The castles are a day trip. The beer halls are a walk.
Which castle day gets you a morning slot, what a table in an Oktoberfest tent really costs, whether the Zugspitze is worth a whole day of the trip. Every tour in and around Munich, read before you book.
Dachau, and the Munich the Third Reich left behind.
The Nazi party began in Munich, and the first concentration camp opened sixteen kilometres north of the city in 1933. Both are on the map for visitors here, and both are treated as history rather than sightseeing. Entry to the Dachau Memorial Site itself is free; what these tours add is the journey out, the timing, and a guide.
Six days that decide a Munich itinerary.
One castle, one mountain, one festival and three streets’ worth of beer and market food. Most visits are a rearrangement of these; here is how to book each one.
Neuschwanstein: three ways to spend the same day south.
All 69 Neuschwanstein tours →
Two hours south of Munich by road, and entry is a timed guided slot held in advance — nobody wanders in. What separates these days is what else they fit around it: Linderhof, Hohenschwangau, the Alpsee shore, or a straight run there and back.
Neuschwanstein and Linderhof in one run
Out of the city before nine, Linderhof’s grotto before lunch, the Marienbrücke view in the afternoon, back in Munich in time for dinner.
Herrenchiemsee, reached by boat
Ludwig’s unfinished answer to Versailles sits on an island in the Chiemsee. The day is a train, a lake crossing and a long walk through mirrored rooms that were never finished.
Germany’s highest peak, and back by dinner
Same road south, different summit. The cable car lifts off the Eibsee to 2,962 metres, and on a clear morning the terrace looks into four countries at once.
From the castle coach down: what Munich books most.
The whole ranking →Ordered by the number of travellers who have been and rated it. No sponsorship, no rotation, no thumb on the scale.
1
Neuschwanstein & Linderhof Castle Full-Day Trip
Full-day coach trip from Munich to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, plus Hohenschwangau, with guided history and big Alpine views.
Read our review →
2
Neuschwanstein & Linderhof Castle-Fairytale Day Tour from Munich
from $95
3
Third Reich & WWII Walking Tour
from $31
4
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site Tour from Munich by Train
from $64
5
Neuschwanstein Castle Tour from Munich
from $95
6
Third Reich Walking Tour Munich
from $45
7
Munich Hop-On Hop-Off Tour: 1-Day or 2-Day Ticket
from $27
8
Neuschwanstein Castle Full-Day Trip
from $93
Munich drinks by the litre and eats before noon.
The Hofbräuhaus belongs to the Bavarian state and is always full; the Augustiner cellar seats a few thousand under chestnut trees. Between them sit the Viktualienmarkt stalls, four weeks of Advent markets, and a crawl for whoever is still upright at one.
Munich’s old town is a twenty-minute walk end to end.
Which is why these tours differ on what they stop for rather than how far they go: the Glockenspiel at eleven, the maypole in the Viktualienmarkt, the Asamkirche wedged between two houses, or the whole thing again by torchlight with a night watchman.
All 36 old town walks →
Munich is flat, and the Isar path runs straight through it.
So the bike tours cover three times the ground of the walks and still stop at a beer garden. If pedalling is not the plan, the same circuit exists on a Segway, in a rickshaw, or from the top deck of a bus with a day ticket.
- 1Munich 3-Hour Guided Bike Tourfrom $40
- 2Classic Mike’s Bike Tour daily @ 11.30 incl Beer Garden & Surfersfrom $42
- 3Neuschwanstein Castle by Bus Incl. Bike Ride or Hohenschwangaufrom $78
Munich runs from a walk under $25 to a chartered Alpine day.
Every review on the site sorted by what it actually costs per person, with the most-reviewed pick inside each band.
History and old town walks, the night watchman round, museum and arena tickets, a morning on a bike. Most of the city centre lives here.
The full days out: castles, Salzburg, the Zugspitze, and the beer-and-food evenings with the tastings priced in.
Private guides, chartered cars, and the small-group Alpine days that do not run to a coach timetable.
Munich surfs a river and eats sausage against the clock.
