Germany is an incredibly easy place to travel with children. How could the country that gave us the Brothers Grimm and gummy bears not be? Bavaria is one the most laid back parts of Germany, making it a doubly great place to vacation with kids.
Munich is an easy city to navigate with good public transit, plenty of parks, and good mixture of culture and fun for preschoolers, kids and teens. Here are our top things to do in Munich with kids, some on the well-worn tourist track and some a small detour from it.
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The 8 Most Wunderbar Things To Do & See in Munich With Kids
1. The Marienplatz
The Marienplatz is the city’s central pedestrian zone with stores, cafés, beer halls and churches. At 11:00 and noon (and 5:00 pm May to October) stop in front of the Neue Rathaus to see the Glockenspiel.
More than 30 figures act out the wedding that gave Munich its famous Octoberfest. The party includes dancing coopers and a joust (the Bavarian knight always wins). A 3YO Tiny Traveler was captivated, and after three visits to Munich it still impresses me.
Although its gothic style might suggest otherwise, the “new” town hall was built between 1870 and 1905, with the glockenspiel completed toward the end. In normal times you can climb to the top of its tower for a 360-degree view of Munich. Soccer fans will want to note that this is where FC Bayern celebrates its major victories.
On a nearby corner of the platz look for a dragon hanging off the side the building. The metal statue and stone frieze above it tells the tale of a dragon bringing plague and famine to Munich, the people fighting and defeating the dragon and celebrating afterward.
The netting on the glockenspiel and friezes ruin photos but it keeps the pigeons off and helps to preserve these outdoor treasures.
Beneath the Rathaus you’ll find the Ratskeller, a wine cellar dating from the 1870s with frescoed vaulted ceilings, dark wood furniture and gothic chandeliers. On a cold, gray day its a cozy place to warm up with a bowl of soup or, if you’re really hungry, the roast pork. The interior courtyard is a lovely option when it’s sunny and warm.
Around the Marienplatz you’ll also find a tourist information center, St.Peter’s Gothic church, Ludwig Beck, a department store that dates back to the 1860s and known for its large music department, and the old town hall, which houses a toy museum (spielzeugmuseum).
2 Munich’s public pools
Munich has indoor and outdoor public pool complexes all over town. They are inexpensive, huge and amazing. Kids from toddlers to teens with find something to like at most of them. Admission is a few euros, lockers are available and facilities are ultra modern and clean. Bad or bade indicates a pool and a freibad is an outdoor pool.
The sprawling outdoor Prinzregentenbad has a stone wading area with sprinklers and a playground for small children, pools with slides and whirlpools for bigger kids and adults and a lap pool. Bring lunch or buy it there and picnic on the large lawn.
Naturbad Maria Einsiedel is a similar complex near the zoo. The bracing Isar River feeds one of its pools.
Try the Cosimawellenbad on cold or rainy days. Kids come running when the buzzer sounds, signaling waves are about to start rolling in main pool. Pre-swimmers have a wading pool with a slide. Grown-ups have an indoor/outdoor heated pool with spa jets and whirlpools. There are saunas elsewhere in the building for the grown-ups, too.
Note: Some locker rooms are co-ed, but never fear: These will have comfortable changing rooms that lock. Discretion is expected. It’s usually BYO for towels.
3. Englischer Garten
Europe’s largest city park, the Englisher Garten offers playgrounds, beer gardens, lakes and rivers and rambling wilderness.
The Chinesischen Turm is one of Munich’s most popular beer gardens. Located toward the southern end of the park, you’ll know it by its eponymous Chinese Tower. Families like this large biergarten because you can bring your own picnic (or buy food there) and it has a rustic playground and old-fashioned carousel right next to it.
Pass by the park entrance on Prinzregenten Strasse, near the Haus der Kunst (art museum) to watch wetsuit-clad surfers riding the waves in the aptly named Eisbach River.
Planning a Trip?
• Free breakfast is standard in German hotels. It’s usually ample and delicious. Don’t settle for a hotel where it isn’t offered.
• Rent a stylish, roomy apartment near the Marienplatz or Englisher Garten.
• Welcome Pickupss has affordable 4-hour personalized tours of Munich as well as airport service.
4. Deutsches Museum
Future engineers and their dads (primarily) will love every inch of the Deutsches Museum, a sophisticated hands-on science and technology museum and planetarium. Teens and tweens will appreciate the main exhibits, which delve into any and every area of science that you can think of.
This is not your typical kid-centric science museum but you can take kids under 8YO downstairs to Kinderreich (kids’ kingdom), where they can play a giant guitar from the inside, run on a large hamster wheel and clamber around a fire truck.
The Best Places To Eat in Munich With Kids
Families are welcome in all the beer halls and beer gardens. Look for them in most parks, sometimes with playgrounds and other amusements in view of the tables.
5. Chinesischen Turm
You’ll find outdoor biergartens all around town, in the parks and alongside Bierhalls like the famous Hofbrau Haus. We’ve returned to this one over and over because the cafeteria style café is budget friendly; kids and their parents will love the roast chicken and sausages. Made-to-order Palacinken (pancakes) are a sweet treat and Tiny Traveler liked watching them cook. It’s equally popular with local residents.
Tip: The large coins you get with your beer represent the deposit you made on your glass, so be sure to return your glasses and retrieve your deposit.
6. The Viktualienmarkt
At this large outdoor you can buy ready-made sausages and sandwiches from prepared-food stalls or put an impromptu picnic together with cold cuts, seafood, cheese, bread and fruit from local purveyors. There are also informal cafés where you can sit and eat (if you can snag a table).
In spring and summer look for local products like raspberries, currants and gooseberries. In late summer you might see fresh Chanterelle mushrooms. Tiny Traveler was rewarded for finishing her lunch with Turkish delight sold by the piece in a dozen bright colors and flavors. She chose raspberry and loved it.
7. Beer Halls
Beer halls come in all sizes from enormous to snug. For indoor dining try the cozy Glöckl Am Dom, known for tiny bratwurst served with fresh horseradish. Schneider Weisse, famous for its weisswurst with pretzels and weisse beer, is a Munich must. Kids find the mild white sausages less intimidating than some other wurst and they always come with fresh, warm pretzels.
8. Kaffee und Kuchen
Germans love their sweets and it’s usual for them to take time out for a baked treat in the afternoon to tide them over until a later dinner. There are plenty of places around the Marienplatz to indulge in Linzer tarts, marzipan-laden pastries and the seasonal-fruit-topped cakes the locals favor. My favorite has a rich-but-not sweet pastry cream and poppy seeds.
Try the classic but casual Café Rischart. With kids old enough to appreciate a pinkies-up afternoon tea head to DallMayr’s famous fancy food store and upstairs cafe.
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