A good day out with kids doesn't have to start at a ticket desk. This list gathers the spots and events that cost nothing to get into: adventure playgrounds, water play areas, parks and free events. Pack snacks, bring a ball and go. It updates itself as new free listings go live, so check back before the weekend.
Bär hat es schwer is a puppet show by Figurentheater Pantaleon at the Ramersdorf branch of the Munich city library. Autumn is nearly over, and the bear comes out of the woods full from eating and tired, ready for his soft winter bed.
But something in the bed pokes and pinches, he can't sleep, and he gets grumpy. The show is in German, so it suits kids who follow German.
A St. Martin's lantern walk from a farm at Munich's eastern edge. The loop runs about 2 km along field paths from Reitsberger Hof to the old village of Baldham-Dorf and back, with stops that tell the story of St. Martin sharing his cloak.
Stands at the farm and in Baldham-Dorf serve hot apple juice, sausages, pretzels and roast goose, so it doubles as an early dinner.
A hands-on coding workshop at the Westend public library, part of its ENTER! digital learning series. Kids work with LEGO SPIKE, a kit that combines building, engineering and programming, and code what they build.
It is a playful first look at how computers "think", with lots of trying things out and tinkering. It suits curious kids who are happy following spoken instructions in German.
Storyteller Claudia Schleich brings fairy tales to life inside a snug yurt, told aloud by a crackling fire. Kids sit close and listen to the story as it unfolds.
It suits kids who can follow a short spoken story, and families after a calm Sunday afternoon. The yurt is at Alte Utting, the old excursion ship moored on dry land in Munich.
Once a year the Olympia-Schwimmhalle turns into one big try-it day for water sports. Kids can swim like mermaids, paddle a kayak, try diving, jump from the diving boards or balance on a slackline strung over the water.
It suits families with a mix of ages: there is water play for the smallest, while confident swimmers can sample sports a normal pool visit never offers.
A Christmas market inside the Kaiserhof, the grand courtyard of Munich's Residenz palace, just off Odeonsplatz. More than 50 stalls sell handmade crafts, old Bavarian nativity scenes, mulled wine and homemade eggnog.
For kids, the draw is the Märchenwald, a fairy-tale forest where scenes come to life at the push of a button. It suits preschool and early primary kids most.
Kasperl is a girl this time: brave, curious and supportive. At her side are Seppel with his glitter unicorn, an unusual witch grandma, a glittering wizard and a crocodile who would rather join the party than bite.
The stories are interactive, and kids are in the middle of them, teaching Kasperl their languages, festivals and favorite words and helping shape where each tale goes.
Münchner Theater für Kinder stages its version of the old fable. Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog have built a small house, then the boastful hare Flitz turns up, claims it is his and demands a golden carrot as rent.
A cuckoo announces a weightlifting contest, and finally the two race each other with the house as the prize. The play is in German, so it suits kids who follow spoken German.
A Christmas market set inside the English Garden, with wooden huts around the lit-up Chinese Tower pagoda. Kids ride a historic 1913 carousel and a small kids' train, take a horse-drawn carriage loop through the park, and try Bavarian ice stock, a curling-style game, on two lanes. Brass players perform from the tower. It suits families who want a calmer market than the crowded Old Town ones.
Munich's oldest Christmas market fills Marienplatz and nearby streets with stalls of ornaments, gingerbread hearts and roasted almonds, under a giant tree outside the New Town Hall. Kids can hear brass bands and choirs on the town hall balcony, browse a huge nativity-figure market by St. Peter's, and catch the Krampus run if they like a scare. About three million people visit each season, so expect crowds.
An Advent market set up as a medieval Munich market scene, with detailed stalls, crafts and market food. Much of it ties back to the city's own history, such as the monk on its first city seal who later turned into the Münchner Kindl.
It suits kids who like knights, castles and old stories, and grown-ups after a more atmospheric Christmas market than the usual.
Marcus Pfister, the author of "The Rainbow Fish," reads from his picture book classic for Germany's nationwide reading day (Vorlesetag). Florian Moch, director and puppeteer at the Augsburger Puppenkiste, joins him, along with the original Rainbow Fish puppets used in the new puppet film.
Afterward Pfister signs books. It suits preschoolers and early readers who can follow a story read in German.
