Munich West
Munich Attractions in the West: Beer Gardens, Palaces and Day Trips
Palace, park and the largest beer garden in Europe, all within walking distance of each other and none of it on Marienplatz.
Prices and opening times last checked
Most Munich attractions are in the old town, and everything that can be said about them has been. This guide covers the other side of the city: the west, where a palace, a botanical garden, a natural history museum and the largest beer garden in Europe sit close enough together to walk between them in an afternoon. Things to do in Munich do not have to mean the Marienplatz crowd.
No sight in this district is more than 1.1 km from Nymphenburg Palace in a straight line. Marienplatz is 5.8 km away.
The district
Munich attractions west of the centre, and how close they really are
Density is the whole argument here, and it can be checked. None of the sights in this district is more than 1.1 km in a straight line from Nymphenburg Palace. Marienplatz is 5.8 km away, about 5.1 times as far. That is why this guide exists as a Munich attractions guide for one district rather than for the whole city.
| Place | Distance |
|---|---|
| Museum of Man and Natureinside the palace’s north wing | 220 m |
| Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactoryin the northern crescent, a working manufactory | 390 m |
| Munich Botanical Gardenon the northern edge of the park, its own entrance | 610 m |
| Königlicher Hirschgarten beer gardenthe largest beer garden in Europe, around 8,000 seats | 1.1 km |
| Laim stationthe district’s S-Bahn connection | 1.5 km |
| Marienplatzthe city centre, for comparison | 5.8 km |
In practice: you can be in the palace in the morning, in a museum inside the same building at midday, in the botanical garden in the afternoon and in a beer garden in the evening, without once taking the U-Bahn. In the old town that chain does not exist, because there is rarely less than a kilometre between two sights and always a street full of people in between.
Nymphenburg Palace and the museums inside it
Nymphenburg Palace is the anchor of the district: a baroque building that grew out of a single garden pavilion over two centuries, with a free landscape park behind it, four pavilions inside that park, and two museums that stand on the grounds but belong to different operators and need their own tickets. That last detail is the one that catches people out; the Nymphenburg Palace guide lays all 7 sites side by side with price, season and combined ticket.
The park itself costs nothing and carries half a day on its own, which is unusual among Munich attractions: most of them give you very little without a ticket.
8,000
seats in the largest beer garden in Europe, out in the west of the city, not in the old town.
Beer
The beer gardens
The largest beer garden in Europe is called Königlicher Hirschgarten, seats around 8,000 people and lies barely a kilometre and a half from the palace. That it is not in the city centre but among residential streets in the west surprises locals too.
If you have never been to one: a Bavarian beer garden is not a pub with tables outside. In the self-service part of the garden you are legally allowed to bring and eat your own food, and that right is what makes it a beer garden rather than an ordinary restaurant terrace. Drinks always come from the bar. The list of Munich beer gardens covers 24 gardens with 62,800 seats between them and marks which of them have a documented self-service area.
Day trips from Munich
Day trips from Munich start where the S-Bahn ends. The two that justify a full day are Neuschwanstein with Hohenschwangau, and Lake Chiemsee. For the castles the ticket has to be bought before you travel: they are timed-entry only, the desk sells same-day tickets only, and on a busy day those are gone before lunch. Schleißheim Palace is the half-day version and needs no advance booking at all.
Both have their own page here: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau and Lake Chiemsee. Of the day trips from Munich that need no planning at all, Schleißheim is the one to take on a whim.
Dachau is the fourth way out of the city and the only one that is not a day trip in the ordinary sense. The concentration camp memorial site is on the edge of the town of Dachau, about twenty minutes away on the S2, and there is no admission charge. It belongs in this list because it is one of the most visited places in the region, and it does not belong in the same category as a palace.
- Nymphenburg Palace7 sites, several ticket desks, two seasons: what the ticket covers, what closes in winter and when the combined ticket stops paying.
- Beer gardens24 gardens with 62,800 seats between them, sortable by size, brewery and area; and the rule that decides where you may bring your own food.
- Neuschwanstein and HohenschwangauTwo castles, two different owners, which is where almost every surprise at the ticket desk comes from, including which of them is dearer.
- Lake ChiemseeHerrenchiemsee, the Fraueninsel and the boat between them, and why the palace ticket never includes the crossing.
How to use this guide
Three things worth knowing before you plan. First, the winter half-year is not a quiet season here, it is a different city: from 16 October the park pavilions at Nymphenburg close completely and the palace shortens its hours to täglich 10–16 Uhr.
Second, an unusual amount of what is worth seeing costs nothing: the palace park, the palace garden at Hohenschwangau, the Marienbrücke viewpoint, and in winter even the outdoor part of the botanical garden. A full day in the west is possible without buying a single ticket.
Third, and it decides more than the order: things to do in Munich fall into two groups here, the ones with a booked time and the ones without. Fixed entry times exist in only a few places, but where they exist they are strict. Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Nymphenburg Palace can only be entered at a booked time. Everything else in this guide is a place you simply turn up at.
The German side of this Munich attractions guide covers a few more places: Schleißheim, Dachau and a practical page of opening times. The numbers are the same ones either way: both languages are built from the same data, so a price change lands on both at once.
In short
Common questions
What is there to do in Munich away from the old town?
The western district around Nymphenburg: the palace and its park, the Museum of Man and Nature, the porcelain manufactory, the botanical garden and the Königlicher Hirschgarten beer garden. None of them is more than 1.1 km from the palace in a straight line.
What is a beer garden, exactly?
An outdoor place to drink where, in the self-service section, you are allowed to bring your own food and eat it at the table. Drinks are always bought on site. That right is the legal difference between a beer garden and a restaurant with outdoor seating.
Which day trips from Munich are worth a whole day?
Neuschwanstein with Hohenschwangau, and Lake Chiemsee. Schleißheim Palace works as a half day on the S1. For the castles, book the timed ticket before you travel.
Is the west of Munich worth it in winter?
The park is open all year and nearly empty in winter; the palace and Marstallmuseum run shorter hours. The four park pavilions and the Geranienhaus are closed. To see those, come between April and mid-October.
Prices and opening times as of August 2026, taken from the operators themselves. Diese Seite auf Deutsch.