Hot afternoon, restless kids: this is the list we reach for. It covers the places around the city where getting wet is the whole point, from playgrounds with water pumps and channels to outdoor pools, indoor swimming halls and lakes for a swim. Pack a towel and dry clothes, and check each listing for its season, since most outdoor spots close after summer.
Therme Erding is a thermal spa and water park with more than 300 real palm trees around its pools. Kids head for the Galaxy, 28 slides adding up to over 2,850 meters, including four children's slides for over-3s and two gentler ones for toddlers.
The 34-degree wave pool runs from gentle ripples to surfing swells up to two meters high. The sauna and wellness areas are for ages 16 and up.
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.
Prinzregentenbad is a public outdoor pool with a 25 m lap pool, a leisure pool with water features, 1 m and 3 m diving boards and a 50 m water slide. Younger kids get a paddling pool with a water play area.
Families spread out on a big lawn under old trees, and there are beach volleyball courts, a restaurant and a kiosk with a beer garden.
Cosimawellenbad is Munich's only public pool with waves. When the wave machine runs, the big pool rolls like the sea; the rest of the time it is a lap and aqua-fitness pool.
Younger kids get a large splash area with a slide, a little boat channel, floor fountains and water jets. There is also a warm outdoor pool with bubble loungers, and a café overlooks the pool hall.
A city-run outdoor pool by the Isar in Giesing, with a 50-meter pool (three lap lanes), a non-swimmer pool and a paddling pool with play features for small kids.
Around them sit a wide slide, a playground, table tennis, an outdoor chess board and a big lawn under old trees.
Michaelibad is a public pool run by the city utility SWM. Its 84-meter adventure slide drops into a separate landing pool, and there is a 1-meter diving board, a learner pool and a water play area for small children with mini slides and a spray shower.
Outside, a warm pool stays open all year, with a current channel, bubble loungers and underwater lights after dusk.
Westbad is a city-run indoor leisure pool under a large glass dome in Pasing. The fun pool has a current channel, a waterfall and a 60-meter slide, and toddlers get their own splash pool.
Older swimmers can do lengths in the 25-meter pool, and parents can warm up in the two whirlpools. A self-service restaurant inside serves both swimmers and visitors.
Dantebad is a city-run outdoor pool that stays heated through the winter, so kids can swim outside in any season. There is a 50-meter lap pool at about 30°C and a warmer leisure pool with bubble loungers, a bubble grotto, a current channel and a water mushroom.
Table tennis, a restaurant and a separate sauna area for adults round it out.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lake Starnberg (Starnberger See) is Bavaria's second-largest lake, a glacial lake stretching 21 km and up to 128 m deep. Families swim and paddle from its shores, rent boats, or ride the excursion boats that run in spring and summer.
A bike path of almost 50 km circles the lake away from main roads. An electric ferry crosses to the Roseninsel, an island off Feldafing.
Hot afternoon, restless kids: this is the list we reach for. It covers the places around the city where getting wet is the whole point, from playgrounds with water pumps and channels to outdoor pools, indoor swimming halls and lakes for a swim. Pack a towel and dry clothes, and check each listing for its season, since most outdoor spots close after summer.
Therme Erding is a thermal spa and water park with more than 300 real palm trees around its pools. Kids head for the Galaxy, 28 slides adding up to over 2,850 meters, including four children's slides for over-3s and two gentler ones for toddlers.
The 34-degree wave pool runs from gentle ripples to surfing swells up to two meters high. The sauna and wellness areas are for ages 16 and up.
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.
Prinzregentenbad is a public outdoor pool with a 25 m lap pool, a leisure pool with water features, 1 m and 3 m diving boards and a 50 m water slide. Younger kids get a paddling pool with a water play area.
Families spread out on a big lawn under old trees, and there are beach volleyball courts, a restaurant and a kiosk with a beer garden.
Cosimawellenbad is Munich's only public pool with waves. When the wave machine runs, the big pool rolls like the sea; the rest of the time it is a lap and aqua-fitness pool.
Younger kids get a large splash area with a slide, a little boat channel, floor fountains and water jets. There is also a warm outdoor pool with bubble loungers, and a café overlooks the pool hall.
A city-run outdoor pool by the Isar in Giesing, with a 50-meter pool (three lap lanes), a non-swimmer pool and a paddling pool with play features for small kids.
Around them sit a wide slide, a playground, table tennis, an outdoor chess board and a big lawn under old trees.
Michaelibad is a public pool run by the city utility SWM. Its 84-meter adventure slide drops into a separate landing pool, and there is a 1-meter diving board, a learner pool and a water play area for small children with mini slides and a spray shower.
Outside, a warm pool stays open all year, with a current channel, bubble loungers and underwater lights after dusk.
Westbad is a city-run indoor leisure pool under a large glass dome in Pasing. The fun pool has a current channel, a waterfall and a 60-meter slide, and toddlers get their own splash pool.
Older swimmers can do lengths in the 25-meter pool, and parents can warm up in the two whirlpools. A self-service restaurant inside serves both swimmers and visitors.
Dantebad is a city-run outdoor pool that stays heated through the winter, so kids can swim outside in any season. There is a 50-meter lap pool at about 30°C and a warmer leisure pool with bubble loungers, a bubble grotto, a current channel and a water mushroom.
Table tennis, a restaurant and a separate sauna area for adults round it out.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lake Starnberg (Starnberger See) is Bavaria's second-largest lake, a glacial lake stretching 21 km and up to 128 m deep. Families swim and paddle from its shores, rent boats, or ride the excursion boats that run in spring and summer.
A bike path of almost 50 km circles the lake away from main roads. An electric ferry crosses to the Roseninsel, an island off Feldafing.
