How to Spend 3 Days in Munich: A Detailed Itinerary for First Time Visitors

Morning 

It’s a tradition of mine to start every visit to Munich with my favorite local pastry from my favorite cafe. I’m talking about the Schmalznudel from Cafe Frischhut (address: Prälat-Zistl-Straße 8) on the west side of Viktualienmarkt, the central market square. 

A Bavarian friend of mine introduced me to this simple yet delicious dish. It’s a soft yeast dough deep fried in lard that’s best washed down with a strong cup of coffee or black tea.

This cafe has been frying Schmalznudel in the store window since 1973, and in the 5+ years I’ve been coming here the quality has remained consistently incredible and the staff has always been very kind. 

Now that you’ve fueled up for the day ahead, make your way to the Residenz. This massive compound was the seat of government and home to the Wittelsbach royal family from 1508 to 1918.

During the tour, you’ll have access to over 100 (!!) rooms inside the palace. And believe it or not, you still won’t be able to see the whole thing! 

I’m sure you’ll create your own list of favorite rooms after your visit, but the ones I always look forward to seeing again are: 

• The Antiquarium: A Renaissance banquet hall with ceiling frescoes and antique sculptures lining the walls. 
• The Court Chapel: Built in the 17th century for the court and royal family to worship.
• The Green Gallery: A lovely picture and mirror gallery with 70 pieces of art on display.

Claire’s Tip: I recommend getting an audio guide for the Residenz, but don’t listen to every single stop on the guide otherwise you’ll be there for 5+ hours. Try to arrive by 10am and give yourself around 3 hours to explore as many rooms as you can.  

Afternoon 

After being on your feet for so long, I’ve no doubt you’ll be ready to sit down for a bit and enjoy some lunch. Since you’re in the heart of Bavaria, it only makes sense to sample the local cuisine at the Viktualienmarkt. 

As you walk the 10 minutes to Munich’s main market, take a few moments to admire the stunning architecture at Marientplatz (Mary’s Square), the city’s central square. Named for the city’s patron saint, the Marienplatz is the prettiest square in Munich and has always been the center of the city. 

Claire’s Tip: Rising up from the middle of the square is the Mariensäule (Virgin Mary Column). Fun fact: If you use Google Maps to determine the distance from Munich to another city, it will be measured starting at the Mariensäule!

Located around the edges of the Marienplatz are the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) and the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall). 

This travel itinerary has you returning to this stunning square after lunch to visit the New Town Hall, but if you’re at Marienplatz close to 11 am or noon, be sure to stick around to watch the Glockenspiel! 

The Glockenspiel of the New Town Hall plays a 15-minute song, and while the song plays, the figures underneath the clock spring to life! They tell the story of a jousting tournament held as part of the wedding celebrations for Bavarian Duke Wilhelm V and his wife, Renata of Lorraine. 

Okay, now it’s lunch time! Just beyond Marienplatz is the Viktualienmarkt (Victuals Market). It began as a small farmers market in the 1700s and is now the city’s main market. Here you can find dozens of stalls selling fresh produce, meats, cheeses, flowers, and a variety of prepared foods like grilled bratwurst, soups, and more. 

If you want to sample some Bavarian foods at the Viktualienmarkt, I can recommend: 

• Leberkas Semmel: A crusty bread roll with a thick slice of Leberkäse in the middle (think of it as German bologna; it’s very hearty and delicious) 
• Weißwurst: Literally “white sausage.” Each region of Germany serves its own type of sausage, and Munich’s is a mildly spiced with a thick casing that needs to be removed before dunking the juicy meat in sweet mustard. 
• Pretzels: You can buy soft pretzels all over the country, but they actually originated in southern Germany. True Bavarian pretzels taste SO much better, trust me! 

Claire’s Tip: The market is open every day but Sunday, and it’s my go-to place in Munich for a budget-friendly lunch! 

After you’ve eaten your fill and have wandered around the market stalls, head back to Marienplatz to ascend the clock tower of the New Town Hall. 

First duck into the inner courtyard of the town hall for a pretty photo op. Then, pop into the tourist information center at Marienplatz to purchase tickets to climb the bell tower of the New Town Hall.

The view from the observation deck is unparalleled! You’ll get a fantastic view of Marienplatz, the neighboring churches, and all of Munich’s Old Town! 

Claire’s Tip: If you’re in town to see Munich’s Christmas markets, you HAVE to go up the clock tower for a bird’s eye view of the main Christmas market. It’s gorgeous! 