Tollwood is Munich's alternative Christmas market, set up in big tents and open-air lanes on the Theresienwiese. Around 200 stalls sell crafts, clothing and gifts, much of it fair trade, and more than 50 stands cook certified organic food from many countries.
Walk-acts roam the grounds, a performance stage runs shows, and there is a kids' program. It suits families who want shows and food alongside the shopping.
Around 300 Krampus and Perchten in shaggy fur and hand-carved wooden masks rattle, clang and roar through the Old Town's Christmas market streets. The groups come from across the Alps, keeping a 500-year-old tradition alive.
The figures play with the crowd, snatch a hat and hand it back, and stop for selfies. Fun for kids who like a good scare; not for a child afraid of masks.
A family Christmas concert from the Münchner Motettenchor, a fixture at the Matthäuskirche for many years. Kids sing carols at full voice together with the adult choir, while a host chats and jokes with the audience between songs. Proceeds go to Sternstunden, a charity for children in need.
It suits kids who like to join in more than kids who prefer to sit and listen.
Munich's official Fasching parade, the Faschingszug, is led by the Damische Ritter, a local carnival club. More than 50 groups wind through the Altstadt: brass bands, decorated floats, dance troupes, carnival societies and the city's Fasching prince and princess.
Thousands line the old-town streets to watch, many in costume, so kids get to see the floats up close from inside a crowd in fancy dress.
Once a year, the women who run the stalls at Munich's Viktualienmarkt trade their aprons for costumes and dance on a stage by the maypole. Each costume shows a stall, so kids can spot the baker, the butcher or the flower seller.
The Narrhalla guards and the Fasching prince and princess warm up the crowd first. It's a big outdoor crowd, so smaller kids see best from a parent's shoulders.
The Auer Dult is one of Munich's oldest traditions, a market fair that fills Mariahilfplatz in Au three times a year. The spring edition brings about 250 stalls selling pottery, antiques, toys and kitchen gadgets, plus a ride area with bumper cars, a 1919 chain swing carousel, a Ferris wheel and throwing booths. It suits kids who like a few rides and parents who like to browse.
Twice a year, Leopoldstraße in Schwabing closes to cars and becomes one long festival street between the Siegestor and Münchner Freiheit. Stages along the way run from swing and salsa to Bavarian dialect bands, cabaret and electronic music, with art, dance taster classes and football courts in between.
The Corso Leopoldino kids' area has easel painting, crafts and movement games, a good base while the grown-ups browse.
Thousands of people in dirndls and lederhosen fill the beer garden around the Chinese Tower in the Englischer Garten and dance Bavarian folk dances at sunrise. A dance master calls and demonstrates every step from the stage, so beginners and kids join in.
The ball revives a tradition of the city's cooks and maids, who danced here before work in the 1880s. It suits early-rising families who like music and a crowd.
The Wiesn is Munich's giant folk festival on the Theresienwiese: beer tents, yes, but also a full fairground. Kids ride the Ferris wheel, chair swings, the Toboggan's conveyor belt and wooden slide, and the Teufelsrad spinning disc.
The Oide Wiesn at the south end is calmer, with historic carousels, a marionette theater and high-wheel bikes. Weekday daytime suits families best; evenings and weekends get packed.
Maximiliansanlagen is about 2 km of wooded parkland on the high east bank of the Isar. Paths run under old trees past the Friedensengel column and the Maximilianeum, with views across to the old town and down to the river's weirs.
After a snowfall, the short slopes near the Maximilianeum are one of the most central sledding spots in town, with steep runs and gentle ones for small kids.
Aubinger Lohe is a forest recreation area on the western edge of the city, crossed by woodland paths for walking and cycling. Its main hill rises about 25 meters above the surrounding fields and becomes a sledding run when snow falls, with plenty of smaller slopes where young kids can try their first runs.
In summer, families come for the two Böhmerweiher ponds and the playgrounds.
A self-service Bavarian beer garden under old chestnut trees on the high bank of the Isar, with a mix of sunny and half-shaded tables. Kids get open space to run around and a playground, while adults pick up Obazda, pretzels and grilled dishes from the counters.
In the summer season, live jazz bands play every day. A sit-down restaurant serving traditional Bavarian food is on the same grounds.
Königlicher Hirschgarten has been an inn since 1791 and calls itself the largest beer garden in the world, with more than 8,000 outdoor seats split between a served section and a self-service area. A deer enclosure borders the garden, and kids can buy feed from a machine for the herd.
