Munich

Alte Utting

This ship was a steamer on a Bavarian lake until 2016. It now perches on a railway bridge, an offbeat venue undecided whether it's The Flying Dutchman or The Flying Scotsman. It has beer, grills, live music, cabaret and disco, a beer garden, and from the upper deck surely the most unusual view over Munich.

Tue-Thu 16:00-00:00, Fri 16:00-02:00, Sat 11:00-01:00, Sun 11:00-22:00

Augustiner Schützengarten

Pleasant beer hall and garden with 3000 seats serving Augustiner beer and trad food. On Sunday from 17:00 they have a live band.

Sun-Thu 11:00-23:00, Fri Sat 11:00-00:00

Augustiner Stammhaus

Beer hall and restaurant of Augustiner brewery, founded in 1294, great atmosphere, beer and trad food. They have another beerhall on Arnulfstraße, see Munich/Maxvorstadt).

Mon-Sat 11:00-00:00, Sun 11:00-22:00

Augustiner-Keller

This brewery was first documented in 1328, within the Augustinian monastery next to Frauenkirche, where they nowadays run a restaurant. The monastery was dissolved in 1803 (no, not in the beer) and the business has mostly been in private ownership since, on various near-centre sites - they've not followed the modern trend of an edge-of-city industrial park. Their beers are popular in south Germany but little is exported, so tuck in here. Augustiner took over an existing beer garden here in 1862 and expanded it into a 5000-seater: this is open April-Oct, while the beer hall and restaurant are year-round. No brewery tours, they no longer use an ox-driven winch to hoist the beer barrels, and there are no more public hangings of army deserters, so you'll just have to gawp at your phone if conversation fails.

Daily 11:00-23:00

Aumeister

This is at the very north end of English Garden so tourists are rare. There's a bosky 2500-seater beer garden, and restaurant in one of Prince Regent Luitpold's hunting lodges. It remains closed in 2022.

Closed

Backstage

Live events complex with three venues for shows. The smaller ones are more like club / disco and can go on to 05:00.

Bahnwärter Thiel

Techno club and alternative cultural centre that resides in graffiti-covered pile of ship containers. The inventory of the club includes many curiosities such as discarded subway cars, trams, construction cranes or carriages. The venue also has an outdoor rave area where the DJ resides within the cab of a decommissioned subway car. The operators also run the Alte Utting lake steamer which has somehow ended up on a railway bridge only a few minutes walk away and has become a bar.

Bavariapark beer garden

Beer garden and restaurant serving Augustiner with 1500 seats, on the park between Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum and the Bavaria Statue. It's also next to Theresienwiese the venue of Oktoberfest, but if you come out of there in need of a beer something's amiss.

Daily 12:00-00:00

Blitz Club

Techno club in the former historic congress hall of the Deutsches Museum. One of the main venues for techno in Munich with a regular international DJ lineup. It also offers a series of gay events called Cruise. Note that the club has a strict ban on photography and filming.

Fri Sat 23:00-08:00

CCC Container Collective

Container Collective is a ziggurat of shipping containers on Atelierstraße (corner with Friedenstraße) on the southeast flank of Ostbahnhof, the start of Werksviertel. It's billed as an art space but (in true bohemian style) no artistic work actually gets done and you come for the bars. As of 2022, these are Bar of Bel Air (daily 17:00-22:00), Transit Rooftop & Bar, and Kaserne de Janeiro cafe.

Café Crönlein

Café-bar in a former public restroom, an odd little stone building that looks more like a park attendant's tool shed. There's more capacity in summer when you can sit outside.

Sun Tue 15:00-21:00, Mon Wed-Sat 17:00-23:00

Café Hüller

An easy-going café with a pleasant outdoor area in fine weather.

Daily 12:00-22:00

Café Voilà

Long-standing café, bar and restaurant serving Augustiner beer and generous portions of trad food.

Daily 08:00-01:00

Café im Hinterhof

Hinterhof means courtyard and it's an attractive cafe-bar, with regular piano live music and exhibitions. They offer breakfast / brunch throughout the day and have good cakes.

