One day in Munich

"WOW, you will be in Munich! Take a hotel near the airport, hire a car and just drive on the Autobahn," a friend of mine suggested. Too bad, I just had one day and had to prioritize several other attractions over the Autobahn.

M for Munich

So, what all can you do when you are in Munich for just a day apart from enjoying the Bavarian beer?


It was the March of 2017. I was on my way to Cluj (Romania) and was fortunate to have a day's stop over in Munich. My flight arrived in Munich early in the morning at about 5.00 am and by 7.00 am, I  checked in at a hotel. My flight was at 6 am the next day, which gave me almost an entire day at my hand.

At most of the hotels, you can easily find a rack displaying various brochures/pamphlets covering major highlights in and around the city, including major events, famous attractions, food guide, etc. I picked up a few of them and a public transport map (for train routes: U-Bahn and S-Bahn) and marked some of the sites I definitely wanted to see.

Next was to get some local help. I approached the reception for the suggestions. In the next few minutes, my list had BMW Museum, Olympic Park (The Olympic Tower or Olympiaturm), Marienplatz and Allianz Arena on it.

The receptionist marked the main stations for each of these and also gave a ticket valid (in both train and bus) for next 24 hours for EUR12.

Now comes the ride, I walked to the nearest station and took the train to the first stop - Olympiazentrum. Both BMW museum and Olympic Park are right here.

BMW Museum
BMW museum is huge and one can easily spend a day here admiring the decades of development delivered by the company.

BMW Museum and Corporate Building

Various BMW models by the decades

Changing logos of BMW - Evolution

Olympic Park
Situated right next to the BMW stadium is the Olympic Park. The Park was constructed for 1972 Summer Olympics.

Olympiaturm and the park

If you need to peep into the main stadium, you could buy a ticket like I did. Unfortunately the stadium was being renovated and all I could see was some construction.

Stadium indoors - under construction

Surprisingly there was no entry fee for rest of the Olympic Park. People were skating, cycling, jogging all around the park. Apart from the Olympic Tower, some of the stadiums, swimming pool, the park has beautiful landscapes and water bodies. Very refreshing!

A glimpse of the beautiful landscape in the Olympic Park

Marienplatz

Next, I went to Marienplatz. It's the main city square of Munich and is characterized by a hybrid of
old and new monuments all around it. The moment I came out of the Marienplatz train station, I found myself surrounded by people, shops, food and of course BEER!

Marienplatz

The Mariensäule or the Mary's Column

Alliance Arena
Last one for the day was the home ground for FC Bayern Munich - Allianz Arena. This is the first stadium in the world with a color changing exterior and second largest in Germany.

Allianz Arena

Alliance Arena with the lights on

There are several other attractions in Munich, such as the Deutsches Museum, the Englischer Garten (English Garden), the OKTOBERFEST and many more. I was able to cover some of these in my subsequent trips.

Apart from being famous for the annual beer festival - The Oktoberfest, Munich is also home to beautiful landscapes (gardens, parks, water bodies), historic city center, hearty German food and very friendly and warm people.

Best time to visit: All throughout the year; dress appropriately as per the weather.