In winter, nine natural ice lanes open for Bavarian curling (Eisstockschießen).
An open children's farm run by a nonprofit, where kids drop in without signing up and pitch in with the goats, chickens, runner ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs and bees.
The 5,000 m² grounds also hold playgrounds, a big pirate ship, a fire pit, a garden, and pottery, forge, wood and bike workshops. Kids don't feed the animals or enter the pens alone; staff help them get to know one.
A city farm and adventure playground on about 15,000 m², more than two soccer fields, with ponies, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits and cats. Kids roam the grounds on their own: a treehouse, a play hill, fire pits, a woodworking shop, a garden and a pond for chilling out.
Staff run hands-on projects and seasonal parties, and regulars can sign up to help with stable and animal care.
Abenteuerspielplatz Neuhausen is an open-air yard where school kids handle hammers, nails and real tools, play with water and gather at the fire pit. Wild animals live on the grounds, signs show where to spot them, and a beekeeper looks after the hives by the workshop. Big play structures fill the rest.
The Kreisjugendring München-Stadt runs it as part of Oase Neuhausen.
Maulwurfshausen is a staffed adventure playground in Neuperlach, laid out as a play town run by kids. They rent and build wooden huts, take on jobs, cook at a covered fire pit with an outdoor kitchen, and play on a football lawn and bird's-nest swing. A water slide opens on hot summer days, and a play house with table football, ping pong and a workshop covers rainy afternoons.
ABIX is a staffed adventure playground run by the Kreisjugendring München-Stadt. Kids build huts with hammers, saws and scrap timber, earning ABIX-Taler by raking leaves or pulling old nails to buy boards and paint. There's a rope swing over a pond, campfires and a free organic lunch. On rainy days the play house opens, with table football, ping pong and a padded romping room.
A large water playground on the former grounds of the 2005 Federal Garden Show (BUGA). Kids pump water by hand, scoop it into wooden channels, dam the streams and dig in the mud areas. Around the water zone are climbing structures, monkey bars, swings and slides, plus shady lawns for a picnic. Riemer See, in the same park, has swimming and pedal boats.
A large water playground in the eastern part of Westpark. A shallow stream runs through it, and kids dam it with stones, wade and splash.
Stone slides, a wooden climbing tower and plenty of play equipment fill the rest, so the dry side stays busy too. There is enough shade for parents to sit out of the sun while kids play.
Viktualienmarkt is the Old Town's open-air food market, with more than 100 stalls selling fruit, cheese, bread, honey and flowers around a blue-and-white maypole.
Kids can snack their way through the stalls, spot the six statue fountains of Munich comedians and folk singers, and sit in the central beer garden, where families may bring their own food.
A forest education center run by the Bavarian forestry office in the Grünwald Forest. Its 2.8 km loop trail starts at the main building, passes the wild boar enclosure and has 13 stations, including a barefoot path, sounding logs, a sound labyrinth, a climate arboretum and an adventure playground.
There is also a biodiversity exhibition, an insect house, an ant trail and a yearly program of guided forest walks.
A groundwater-fed swimming lake of nearly 8 hectares, ringed by about 5 hectares of lawn and sandy shoreline in the Dachauer Moos north of Munich. A shallow beach is set aside for small children, with a sand playground near the water rescue station.
Older kids can play beach volleyball on two courts or table tennis by the beer garden. A grill zone allows small family grills.
A groundwater-fed swimming lake dug as a gravel pit in the late 1930s, with about 11 hectares of water ringed by roughly 7 hectares of lawn. A swimming platform floats in the middle, rare for lakes around Munich, and the water reaches about 5 meters deep.
The north shore has a playground, a small soccer field, ping-pong tables and a beer garden, plus a marked barbecue zone.
Langwieder See is an 18-hectare swimming lake, up to 8 meters deep, and the largest of the three Langwieder lakes alongside Lußsee and Birkensee. Wide lawns around the shore leave room for picnics and ball games, and a restaurant with a beer garden sits by the water.
Barbecues are allowed only in the signed grill zones. Divers have a marked area at the north end, away from the swimming lawns.
Feringasee is a 32-hectare former gravel-pit lake, up to 7 meters deep, ringed by 21 hectares of lawns. In season the south third is the buoyed swimming zone, with a step-free entry on the south shore.
