Overview
Bavaria is the Germany of Wagnerian opera, medieval fairy tales, and Teutonic myth. From tiny forest villages to stately Baroque cities along the Danube and castles perched high in the Alps, the region attracts more visitors than any other part of the country. When foreigners conjure up images of Germany, they are thinking of Bavaria: land of beer gardens, sausage, and Lederhosen. But tourists soon discover that there is much more to Germany’s largest federal state than the clichés it indulges. From international powerhouses like BMW and Audi to thriving university towns, Bavaria is too dynamic to be regarded as an open-air museum.
The region’s residents will be the first to say they are Bavarians first and Germans second. Bavaria was a sovereign kingdom for ages, after all. Through wars with France and Austria, Otto von Bismarck pulled Bavaria into his orbit, but it remained its own kingdom until 1918. Local authorities still insist upon using the Land’s proper name: Freistaat Bayern (Free State of Bavaria). On a local level, Franconians, upper Bavarians, and Swabians take great pains to assert their unique cultures. Despite such long-standing cultural identities, modern cosmopolitanism combines with historical preservation to animate the truly individual character of Germany’s southernmost state.
München (Munich) Tourists who step past the stereotypes of Lederhosen and pot-bellied conservatives will be pleasantly surprised to discover that Munich (pop. 1,248,000) is both the sleek southern ...more
Flights: Flughafen München (☎ 97 52 13 13; www.munich-airport.de). S1 and S8 trains run between the airport and the Hauptbahnhof (45min.; every 10min., €8.80, sit in the rear half of the S1 train) ...more
Munich rests on the banks of the Isar in the middle of south-central Bavaria, with King Ludwig’s castles and the Alps only a short trip past its outskirts. Marienplatz is the center of Munich’s sight-strewn ...more
Public Transportation: MVV, Munich’s public transport system (☎ 089 41 42 43 44, www.mvv-muenchen.de), runs M-Th and Su 5am-12:30am, F-Sa 5am-2am. S-Bahn to the airport starts running at 3:30am. Eurail ...more
EurAide in English (☎ 59 38 89; www.euraide.com), counter in the Reisezentrum, Hauptbahnhof. Main office located next door to Subway sandwich shop. Deutsche Bahn’s English-speaking office books ...more
The establishment of several new hostels and the wide availability of public transportation in Munich make it an easy place to stay as long as you plan ahead. During Oktoberfest, rooms are in short supply—begin ...more
The vibrant Viktualienmarkt, south of Marienpl., offers everything from basic to exotic, but prices can be steep. (Open M-Sa 7am-8pm, in summer Sa until 4pm.) Throughout the city, ubiquitous Biergärten ...more
Residenz. The richly decorated Residenz is the most visible presence of the Wittelsbach dynasty, whose state rooms now comprise the Residenzmuseum. The luxurious apartments reflect Renaissance ...more
Munich has been a superb museum city ever since Ludwig I decided to make it into an “Athens on the Isar” in the 19th century. The Münchner Volkshochschule (☎ 089 48 00 62 29) offers many museum ...more
At the turn of the century, theater and opera were at the center of European intellectual life, and Munich was home to luminaries like Brecht, Mann, Klee, Kandinsky, Spengler, and Trotsky (see Young ...more
Drawing on its penchant for breaking the mold, Munich’s nightlife spans the full gamut from exclusive, trend-defining clubs to underground caverns of alternative rebellion. You won’t have to go far ...more
Although Bavaria has a reputation for traditionalism, gay nightlife thrives in Munich, centering around Müllerstr. and Gärtnerpl. in the Glockenbachviertel, and stretching from south of Sendlinger ...more
Every fall, hordes of tourists make an unholy pilgrimage to Munich to drink and be merry in true Bavarian style. From noon on the penultimate Saturday of September through early October, participants ...more
From Munich, take S6 (dir: Tutzing) to “Starnberg” (30min. €6.70 with Munich XXL card, trains run every 20min.). The train stops right in the center of town. Tourist office Wittelsbacherstr. 2c ...more
Stretching from the shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance) to the snow-capped peaks on the Austrian border, the Allgäu region boasts winsome villages in an alpine landscape. Largely ignored by international ...more
Perhaps it was to his credit that Maximilian II neglected to educate his sons in the mundane affairs of government, allowing them to cultivate a taste for literature and the arts instead. With Max’s ...more
The paintings of Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich have impressed the iconic image of the Watzmann peak upon every German’s mind. For centuries, the mountain—and the sparkling blue lakes and ...more
The original inhabitants of these picturesque islands, meadows, and marshlands, located between Munich and Salzburg, built the famed 9th-century island monasteries. Later, King Ludwig II chose the Herreninsel ...more
Sun-speckled forest paths weave by cold natural streams and lush foliage in central Europe’s largest range of wooded land. Germany’s national treasure has peaks (60 of which are over 1km high) that ...more
Vineyards, groomed fields of sunflowers and wheat, rolling hills, and dense forests checker the landscape between Würzburg and Füssen. Officially dubbed the Romantic Road in 1950, the area has become ...more
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