Evening 

The last attraction on today’s itinerary is one of the most famous in the city: the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). Or, more specifically, the Devil’s footprint inside the church. 

You see, the Frauenkirche is a huge church with two 325-foot towers, and the whole structure was completed in just 20 years. Legend has it that the Frauenkirche’s architect made a deal with the devil in order to speed up the building process and meet his deadline. The devil said he’d help fund the building project — but only if no windows were installed.

Luckily for Munich’s churchgoers, the architect found a loophole in the contract and secretly added windows to the Frauenkirche. When the cathedral was finished and the devil realized he’d been tricked, he stomped his foot on the floor in anger. 

To this very day, you can see the “Devil’s footprint” at the entrance of the Frauenkirche! 

I’m sure you’re wiped after a fun but exhausting day in Munich’s stunning Old Town, so for dinner I suggest heading to the legendary Hofbräuhaus (address: Platzl 9) for some stick-to-your-ribs Bavarian fare and a liter of beer. 

Because I know I’ll get questions, yes, the Hofbräuhaus is very popular with tourists but I genuinely love this place! It opened in 1607 and catered solely to Munich’s nobility. It wasn’t until the 1820s that King Ludwig I opened the Hofbräuhaus to the public as part of his wedding celebrations. 

However, the Hofbräuhaus has a dark history as well. It was here that Hitler and his associates founded the Nazi party in 1920.

Enjoy an evening at Munich’s most famous beer hall and fuel up for the second of your 3 days in Munich! 

Day 2: World War II History  

Morning 

Day 2 of this itinerary will take you to the outskirts of the city to the site of the first Nazi concentration camp, called Dachau. The memorial site has preserved several of the original camp buildings and has an extensive indoor exhibit that details life in the camp and the many atrocities that occurred there. 

It takes roughly 40 minutes to travel from the central train station to the memorial site (exact instructions are provided below), so with that in mind I suggest grabbing a hearty but quick breakfast from a local bakery. 

Pull up Google Maps and search for “Bäckerei” in the area. Local bakery chains I recommend are: Rischart, Wimmer, and Hofpfisterei. Some bakeries now accept card payments, but many are old school and remain cash only. 

I suggest getting one sweet pastry and one savory item plus a coffee or tea. Bakeries are often fairly small but most have tables inside for dining in, and your full breakfast spread should cost less than 10 Euros.   

Once you’ve finished breakfast, make your way to Dachau. 

Hitler founded the Nazi party in Munich, and he built the very first concentration camp at Dachau. It served as a model for all other concentration camps, and it’s estimated that from its founding in 1933 until the liberation of the camp’s prisoners in 1945 that some 41,500 people were murdered here. 

Today, the site has been transformed into a memorial, although many of the original camp buildings remain standing. Some of the buildings house exhibitions explaining the camp’s history, as well as the personal histories of some of the prisoners who lost their lives there. 

Claire’s Tip: Aim to arrive at Dachau by 10am at the latest and plan to spend roughly 3 hours onsite if visiting on your own. 

Afternoon 

Because the Dachau Memorial Site is so far from the city center, it’s probably best if you grab lunch from the cafeteria on site. The food isn’t anything to write home about, but a basic sandwich and fruit cup or one of their hot plates will tide you over until a proper dinner tonight. 

After eating, retrace the route back to Munich’s central train station; aim to return to Munich no later than 2:30pm. 

Claire’s Tip: If you get back to Munich with time to kill before the walking tour begins, I suggest heading to either the English Garden to see the Eisbach surfers or the Hofgarten (Court Garden) to rest and relax for a bit before your afternoon walking tour begins.

There are TONS of great guided walking tours in Munich, but the specific one I recommend is this Third Reich and WWII walking tour. Make sure to sign up for the afternoon time slot (they usually have tours in English at 3:15pm) so you’re not stressed when traveling back from Dachau. 

During the 2.5-hour tour, your guide will explain Hitler’s rise to power, what life in Munich was like under the Nazi regime, and the underground resistance groups that formed during this dark chapter in German history.  

I think bookending your day with a WWII walking tour will put everything you saw and learned at Dachau into perspective, plus taking a walking tour will be easier on your brain than spending the afternoon in a museum. 