Kids can walk or bike the 2 km loop path, try the beach volleyball court and fitness trail, or explore the wetland on the north shore. A restaurant with beer garden is open year-round.
Flaucher is the stretch of the Isar between the Flauchersteg footbridge and the Braunauer railway bridge, where the river splits into shallow side channels around wide gravel banks. Kids wade and splash in alpine water that rarely tops 20°C, even in midsummer.
The banks double as a grilling and meeting spot, so summer weekends get crowded, though quieter corners turn up along the branching channels.
Riemer See is a swimming lake dug for the 2005 federal garden show, which is why locals also call it Bugasee. It is about 700 meters long, up to 18 meters deep, and one of the cleanest lakes around.
Families head for the east shore, where a wide gravel beach runs into a big lawn. A playground sits on the north shore, plus swings and three volleyball courts.
Luitpoldpark spreads 33 hectares of open lawns around a 1911 obelisk and linden grove. North of the Bamberger Haus, a playground holds a winding hedge maze and the Pumuckl fountain.
The 37-meter Luitpoldhügel, a hill built from wartime rubble, is a quick climb with views to the Olympic Tower. In winter its shaded north slope is one of the city's steepest toboggan runs.
Ostpark spreads over 56 hectares around a lake with an island, quieter than the city's other big parks. Kids find Maulwurfshausen adventure playground at the east end, a skate park, table tennis and volleyball, and a barbecue zone by the lake. The Michaeligarten beer garden sits on the shore.
In winter the lake draws ice skaters, the hill becomes a sledding run, and a groomed cross-country ski trail follows the water.
Westpark is a 60-hectare park built for the 1983 garden show, with artificial hills, two lakes and a rose garden of 20,000 roses. The western half holds a Thai Sala, a carved wooden Nepal pagoda and Chinese and Japanese gardens.
Kids can push the 1.8-ton spherical fountain by the southeast entrance, splash at the water playground, and run the wide meadows. The Mittlerer Ring splits the park in two.
Königlicher Hirschgarten has been a deer park since 1780, and its two-hectare enclosure of fallow deer and mouflon is still the main draw: kids can feed them, following the signs on the fence.
The south end has the elephant playground, with a huge sandbox and elephant slide, plus a water playground with a water slide. There's also a climbing tower, a small skate park, sledding hills and Munich's largest beer garden.
Built for the 1972 Olympics, the park wraps around a lake and the 60-meter Olympic Hill, a grassy mound piled from wartime rubble with views over the city to the Alps. Kids climb the easy paths to the summit and run the open lawns, and there is boat hire on the Olympic Lake. SEA LIFE, minigolf and the Munich Action Park's climbing kids area sit inside the grounds.
The English Garden is a 376-hectare landscape park of flat paths, streams, more than 100 bridges and wide meadows. A historic children's carousel stands beside the Chinese Tower beer garden, and pedal and rowing boats rent on Kleinhesseloher See.
Kids can watch surfers ride the Eisbach wave, climb the Monopteros hill for a view over the city, and spot grazing sheep in the quieter north.
A standing wave on the Eisbach, the fast creek that rushes out from under the Prinzregentenstraße bridge at the southern tip of the Englischer Garten. Surfers in wetsuits line up on both banks and drop in one at a time.
Kids watch from the bridge railing or the stone banks. The current is strong and the wave is for skilled surfers only, so this is a place to watch, not to paddle.
Munich's central square, with the Neo-Gothic New Town Hall to the north and the Old Town Hall to the east. In the town hall tower, the Glockenspiel's 43 bells ring while figures joust in a knights' tournament and turn in the coopers' dance. The Mariensäule column stands in the middle, and the Fish Fountain by the town hall is the classic meeting point.
BMW Welt is the carmaker's showroom and delivery center, a sweeping glass building with a twisted double cone at one end. Kids can explore the latest BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad models up close, and look down on the Premiere, where new owners drive off in their cars.
The BMW Museum, directly opposite, covers more than 100 years of BMW history and runs hands-on workshops for kids.
The public museum of the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology fills a glass-roofed hall with big skeletons. At the center stands the Mühldorf prehistoric elephant, surrounded by Plateosaurus (the largest dinosaur found in Bavaria), Allosaurus, Triceratops, the giant flying reptile Pteranodon, a giant deer and a cave bear.
Upstairs, a timeline runs through every era of Earth's history. The museum also shows the Munich Archaeopteryx.