Every city has a walking tour and a food tour. The standing wave at the edge of the Englischer Garten, the noon rule on Weisswurst and the beer garden you carry your own lunch into belong to this one.
The Beer Garden Rule
In a traditional Bavarian beer garden you are allowed to bring your own food to the self-service tables. The brewery sells you the beer and nothing else, which is why Munich families turn up at the Chinesischer Turm with a rucksack of radishes, pretzels and cold cuts and stay until the light goes.
- 1Bavarian Beer and Food Evening Tour in Munich★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,575 reviews
- 2Classic Mike’s Bike Tour daily @ 11.30 incl Beer Garden & Surfers★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,246 reviews
- 3Beer and Food Tour with Dinner & Oktoberfest Museum★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,086 reviews
Weisswurst by Noon
The white sausage is poached rather than grilled, and by tradition it must never hear the midday bell — butchers made it at dawn and halls stopped serving at twelve. You either peel the skin off with a knife or suck the sausage straight out of it, and no two Bavarians will agree on which is correct.
- 1Old Town & Viktualienmarkt City Walk in German★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,304 reviews
- 2Bavarian Beer and Food Evening Tour in Munich★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,575 reviews
- 3Viktualienmarkt Food Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,127 reviews
The Stadium That Changes Colour
The Allianz Arena is wrapped in 2,874 inflated plastic cushions that light from the inside, so the whole building turns red on a Bayern night and can be picked out from the autobahn long before the exit. Tours go inside on non-match days; the museum runs on both.
- 1City Bus Tour & FC Bayern Munich Allianz Arena Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,071 reviews
- 2FC Bayern Museum + Arena View★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 944 reviews
- 3FC Bayern Museum Entry Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 193 reviews
Castle slots, Wiesn tables and Advent markets go first.
Most of Munich can be booked from the hotel the night before. These cannot. The castle sells timed entry, the beer tents take table reservations months out, the Christmas markets exist for about four weeks a year, and the arena shuts its doors to visitors whenever there is a match.
- 01Neuschwanstein & Linderhof Castle Full-Day TripCastle entry is a timed guided slot booked ahead; the day tours hold one for you.
- 02Munich City Walk and Oktoberfest Tour With Beer Tent ReservationTent tables are reserved months in advance. Without one you are standing, or queuing well before ten.
- 03Original Munich Christmas Market Tour with Festive Wine and FoodThe markets run from late November to Christmas Eve, and the tours inside them fill before the stalls do.
- 04City Bus Tour & FC Bayern Munich Allianz Arena TourArena tours stop completely on match days, and the fixture list is out a season ahead.
Munich sits at the edge of the Alps. Keep an indoor day in reserve.
Five hundred metres up on the Alpine foreland, with the Föhn dragging weather over the mountains in an afternoon. Every good answer is under a roof: the Residenz treasury, Nymphenburg’s carriage halls, a concert in the court chapel, a brewery cellar, the arena museum.
By how far out of town the day goes
The Altstadt · on foot36 tours
Nuremberg · 1h by rail4 tours
Garmisch & the Zugspitze · 1h 3011 tours
Salzburg · 1h 3024 tours
Chiemsee & Königssee · 1–2h17 tours
Neuschwanstein · 2h69 tours
The Romantic Road · 3h15 tours- Every Munich review, ranked →
By what the day is for
Latest from Munich and the day-trip ring around it.
Back to the full list →
Rothenburg’s Historical Gems: A Private Walking Tour
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Munich Walking Quiz: Explore and Discover the City’s Highlights
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Private Transfer from Munich to Vienna with 2 hours for sightseeing
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Private Transfer from Munich to Salzburg with 2 hours for sightseeing
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Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Private Tour
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Ten Munich Old town Sights in a Private Express Walking Tour
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Third Reich – Facts about WWII : Small Group Walking tour
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Dragon Slayer Way Beer Hike Food Experience Private Tour (departs Munich)
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Comfort Mini-Van & Professional and FRiENDLY Guide: CUSTOMIZED 1-DAY TOUR from Munich
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