Evening

I’m sure you’re completely wiped out after another full day of exploring, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide where to eat. Here are some restaurant suggestions: 

• Fraunhofer Wirtshaus (Fraunhoferstraße 9): My personal favorite place to eat Bavarian food in Munich. It’s a short walk outside of the Old Town, which means it doesn’t get as crowded as the larger beer halls in the city center. The two dishes pictured above are from this restaurant, FYI.
• Fink’s Südtiroler Knödelküche (Klenzestraße 40): Knödel are hearty German dumplings, but this restaurant puts an Italian spin on them by serving them in the South Tyrolean style. The dumplings are super filling, so order 1 less than you think you’ll need. (PS. This place has vegan options!) 
• Burgermeister (Türkenstraße 71): If you’ve had your fill of Bavarian food and are craving something different, I love this local burger chain that started in Berlin. They serve smashburgers and really good fries, and you can get a full meal for less than 15 Euros. 

Claire’s Tip: The area around Türkenstraße has tons of more affordable yet delicious restaurants since it’s near the university. I also love the Gärtnerplatz district for dinner options, although it’s a hipper (i.e. more expensive) area. 

Morning and Early Afternoon 

Before heading out for the day, treat yourself to a filling breakfast at Cotidiano. It’s a local brunch spot with a few locations throughout the city, so do a quick search to find the one closest to your hotel. They’ve got some vegan and vegetarian options on their menu too, if that’s important to you! 

Then, it’s time to head to one of my all-time favorite attractions in Munich: Nymphenburg Palace. This gorgeous Italianate-style palace just 30 minutes outside of Munich’s city center was built in the 1660s as a summer residence for Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy.

Claire’s Tip: Skip the line by purchasing your Nymphenburg Palace tickets in advance. 

Give yourself at least 90 minutes to see the palace itself. The Great Hall is one of the jewels of the complex; it’s one of the very few rooms that hasn’t been remodeled since being completed in 1758. The bright frescoes and soaring ceilings will take your breath away! 

After touring the palace, I encourage you to spend a few hours enjoying the formal gardens and extensive parkland. There’s a cafe on site, should you need food or drinks. 

Within the Nymphenburg Palace park, make sure to visit: 

• the village with the old pump house
• the historic green houses
• and the great cascade

The park is chock full of real and faux historic sites, statues, and fountains — you can tell this was once a playground for nobility! 

Claire’s Tip: If you don’t have the desire or budget to tour the interior of the palace, still visit Nymphenburg just to see the gardens and park! They’re free to enter and I cannot stress enough how beautiful they are. 

Late Afternoon 

You can’t spend 72 hours in Munich and NOT see some BMWs! Before getting your daily dose of fine automobiles, might I suggest a little detour to Olympic Park? 

This sprawling green space was built for the 1972 summer Olympics, and smack in the middle is the 60-meter tall Olympic Hill (Olympiaberg). The hill was built from the rubble of the hundreds of destroyed homes and businesses bombed in Allied air raids in WWII. 

From the top of Olympic Hill, you get an incredible view of Olympic Park, Munich, and even the Alps on a clear day! 

Then, walk 20 minutes through the park to reach BMW World (BMW Welt). BMW (Bayerischen Motoren Werke) has its main headquarters in Munich, and there’s both a free exhibit and a full-blown museum near Olympic Park. 

Since this itinerary is already jam-packed with Munich’s top attractions, I recommend visiting the free exhibition, BMW World. The two-story space showcases the latest and greatest from BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce. You can climb into most of the vehicles on display to get a feel for the vehicle. 

BMW World is open until midnight every night, so it’s the perfect final activity for your 3 days in Munich. Spend as much time as you want relaxing on Olympic Hill before visiting BMW World! 

Claire’s Tip: If you’re a hardcord BMW fan, feel free to shuffle around this itinerary as you see fit so you have time to visit the BMW Museum. It’s open 10am to 6pm daily. 

Evening

You came, you saw, you conquered Munich. Go out with a bang by eating at one of my favorite restaurants, Haxnbauer (address: Tal 38). 

This restaurant is known for its Schweinshaxe, or pork knuckle. There’s a thick layer of insanely crispy skin around the fork-tender meat, and it’s served with au jus for dipping and a potato dumpling. YUM! 

Claire’s Tip: This place fills up fast, so be sure to make a reservation in advance to secure a table. 

Enjoy Your 3 Days in Munich! 

I’d intended to make this 3-day Munich itinerary short, sweet, and to the point, and … it didn’t happen. But I hope you found it easy to use regardless. 

Leave me a comment below with any questions or comments about this itinerary or visiting Munich in general. I’ve been several times and also have friends from Munich, so I can likely help you out! 

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