A good day out with kids doesn't have to start at a ticket desk. This list gathers the spots and events that cost nothing to get into: adventure playgrounds, water play areas, parks and free events. Pack snacks, bring a ball and go. It updates itself as new free listings go live, so check back before the weekend.
Bär hat es schwer is a puppet show by Figurentheater Pantaleon at the Ramersdorf branch of the Munich city library. Autumn is nearly over, and the bear comes out of the woods full from eating and tired, ready for his soft winter bed.
But something in the bed pokes and pinches, he can't sleep, and he gets grumpy. The show is in German, so it suits kids who follow German.
A St. Martin's lantern walk from a farm at Munich's eastern edge. The loop runs about 2 km along field paths from Reitsberger Hof to the old village of Baldham-Dorf and back, with stops that tell the story of St. Martin sharing his cloak.
Stands at the farm and in Baldham-Dorf serve hot apple juice, sausages, pretzels and roast goose, so it doubles as an early dinner.
A hands-on coding workshop at the Westend public library, part of its ENTER! digital learning series. Kids work with LEGO SPIKE, a kit that combines building, engineering and programming, and code what they build.
It is a playful first look at how computers "think", with lots of trying things out and tinkering. It suits curious kids who are happy following spoken instructions in German.
Storyteller Claudia Schleich brings fairy tales to life inside a snug yurt, told aloud by a crackling fire. Kids sit close and listen to the story as it unfolds.
It suits kids who can follow a short spoken story, and families after a calm Sunday afternoon. The yurt is at Alte Utting, the old excursion ship moored on dry land in Munich.
Once a year the Olympia-Schwimmhalle turns into one big try-it day for water sports. Kids can swim like mermaids, paddle a kayak, try diving, jump from the diving boards or balance on a slackline strung over the water.
It suits families with a mix of ages: there is water play for the smallest, while confident swimmers can sample sports a normal pool visit never offers.
A Christmas market inside the Kaiserhof, the grand courtyard of Munich's Residenz palace, just off Odeonsplatz. More than 50 stalls sell handmade crafts, old Bavarian nativity scenes, mulled wine and homemade eggnog.
For kids, the draw is the Märchenwald, a fairy-tale forest where scenes come to life at the push of a button. It suits preschool and early primary kids most.
Kasperl is a girl this time: brave, curious and supportive. At her side are Seppel with his glitter unicorn, an unusual witch grandma, a glittering wizard and a crocodile who would rather join the party than bite.
The stories are interactive, and kids are in the middle of them, teaching Kasperl their languages, festivals and favorite words and helping shape where each tale goes.
Münchner Theater für Kinder stages its version of the old fable. Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog have built a small house, then the boastful hare Flitz turns up, claims it is his and demands a golden carrot as rent.
A cuckoo announces a weightlifting contest, and finally the two race each other with the house as the prize. The play is in German, so it suits kids who follow spoken German.
A Christmas market set inside the English Garden, with wooden huts around the lit-up Chinese Tower pagoda. Kids ride a historic 1913 carousel and a small kids' train, take a horse-drawn carriage loop through the park, and try Bavarian ice stock, a curling-style game, on two lanes. Brass players perform from the tower. It suits families who want a calmer market than the crowded Old Town ones.
Munich's oldest Christmas market fills Marienplatz and nearby streets with stalls of ornaments, gingerbread hearts and roasted almonds, under a giant tree outside the New Town Hall. Kids can hear brass bands and choirs on the town hall balcony, browse a huge nativity-figure market by St. Peter's, and catch the Krampus run if they like a scare. About three million people visit each season, so expect crowds.
An Advent market set up as a medieval Munich market scene, with detailed stalls, crafts and market food. Much of it ties back to the city's own history, such as the monk on its first city seal who later turned into the Münchner Kindl.
It suits kids who like knights, castles and old stories, and grown-ups after a more atmospheric Christmas market than the usual.
Marcus Pfister, the author of "The Rainbow Fish," reads from his picture book classic for Germany's nationwide reading day (Vorlesetag). Florian Moch, director and puppeteer at the Augsburger Puppenkiste, joins him, along with the original Rainbow Fish puppets used in the new puppet film.
Afterward Pfister signs books. It suits preschoolers and early readers who can follow a story read in German.