Daily 08:30-20:00

Couch Club

Guests sit in comfy couches or at the long bar in this cozy place. They have over 100 varieties of gin. The club remains closed in 2022.

Closed

DNA Club

Techno club in a former industrial location in the Werksviertel district.

Dachgarten auf dem Gasteig

Rooftop bar on top of the cultural center Fat Cat (the former Gasteig) with a great view over the city. On one side you can see the city hall, the Old Peter and the Frauenkirche, on the other side the Werksviertel entertainment district and the mountains. The bar spans two levels on the roof, with timbered wooden walkways running along the upper one - past cozy seating areas, flower beds, bushy plants and herbs.

Drunken Monkey

Small and cozy electronic music club decked with hundreds of colorful light bulbs in the basement of Enter The Dragon Vietnamese restaurant.

Closed

Forschungsbrauerei

The name means "Research Brewery" and it was established in 1930 to try different brews and test them on customers. The research ended in 1950 and Hopfenhäcker craft brewery now occupies the space. The beer garden is at the edge of the city conurbation, with Neuer Südfriedhof cemetery north and open fields to the south. It's open year-round and only seats 250, so it's sometimes reserved for private parties.

Tue-Sun 11:00-22:30

Frau im Mond

This rooftop bar on top of the Deutsches Museum, named after the science fiction silent movie by Fritz Lang from 1928, offers a view to the south over the Isar river and events with live DJs.

Gans Woanders

Cafe, cultural centre and concert venue around a Hansel & Gretel house with a large wooden patio for events - many of these are free.

Mon-Thu 10:00-23:00, Fri Sat 10:00-00:00, Sun 10:00-21:00

Havana Club

Since 1985 this place has been serving up excellent cocktails. Friendly helpful staff.

Mon-Thu 18:00-01:00, Fri Sat 18:00-03:00, Sun 19:00-01:00

Hirschau

Beer garden at the south end of Hirschau, the deer park or northern portion of English Garden, with a footpath beneath busy Isarring connecting to the southern portion. With 1700 seats, it's seldom crowded, and not touristy. Music is modern rather than trad.

Mon-Sat 12:00-23:00, Sun 11:00-21:30

Hirschgarten

Europe’s biggest beer garden with 8000 seats, with a 500-seater indoor restaurant. They serve beer from two breweries and trad food, though you can bring in your own food. It has a small zoo with deer and wild boars.

Daily 11:00-22:00

Hofbräuhaus

Munich's most famous bräuhaus, here since 1644, is touristy but great fun; you may need photo-ID to get in. Schwemme is the 1300-seater ground floor beer hall in the original brewery area. There's oompah music at weekends - listen out for the "oans, zwoa, g'suffa!" song, "one, two, drink up!". Bräustüberl is the stylish restaurant on the first floor. Festsaal on the second floor is a barrel-vaulted events venue. The beer garden beneath the chestnut trees seats 400.

Daily 11:00-00:00

Hofbräukeller beer garden

Restaurant and 1800-seater beer garden serving Höfbräu beer, not at all like the touristy Hofbräuhaus in city centr.

Daily 11:00-23:00

Insel Mühle

As the name indicates, this is a former mill on an island in the river Würm. In summer the 800-seater beer-garden serves Augustiner beer. The hotel and restaurant are open year-round.

Apr-Oct daily 11:00-23:00·B&B double €130

Kugleralm

Trad 2400-seater beer garden in Oberhaching south of Perlacher Forst, serving Spaten beer. In 1922 this was the launchpad of the Radler, half beer half lemonade, a "shandy" in English. The legend goes that they were mobbed by cyclists on a hot summer day. The beer ran low so they eked it out by diluting with lemonade, and claimed this was a special mix for cyclists (Radler) as it was lower on alcohol. Such blends were already documented from mid 19th century.

Apr-Oct

Kulturstrand

Perched on the tip of Museum Island, this is a bar with various live events. It compares itself to the urban beach of Paris Plage, it's more like a terrace overlooking the sandbanks as the Isar divides.

Daily 12:00-00:00

Legal Club

Techno and house club with a wooden dance floor at Sendlinger Tor.