Munich

Astor Film Lounge

ARRI cinema

Plush repertory cinema within the building of camera manufacturer ARRI.

Basketball: FC Bayern Munich

They're better known as a soccer club, but Bayern Munich also play in Basketball Bundesliga, the game's top tier. Their home court is Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, sponsored as Audi Dome. It seats 6700 and was built in 1972 for the Olympics.

Bayern Munich training ground

These pitches host junior teams of Bayern Munich, right down to 8 year olds - so some of them will be star players five or six World Cups from now, imagine. The first team also trains here with a public session at least once a week. They're usually happy to oblige with autographs and selfies.

Free

Boulderwelt München Ost

In this large bouldering hall you can test your climbing skills without a harness on 13 different courses. It also has a competition wall, 3 child courses, a bistro, and an outdoor course with slackline park and beer garden in summer.

Daily 07:00-23:00·Adult €13.90, M–F before 16:00 €10.90

BoundCon

An event for BDSM fans. Held on a weekend in late May. Numerous live professional bondage shows, as well as custom photo shoots and workshops where you can try bondage yourself (advance registration required). For adults only, naturally.

12:00-23:00 mostly·€50 for a 3-day pass

Cinema Filmtheater

Top choice for anglophones, as it only screens original version English language films.

Circus Krone

This is the winter venue for this spectacular circus troupe. In summer they tour Germany, and other concerts and events are staged here.

DAV Kletter- und Boulderzentrum

Climbing and bouldering centre

Large indoor bouldering and climbing centre, gets busy out of office hours.

Mon-Fri 07:00-23:00, Sat Sun 08:00-23:00·Adult €18, child €14.50

FC Bayern Munich

Die Bayern play soccer in Bundesliga, the top tier. They do well and qualify for European tournaments, and matches sell out. (Buy tickets online, but you have to register, to curb the touts and scalpers.) The Arena (capacity 70-75,000), completed in 2005, is a sight in itself, like an inflatable boat with colour-changing exterior; tours are available. In 2024 it hosted games in the UEFA Euro Finals. The women's team play in their top tier at FC Bayern Campus.

Harness Racing

In harness racing, jockeys sit in a two-wheel open cart, and the horse has a trotting gait, the gallop is not permitted. Race meetings are usually on Sunday but this varies, see website.

Hi-Sky Munich

Umadum

80-m Ferris wheel giving you a 30 min ride and panorama of Munich and the Alps.

Tue-Sun 12:00–20:00·Adult €12, concession €9

Kammerspiele

Avant garde theatre, often with surprising modern interpretations of the classics. Some performances are in English, and all have English subtitles.

MTTC Iphitos

This is the principal tennis club in Munich. In mid April they host the Bavarian International (sponsored as BMW Open), played over a week on clay. It ranks in the fourth tier of the ATP tournament schedule.

Munich Racecourse

Also known as Galopprennbahn as horses here gallop in the conventional way. The track has flat-racing May-Nov, concluding with the Grosser Preis von Bayern run over 2.4 km.

Müllers'ches Volksbad

Have a swim at this Art Nouveau public indoor pool opened in 1901 - bring your own towel. The sauna is temporarily closed to save heating costs, and the cafe is closed permanently.

Daily 07:30–23:00·Adult €5, concession €3.50

Münchner Volkstheater

The theatre left its old venue on Brienner Straße in 2021 and now dwells down near the southside railway tracks. They offer an eclectic mix, often contemporary takes on the classics.

Prinzregententheater

This magnificent Art Nouveau theatre, modelled on the Wagner-Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, houses the Bavarian Drama Academy. The focus of the shows is on opera and musical.

Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München

This brewery was founded in 1591, and moved to Riem in 1988. They produce over a dozen beers including an Oktoberfest brew. Tours are only available to groups of 10-30, booked at least 14 days in advance.

90-min tour €10, no children

Sugar Mountain

Culture and activity centre in a disused concrete factory. Activities (many free) include fitness classes, bouldering, basketball and skatepark. Culture includes film, concerts, theatre, art exhibitions and warehouse raves. There's also a beer garden. In summer it hosts Kollektivgarten 3000 electro music festival.

Daily 11:30-22:00

Surfing on the Eisbach

The Eisbach is an artificial side-channel of the Isar, culverted beneath Altstadt but emerging at the bridge on Prinzregentenstraße, south edge of English Garden. Here it drops over a 1 m weir to form a standing wave, surfable whenever there's a good flow of water. Late winter into early summer is best, as its parent river cascades down from Alpine snows and the "ice stream" earns its name. Surfers queue up on the banks - there's only room for one at a time, and as it's a standing wave you can surf as long as you can stay upright. After half a minute it's etiquette to attempt a move beyond your skill level, wipe out and be borne by the current to the back of the queue. It's considered an expert surf, and beginners should hone their skills 500 m northeast downstream at Dianabadschwelle, where the wider stream makes for a gentler wave shared with kayakers. They might also try the Floßlände wave in Obersending south side of Munich. The main Isar is occasionally surfable at Wittelsbacherbrücke just south of Altstadt, but only in spate with all sorts of unpleasant or hazardous stuff racing down the brown torrent.

TSV 1860 Munich

Sechzig ("Sixty") were founder members of Bundesliga, but now play soccer in 3. Liga the third tier. Their stadium (capacity 15,000) also hosts Bayern Munich second team, under-19s and women. Türkgücü München also played here but went bust in 2022, alleviating the problem of fixture congestion. The most remarkable fixture here, on 10 Sept 1972, was a 0-1 away victory for Greek philosophers over German philosophers, with Socrates heading the last-minute winner and Confucius as referee: it was filmed as a Monty Python sketch.

Wannda Circus

They do put on circus acts, but it's more like a tented event venue hosting live music, theatre, alternative fashion and parties. The field gets muddy after rain.

Deutsches Theater München

Grand theatre opened in 1896, the style is called neo-baroque but in this upmarket district the building doesn't greatly stand out. Early fare was music hall, popular comedy and light theatre. Nowadays their programme is mostly musicals, with some theatre, ballet and operetta. The theatre was extensively refurbished 2008-2014.

Feierwerk

Cultural centre in a former industrial depot with live music venues (Hansa 39, Kranhalle, Orangehouse, Sunny Red), a radio station (Radio Feierwerk 92.4 ), an artist's workshop (Farbenladen) and a skatepark (Skateplatzl).

Michaelibad

Just north of Michaeligarten beer garden, this has a large outdoor pool in summer and an indoor pool.

Daily 07:30-23:00·Adult €6, child €4

Silberfabrik

A screen-printing workshop and creative space which offers silkscreen and t-shirt printing courses.

Tue–Sun 14:00–18:00

State Theater at Gärtnerplatz

Gärtnerplatztheater

Opulent theatre-house opened in 1865 and mainly showing opera, with occasional operettas, musicals, and ballets.

whiteBOX

Contemporary art gallery hosting changing exhibitions. Some 30 artists have their ateliers here.

Mon-Wed, Fri 16:00-18:00, Thu 16:00-20:00, Sat Sun 14:00-18:00

Bavarian State Opera

Shows ballet and opera performances almost every night.

Cosima wave pool

Cosima Wellenbad

This is Munich's only wave pool. It also has a large sauna.

Daily 07:30-23:00·Adult €6, child €4