Tollwood is Munich's alternative Christmas market, set up in big tents and open-air lanes on the Theresienwiese. Around 200 stalls sell crafts, clothing and gifts, much of it fair trade, and more than 50 stands cook certified organic food from many countries.
Walk-acts roam the grounds, a performance stage runs shows, and there is a kids' program. It suits families who want shows and food alongside the shopping.
Around 300 Krampus and Perchten in shaggy fur and hand-carved wooden masks rattle, clang and roar through the Old Town's Christmas market streets. The groups come from across the Alps, keeping a 500-year-old tradition alive.
The figures play with the crowd, snatch a hat and hand it back, and stop for selfies. Fun for kids who like a good scare; not for a child afraid of masks.
A family Christmas concert from the Münchner Motettenchor, a fixture at the Matthäuskirche for many years. Kids sing carols at full voice together with the adult choir, while a host chats and jokes with the audience between songs. Proceeds go to Sternstunden, a charity for children in need.
It suits kids who like to join in more than kids who prefer to sit and listen.
Munich's official Fasching parade, the Faschingszug, is led by the Damische Ritter, a local carnival club. More than 50 groups wind through the Altstadt: brass bands, decorated floats, dance troupes, carnival societies and the city's Fasching prince and princess.
Thousands line the old-town streets to watch, many in costume, so kids get to see the floats up close from inside a crowd in fancy dress.
Once a year, the women who run the stalls at Munich's Viktualienmarkt trade their aprons for costumes and dance on a stage by the maypole. Each costume shows a stall, so kids can spot the baker, the butcher or the flower seller.
The Narrhalla guards and the Fasching prince and princess warm up the crowd first. It's a big outdoor crowd, so smaller kids see best from a parent's shoulders.
The Auer Dult is one of Munich's oldest traditions, a market fair that fills Mariahilfplatz in Au three times a year. The spring edition brings about 250 stalls selling pottery, antiques, toys and kitchen gadgets, plus a ride area with bumper cars, a 1919 chain swing carousel, a Ferris wheel and throwing booths. It suits kids who like a few rides and parents who like to browse.
Twice a year, Leopoldstraße in Schwabing closes to cars and becomes one long festival street between the Siegestor and Münchner Freiheit. Stages along the way run from swing and salsa to Bavarian dialect bands, cabaret and electronic music, with art, dance taster classes and football courts in between.
The Corso Leopoldino kids' area has easel painting, crafts and movement games, a good base while the grown-ups browse.
Thousands of people in dirndls and lederhosen fill the beer garden around the Chinese Tower in the Englischer Garten and dance Bavarian folk dances at sunrise. A dance master calls and demonstrates every step from the stage, so beginners and kids join in.
The ball revives a tradition of the city's cooks and maids, who danced here before work in the 1880s. It suits early-rising families who like music and a crowd.
The Wiesn is Munich's giant folk festival on the Theresienwiese: beer tents, yes, but also a full fairground. Kids ride the Ferris wheel, chair swings, the Toboggan's conveyor belt and wooden slide, and the Teufelsrad spinning disc.
The Oide Wiesn at the south end is calmer, with historic carousels, a marionette theater and high-wheel bikes. Weekday daytime suits families best; evenings and weekends get packed.
Maximiliansanlagen is about 2 km of wooded parkland on the high east bank of the Isar. Paths run under old trees past the Friedensengel column and the Maximilianeum, with views across to the old town and down to the river's weirs.
After a snowfall, the short slopes near the Maximilianeum are one of the most central sledding spots in town, with steep runs and gentle ones for small kids.
Aubinger Lohe is a forest recreation area on the western edge of the city, crossed by woodland paths for walking and cycling. Its main hill rises about 25 meters above the surrounding fields and becomes a sledding run when snow falls, with plenty of smaller slopes where young kids can try their first runs.
In summer, families come for the two Böhmerweiher ponds and the playgrounds.
A self-service Bavarian beer garden under old chestnut trees on the high bank of the Isar, with a mix of sunny and half-shaded tables. Kids get open space to run around and a playground, while adults pick up Obazda, pretzels and grilled dishes from the counters.
In the summer season, live jazz bands play every day. A sit-down restaurant serving traditional Bavarian food is on the same grounds.
Königlicher Hirschgarten has been an inn since 1791 and calls itself the largest beer garden in the world, with more than 8,000 outdoor seats split between a served section and a self-service area. A deer enclosure borders the garden, and kids can buy feed from a machine for the herd.
