Explorer Munich

Munich's central square, the city's gathering place since 1158. The neo-Gothic New Town Hall closes its north side, and the Mariensäule, a column raised in 1638 to mark the end of Swedish occupation, stands near its centre. The town hall's Glockenspiel chimes from the tower several times a day.

The neo-Gothic town hall on Marienplatz's north side, built in stages from 1867 to 1909 to a design by Georg von Hauberrisser. Its 85-metre tower holds the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a mechanical carillon whose figures re-enact a 16th-century tournament and the coopers' dance, and a viewing gallery reached by lift.

Munich's oldest parish church, on a site used for worship since before the city's founding in 1158; the present building dates largely from the 14th century after a fire in 1327. Its 91-metre tower, nicknamed Alter Peter, can be climbed for a view over the city, and the interior holds a Baroque high altar and Gothic paintings by Jan Polack.

Munich's late-Gothic cathedral, a brick hall church begun by Jörg von Halspach in 1468 and consecrated in 1494. Its twin towers, capped with onion domes almost 99 metres high, are a symbol of the city; the south tower is reached by stairs and a lift and gives a view over Munich and, on clear days, the Alps.

A permanent food market in Munich's old town, held daily except Sundays and holidays since 1807. Fixed stalls across more than two hectares sell flowers, produce, game, cheese and fish around a central beer garden, with the city's Maypole and several fountains marking the square.

An interactive exhibition of contemporary art and design installations in the Hofstatt passage off Sendlinger Straße, open since July 2023. More than 20 themed rooms and photo sets cover optical illusions, infinity mirrors and an upside-down room, designed for visitors to explore and photograph over about 90 minutes.

A branch of the Hard Rock Cafe chain on the Platzl square in Munich's Altstadt, opened on 25 February 2002 across from the Hofbräuhaus. Like other Hard Rock Cafes, it serves an American-style menu of burgers and grilled dishes in a dining room hung with music memorabilia.

A beer hall in central Munich, built in 1589 as a brewery for the Bavarian ducal court and opened to the public in 1828. Rebuilt in 1897 and again after wartime bomb damage, it serves Bavarian food and beer in a historic hall, a ballroom and a beer garden, with traditional music during opening hours.

The former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria in central Munich, begun in 1385 and expanded over five centuries into Germany's largest city palace. Ten courtyards connect three main wings, and the self-guided Residenzmuseum opens around 130 rooms of period interiors and the royal collections, alongside the Treasury and the Cuvilliés Theatre.

A rococo court theatre built from 1751 to 1753 by François de Cuvilliés for Elector Maximilian III Joseph, with carvings supervised by Johann Baptist Straub. Its gilded boxes survived the building's wartime destruction because they had been removed for safekeeping, and were reinstalled in the Residenz when the theatre reopened in 1958 with Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

The world's largest museum of science and technology, founded in 1903 by engineer Oskar von Miller and built on an island in the Isar. About 125,000 objects across 50 fields are on show, from historic aircraft and ships to mining and energy technology, drawing around 1.5 million visitors a year.

One of the world's oldest purpose-built gallery buildings, built 1826-1836 by Leo von Klenze and opened in 1836. Part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, it houses an Old Master collection spanning the 14th to 18th century. Damaged in the Second World War, it was restored in altered form by Hans Döllgast in 1952-1957.

A museum of decorative and folk arts in Munich, founded by King Maximilian II of Bavaria in 1855 and housed since 1900 in a historicist building by Gabriel von Seidl on Prinzregentenstraße. Its galleries hold the former Wittelsbach art collection alongside sculpture, furniture, tapestries and folklore objects spanning late antiquity to the early 20th century.

A public park stretching from Munich's city centre to its north-eastern edge, created from 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson for the Elector Charles Theodore and extended by Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell. At 3.7 square kilometres, it is one of the largest urban public parks in the world, laid out in the informal English landscape style.

The park built for the 1972 Summer Olympics in the Oberwiesenfeld district, known for its tent-like roof over the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Hall and swimming hall. It also includes the Olympic Tower, an artificial hill, a lake and the former Olympic Village, and still hosts concerts and other events today.

An aquarium in Munich's Olympiapark, opened in April 2006 at Willi-Daume-Platz. More than 3,000 marine animals from 150 species live across 33 tanks holding 700,000 litres, arranged in themed sections such as the Danube delta, a coral cave and a shipwreck. A ten-metre tunnel runs through the 400,000-litre tropical tank, home to Germany's widest range of shark species.

BMW's exhibition, delivery and event centre beside its Munich headquarters and the Olympiapark, designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au and opened in October 2007. Its sweeping double-cone roof covers a showroom of current BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce models and the hall where customers collect specially ordered cars.

A Baroque palace in Munich's Neuhausen-Nymphenburg district, commissioned in 1664 by Elector Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy to mark the birth of their son and built first by Agostino Barelli, then Enrico Zuccalli. It served as the Wittelsbach rulers' main summer residence, and its 632-metre facade faces a formal park with canals and garden pavilions.

Munich's football stadium, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and opened in 2005 at Fröttmaning on the city's northern edge. Bayern Munich have played home matches here since 2005-06, and the facade's inflated ETFE panels can change colour, a first for a stadium worldwide. It seats up to 75,000 and houses the FC Bayern Erlebniswelt club museum.