hirschgarten's own Augustiner tap (they are one of the few places that still pour Augustiner Edelstoff from wooden Holzfass barrels), the Brotzeit is proper, and the democracy of the bench applies: bankers sit beside bricklayers because eight thousand seats do not discriminate. On a warm Sunday afternoon this is Munich reduced to its most essential expression.
Closing soonEditor's Pick$$
Order: Augustiner Edelstoff from the Holzfass — wooden-cask pour, softer and less carbonated than keg. A Mass (full litre) is traditional. Brotzeit plates from the food counter: Obatzda with radish and Brezn, Bavarian meatloaf (Leberkäse), or Schweinshaxn if you came hungry. Kids eat ice cream from the separate ice stand.Best: Sunday afternoon 1pm–6pm is the canonical window — families arrive after lunch, the light under the chestnuts is perfect. Weekday evenings 5pm–8pm for a quieter version. The garden opens mid-April and runs until late September depending on weather. Before Oktoberfest and after, not during — the city's drinking geography shifts during the Wies'n.
Nymphenburg Palace
Baroque summer palace of Bavarian electors and kings — built starting in 1664, expanded over 150 years into a sprawling complex of pavilions, gardens, and canals. King Ludwig II was born here in 1845. The Schönheitengalerie (Gallery of Beauties) alone is worth the trip west.
Stamped$$
Order: Tour the main palace for the state rooms and the Schönheitengalerie — 36 portraits of beautiful women commissioned by King Ludwig I, including Lola Montez. Walk the gardens to the Amalienburg hunting lodge (Rococo interior by François de Cuvilliés, genuinely astonishing). The Marstallmuseum in the south wing houses the royal carriages and Ludwig II's elaborate sleighs.Best: Morning for palace tours before crowds. Summer for the gardens in full bloom and the fountains operating. Winter when the palace is quieter and snow covers the formal gardens. Tram 12 or 17 from the centre takes 20 minutes to the palace gates.
Evening & Night
(1)Local pubs and Augustiner-Keller. Not a nightlife destination but strong on authenticity.