In winter, nine natural ice lanes open for Bavarian curling (Eisstockschießen).
An open children's farm run by a nonprofit, where kids drop in without signing up and pitch in with the goats, chickens, runner ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs and bees.
The 5,000 m² grounds also hold playgrounds, a big pirate ship, a fire pit, a garden, and pottery, forge, wood and bike workshops. Kids don't feed the animals or enter the pens alone; staff help them get to know one.
A city farm and adventure playground on about 15,000 m², more than two soccer fields, with ponies, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits and cats. Kids roam the grounds on their own: a treehouse, a play hill, fire pits, a woodworking shop, a garden and a pond for chilling out.
Staff run hands-on projects and seasonal parties, and regulars can sign up to help with stable and animal care.
Abenteuerspielplatz Neuhausen is an open-air yard where school kids handle hammers, nails and real tools, play with water and gather at the fire pit. Wild animals live on the grounds, signs show where to spot them, and a beekeeper looks after the hives by the workshop. Big play structures fill the rest.
The Kreisjugendring München-Stadt runs it as part of Oase Neuhausen.
Maulwurfshausen is a staffed adventure playground in Neuperlach, laid out as a play town run by kids. They rent and build wooden huts, take on jobs, cook at a covered fire pit with an outdoor kitchen, and play on a football lawn and bird's-nest swing. A water slide opens on hot summer days, and a play house with table football, ping pong and a workshop covers rainy afternoons.
ABIX is a staffed adventure playground run by the Kreisjugendring München-Stadt. Kids build huts with hammers, saws and scrap timber, earning ABIX-Taler by raking leaves or pulling old nails to buy boards and paint. There's a rope swing over a pond, campfires and a free organic lunch. On rainy days the play house opens, with table football, ping pong and a padded romping room.
A large water playground on the former grounds of the 2005 Federal Garden Show (BUGA). Kids pump water by hand, scoop it into wooden channels, dam the streams and dig in the mud areas. Around the water zone are climbing structures, monkey bars, swings and slides, plus shady lawns for a picnic. Riemer See, in the same park, has swimming and pedal boats.
A large water playground in the eastern part of Westpark. A shallow stream runs through it, and kids dam it with stones, wade and splash.
Stone slides, a wooden climbing tower and plenty of play equipment fill the rest, so the dry side stays busy too. There is enough shade for parents to sit out of the sun while kids play.
Viktualienmarkt is the Old Town's open-air food market, with more than 100 stalls selling fruit, cheese, bread, honey and flowers around a blue-and-white maypole.
Kids can snack their way through the stalls, spot the six statue fountains of Munich comedians and folk singers, and sit in the central beer garden, where families may bring their own food.
A forest education center run by the Bavarian forestry office in the Grünwald Forest. Its 2.8 km loop trail starts at the main building, passes the wild boar enclosure and has 13 stations, including a barefoot path, sounding logs, a sound labyrinth, a climate arboretum and an adventure playground.
There is also a biodiversity exhibition, an insect house, an ant trail and a yearly program of guided forest walks.
A groundwater-fed swimming lake of nearly 8 hectares, ringed by about 5 hectares of lawn and sandy shoreline in the Dachauer Moos north of Munich. A shallow beach is set aside for small children, with a sand playground near the water rescue station.
Older kids can play beach volleyball on two courts or table tennis by the beer garden. A grill zone allows small family grills.
A groundwater-fed swimming lake dug as a gravel pit in the late 1930s, with about 11 hectares of water ringed by roughly 7 hectares of lawn. A swimming platform floats in the middle, rare for lakes around Munich, and the water reaches about 5 meters deep.
The north shore has a playground, a small soccer field, ping-pong tables and a beer garden, plus a marked barbecue zone.
Langwieder See is an 18-hectare swimming lake, up to 8 meters deep, and the largest of the three Langwieder lakes alongside Lußsee and Birkensee. Wide lawns around the shore leave room for picnics and ball games, and a restaurant with a beer garden sits by the water.
Barbecues are allowed only in the signed grill zones. Divers have a marked area at the north end, away from the swimming lawns.
Feringasee is a 32-hectare former gravel-pit lake, up to 7 meters deep, ringed by 21 hectares of lawns. In season the south third is the buoyed swimming zone, with a step-free entry on the south shore.
