Summer in Munich with Kids 2027

Tollwood is Munich's summer tent village in the southern corner of Olympiapark: a market of crafts and organic food stalls from around the world, stilt walkers and walk-acts roaming the paths, and evening acrobatics and theater in the open-air Amphitheater.

Kids get their own area with crafts, workshops, kids' concerts, a barefoot path and a water playground. It suits families who like to wander, snack and come across a show.

CineKindl is the children's section of Filmfest München, Munich's big summer film festival. It shows new feature, animated, documentary and short films from Germany and around the world, with a jury and awards.

After each screening there is a Q&A, often with the filmmakers in the room, so kids can ask whatever the film made them wonder. It suits kids who follow German, since foreign films are dubbed live.

A medieval festival on the grounds of Schloss Kaltenberg, a Bavarian castle west of Munich. Jugglers and musicians play on five stages, and a craft market, camps and food stands fill the site. The centerpiece is a staged jousting show in the arena, with horse stunts, sword fights and fire effects. On Family Sundays, kids then take the arena themselves in a children's tournament and are knighted at the end.

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.

Munich's Japanese community takes over the lawn between the Haus der Kunst and the Japanese Tea House for one summer Sunday. Martial arts groups demonstrate on the grass, a cosplay contest takes the stage, and food stalls sell takoyaki, mochi and melon soda.

Past stage programs have mixed school dance groups, taiko drumming, shamisen and a Bon dance at the end that anyone could join.

Münchner Sommernachtstraum is one long summer evening in Olympiapark: live bands on several stages, a beer garden and food stands, plus side acts spread over the grounds, like glitter stations, body painting and karaoke.

The night ends with a big fireworks show set to music over the Olympiasee. It is loud and crowded, so it suits kids who can stay up late and cope with crowds better than toddlers.

The Jakobidult is the summer round of the Auer Dult, a market fair on Mariahilfplatz in the Au whose roots go back to 1310. Around 250 stalls sell pottery, antiques, old toys, spices and kitchen gadgets.

Kids head for the funfair corner: a century-old chair swing ride, bumper cars, a Ferris wheel and throwing booths. It suits a relaxed family wander more than a big day of rides.

Isarinselfest is a citizens' festival on the Praterinsel, the island in the Isar off Lehel, run by a nonprofit set up by AWO and the SPD. Bands, Latin dance stages and talks spread across the courtyard, halls and riverside beach. For families, the draw is the family stage, with puppet theater, clowns and storytelling, plus a play area of giant wooden games. Evenings belong to music and the beer garden.

Each summer, Munich throws itself a birthday party in the old town, marking its first mention in a document in 1158. Kids get hands-on workshops inside the Alter Hof, the old ducal court, plus a Ferris wheel, carousels and folk dancers in costume. Parents get live bands, beer gardens and craft stalls.

It gets very crowded, so it suits kids who are happy in a busy street fair.

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.

Naturbad Maria Einsiedel is a natural swimming pool in the Isar meadows, open since 1899. The Isar canal runs almost 400 meters through the grounds, and the water in the 50-meter pool, the non-swimmer area and the large kids' paddling pool is cleaned by microorganisms instead of chlorine. Kids also get a playground, a soccer lawn, table tennis and giant ground chess, with old shade trees over the lawns.

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.

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.