A Walking Tour of Munich, Germany

Munich is almost synonymous with beer halls and Oktoberfest. But, we discovered there was so much more to this beautiful, green, family-friendly city. Munich became one of our favorite European cities after our visit. Come with us on this walking tour of Munich.

We heard that it was a great walking city so we went on a walking tour offered by Munich Tourism. We did the three-hour orientation tour on a Sunday morning. These are some of the memorable sights we saw during our walking tour.

Munich has a rich history that dates back to the 12th century and named after the Benedictine monks who settled here in the 7th century. Munich is from a medieval German word ‘Münichen ‘. They later shortened it to München, literally translated to English meaning ‘monks’.

Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria founded the city over 800 years ago. The city eventually became the capital of the kingdom of Bavaria.

Our tour started off by our hotel and we passed through the Isar River that flows through the city. This was surprisingly a pretty small river. A few weeks before our visit, the guide told us this area was flooded. We saw remnants showing how high the water level rose.

A city wall and surrounding towers in the Middle Ages protected Munich. Isartor or Isar Gate was one of the main gates of the city wall.

They built the central tower in the 1300s as an entrance to the Isar River. The murals on the facade is of King Ludwig IV’s victory procession after a battle with the Austrians.  

Viktualienmarkt

One of the places I was excited to see was Viktualienmarkt, fondly known as the “city’s stomach”. It’s a food/farmers market that I could have spent hours exploring. Several food stalls, selling local delicacies including a wide variety of bratwursts and pretzels, surrounded a beer garden.

Unfortunately, we were there a little earlier than everyone else. But, we did visit a few more times and I’m looking forward to sharing all the delicious and eye-catching things we found there.

My kids were fascinated with the tall maypole overlooking Viktualienmarkt. Maypoles are wooden poles used in festivals. There have been many theories of its meaning but we liked the one of it being part of celebrating the return of summer.

We also saw some surprising street art along the way.

Churches of Munich

Unfortunately, heavy bombing hit Munich during World War II. Though, the city has done a wonderful job with restoring many of its old buildings.

Many of those included beautiful Catholic churches which were near each other. Church spires seem to dominate Munich’s skyline.

More than half of Bavaria Germany was still Catholic. It’s not surprising knowing the previous pope (Pope Benedict) was the archbishop of Munich.

Peterskirche or St. Peter’s Church was Munich’s oldest parish church and was also the only church for many years. A fire destroyed it in 1327, but they rebuilt it in the late 1300s. One downside of touring on a Sunday is that many churches close at different times for services.

Visitors can climb up the towers for a panoramic view of Munich. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to see that view.

The twin onion dome towers of Frauenkirche are one of Munich’s most recognizable landmark and symbol. These twin towers survived the World War II bombings. Though, the rest of the church was heavily damaged.

This is the largest Gothic building in southern Germany and completed in 1488. There is a law forbidding the construction of no new buildings that can obscure the view of the church.

One of my favorite buildings was the Church of St. Kajetan or Theatinerkirche. They built the Roman baroque church to celebrate the birth of one of Bavaria’s rulers’ sons and named it after St. Cajetan of Thiene, its patron saint.

I loved the white contrast of its interior with its yellow/golden facade.

The Feldherrnhalle or Field Marshal’s Hall was next to the church. They designed the open hall, flanked by columns with a central stairway, to honor Bavaria’s heroes. We passed by a few times, and we always found it filled with tourists and locals relaxing.

We also passed by a Jewish synagogue with a very modern architecture. The Ohel Jakob Synagogue was a steel and glass cube on top of a travertine stone base. They opened it in 2006, with over 500 seats.

Munich Residenz and Old Court

The Munich Residenz takes up quite a huge area in the city center. This once royal residence is a group of large building complexes designed around several courts.

My kids needed that bit of distraction apart from all the history and architecture. They found a lion by the Munich Residenz entrance with a rubbed off nose for good luck. Lions and lion symbols were common around Munich.

The adjacent Hofgarten (Palace gardens) surrounding this area was spacious and a perfect place to rest.

We loved passing by the National Theater with its colorful, wrapped columns. They were getting ready for an outdoor film festival when we passed by.

Alter Hof or Old Court was once an imperial residence but later used for administrative purposes after the royals moved to the Residenz palace. Since the war caused damage, they only reconstructed part of it. The story that perhaps resonated with my kids was that of the Monkey Tower which is actually the colorful bay window.

According to legend, when King Ludwig IV was a baby, a monkey from the royal court carried him off. The monkey took the baby to the top of the tower.

It took awhile and a lot of persuasion before it came down with the baby. Thankfully, the baby was unharmed. But, no one knows what happened to the monkey.

Marienplatz

We ended our tour at Marienplatz (Mary’s Square) which is Munich’s centerpiece. I lost count on how many times we ventured, ate and shopped here during our stay. The square was great hub of activity including street performers even late in the night.

Marienplatz served as a marketplace until 1807 and got its name from the Virgin Mary when citizens prayed for protection from a cholera epidemic. It is now a busy area and very popular with tourists and locals.

There were quite a few notable structures that surrounded this glorious square. The Mariensäule (Column of the Virgin) in the middle of the square signifies the citizens’ gratitude after the Swedish invasion in the 1600s.

A golden statue of Mary adorns the top with child warrior statues on each of its four corners symbolizing overcoming hunger, war, heresy and pestilence.

The Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall) was a Gothic building and looked a little plain compared to its neighbors. The 180 feet (55 m) tower was a lookout point but now houses a toy museum.

This was restored after a majority of it was destroyed by WWII bombs. But, the builders meticulously followed the original 15th century design.

It may not look newer than the old city hall, but the New Town Hall or NeueRatHaus dominates Marienplatz. This ornate neo-Gothic building was quite a sight with colorful flower boxes and Bavarian royalty statues adorning its facade.

This is the seat of the mayor and the city council. It took 41 years to build this and was completed in 1908 and spanned 300 feet (100 m) long. We never got tired of seeing this ornate building.

The biggest draw here though is the famous Glockenspiel and Carillon with 43 bells in the central tower. 32 wooden, life-sized figures emerge from the clock to perform a tournament, wedding and peasant celebrations on two levels for 12 minutes.

They come out at 11AM and noon (also at 5 PM during the summer). It was entertaining to watch and was a hit with everyone especially the kids. It was a wonderful way to end the tour.

Munich had many pedestrian zones and hidden alleys to explore with many stunning and interesting structures. Walking through it was really one of the best ways to explore the city.

Thoughts on Walking tour of Munich

Our guide, Angelika, provided us with so much information that even my kids were interested. We don’t usually do walking tours but this gave us such a great overview of Munich and covered so much for a limited time. If you’re visiting Munich, we highly recommend following this walking tour or doing a walking tour.

Thank You to Munich Tourism for providing us with the fabulous walking tour with Angelika Domes and all the helpful recommendations. All opinions and photos are my own based on our experience.

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*Have you visited Munich? Do you do walking tours?