Kids can walk or bike the 2 km loop path, try the beach volleyball court and fitness trail, or explore the wetland on the north shore. A restaurant with beer garden is open year-round.
Flaucher is the stretch of the Isar between the Flauchersteg footbridge and the Braunauer railway bridge, where the river splits into shallow side channels around wide gravel banks. Kids wade and splash in alpine water that rarely tops 20°C, even in midsummer.
The banks double as a grilling and meeting spot, so summer weekends get crowded, though quieter corners turn up along the branching channels.
Riemer See is a swimming lake dug for the 2005 federal garden show, which is why locals also call it Bugasee. It is about 700 meters long, up to 18 meters deep, and one of the cleanest lakes around.
Families head for the east shore, where a wide gravel beach runs into a big lawn. A playground sits on the north shore, plus swings and three volleyball courts.
Luitpoldpark spreads 33 hectares of open lawns around a 1911 obelisk and linden grove. North of the Bamberger Haus, a playground holds a winding hedge maze and the Pumuckl fountain.
The 37-meter Luitpoldhügel, a hill built from wartime rubble, is a quick climb with views to the Olympic Tower. In winter its shaded north slope is one of the city's steepest toboggan runs.
Ostpark spreads over 56 hectares around a lake with an island, quieter than the city's other big parks. Kids find Maulwurfshausen adventure playground at the east end, a skate park, table tennis and volleyball, and a barbecue zone by the lake. The Michaeligarten beer garden sits on the shore.
In winter the lake draws ice skaters, the hill becomes a sledding run, and a groomed cross-country ski trail follows the water.
Westpark is a 60-hectare park built for the 1983 garden show, with artificial hills, two lakes and a rose garden of 20,000 roses. The western half holds a Thai Sala, a carved wooden Nepal pagoda and Chinese and Japanese gardens.
Kids can push the 1.8-ton spherical fountain by the southeast entrance, splash at the water playground, and run the wide meadows. The Mittlerer Ring splits the park in two.
Königlicher Hirschgarten has been a deer park since 1780, and its two-hectare enclosure of fallow deer and mouflon is still the main draw: kids can feed them, following the signs on the fence.
The south end has the elephant playground, with a huge sandbox and elephant slide, plus a water playground with a water slide. There's also a climbing tower, a small skate park, sledding hills and Munich's largest beer garden.
Built for the 1972 Olympics, the park wraps around a lake and the 60-meter Olympic Hill, a grassy mound piled from wartime rubble with views over the city to the Alps. Kids climb the easy paths to the summit and run the open lawns, and there is boat hire on the Olympic Lake. SEA LIFE, minigolf and the Munich Action Park's climbing kids area sit inside the grounds.
The English Garden is a 376-hectare landscape park of flat paths, streams, more than 100 bridges and wide meadows. A historic children's carousel stands beside the Chinese Tower beer garden, and pedal and rowing boats rent on Kleinhesseloher See.
Kids can watch surfers ride the Eisbach wave, climb the Monopteros hill for a view over the city, and spot grazing sheep in the quieter north.
A standing wave on the Eisbach, the fast creek that rushes out from under the Prinzregentenstraße bridge at the southern tip of the Englischer Garten. Surfers in wetsuits line up on both banks and drop in one at a time.
Kids watch from the bridge railing or the stone banks. The current is strong and the wave is for skilled surfers only, so this is a place to watch, not to paddle.
Munich's central square, with the Neo-Gothic New Town Hall to the north and the Old Town Hall to the east. In the town hall tower, the Glockenspiel's 43 bells ring while figures joust in a knights' tournament and turn in the coopers' dance. The Mariensäule column stands in the middle, and the Fish Fountain by the town hall is the classic meeting point.
BMW Welt is the carmaker's showroom and delivery center, a sweeping glass building with a twisted double cone at one end. Kids can explore the latest BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad models up close, and look down on the Premiere, where new owners drive off in their cars.
The BMW Museum, directly opposite, covers more than 100 years of BMW history and runs hands-on workshops for kids.
The public museum of the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology fills a glass-roofed hall with big skeletons. At the center stands the Mühldorf prehistoric elephant, surrounded by Plateosaurus (the largest dinosaur found in Bavaria), Allosaurus, Triceratops, the giant flying reptile Pteranodon, a giant deer and a cave bear.
Upstairs, a timeline runs through every era of Earth's history. The museum also shows the Munich Archaeopteryx.
