While there aren’t many bargains in Munich, there are a surprising number of one-of-a-kind activities and sights that are completely free.
Whether you’re a music lover, a car enthusiast or a fan of world-class soccer, gardens, history or architecture, Munich has a free experience for you. Here's our guide to the very best of them.
A trip out to the Olympiapark, site of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games, is always a lovely excursion, especially so in the warmer months when you can time a spin around the grounds with a free concert. Throughout August and for one weekend in June (Pentecost), the Theatron Festival brings live bands to the amphitheater next to the Olympic Lake, with everything from hip-hop to gospel, pop and punk on the lineup.
Better yet, bring a blanket and a beverage and join the throngs of locals to eavesdrop on the stars from atop the Olympiaberg. The 564m (1850ft) hill just happens to be within earshot of the roofless Olympiastadion, where acts as big as Beyoncé, Linkin Park and Katy Perry are known to take the stage.
Wondering when to go to Munich? Our seasonal guide can help you decide
If you worship at the altar of the automobile, you’ll want to make a beeline for this “cathedral of cars” near the Olympiastadion. Sitting right next to the actual BMW plant, BMW Welt is essentially a vast showroom where you can admire the company’s entire current product offering, from sedans to Minis, racing cars to electric vehicles and even Rolls-Royces.
The futuristic building itself is a showstopper, all glass and steel twisted into a double cone and lidded by a roof reminiscent of a floating cloud. Admission to the showroom space is free, though there is a fee to visit the adjacent BMW Museum.
Sure, most parks are free – though few are like Munich’s Englischer Garten (English Garden), which is bigger than both London’s Hyde Park and Central Park in New York. Find your way to Kleinhesseloher See (a lake) and stretch out on the manicured lawns for sunbathing or a picnic.
Other delightful features of this urban oasis include a Greek-style temple with grand views and (naturally) several beer gardens. The most famous – and one of Munich’s largest – sprawls around the unmissable Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower), a five-tiered wooden pagoda.
Planning tip: Pay a visit to the Japanisches Teehaus at the right time and you could enjoy an authentic Japanese tea ceremony. It only happens twice a month between April and October, and you can't prebook.
Want to see more of Munich? Here's our guide to the city's best experiences
Munich is famous for beer, sausages and... surfing. That’s no typo: at the southern tip of the Englischer Garten at Prinzregentenstrasse, you’ll see scores of people leaning over a bridge to
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After winter made a couple of extra encores in Britain this year, summer has finally arrived. It's time to book some friends and pack your bags for a weekend of unbridled joy, with live music, dress-ups and fairground rides, plus performance poets, world food and pop-up hot-tubs – the UK’s music festivals are worth planning a holiday around.
It’s all about the heat come July, with the northern hemisphere’s sizzling summer temperatures adding an extra shine to some of the world’s most popular travel destinations.
Dog-friendly year-round but with an on-leads rule between 1 April and 31 August to protect ground-nesting birds, Holkham beach is a brilliant family destination. The walk down to the golden sand is enchanting – along boardwalks and through pine forest – and there’s a cafe serving homemade sandwiches and cakes. Lots of great local walks too. Stay pet-friendly Sueda Cottage, with its own walled garden, is a minute’s walk from the harbour and pub. From £89a night (sleeps 4, plus two dogs)
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Wild Canvas, one of the recent wave of pop-up campsites with a festival vibe, has a host of new additions for its fifth outing this summer. The campsite makes the most of its riverside setting on the Turvey House Estate near Bedford. It has a new wellness area, the Nest, with direct river access (BYO paddleboard!) plus a yoga yurt, a mobile sauna, a treatment tent for massages and free early-morning activities from meditation to boot camp.
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