I have searched the forums and am surprised not to find many suggestions on how to fill a few days in Munich. We will be arriving the afternoon of October 11th by train, and departing the morning of the 14th by train. We are staying at a hotel near Sendlinger Tor.

I would like to see the Marienplatz, Peterskirche, Virtualienmarket, Rezidenze and Schloss Nymphenburg, and also take a day trip to Dachau (I have read about organized tours to do this). Is there time for all of this? Can anyone suggest an orderly way to see these sights over 2 and 1/2 days? Are there any other must sees? We like history and architecture.

Thanks.

One thing to consider is www.newmunichtours.com You can do the free tour and then decide how much to tip these guides. Our tour was excellent.

If you visit Peterskirche, climb the tower. The views are amazing (approx. 300 steps). You could easily visit Marienplatz, Peterskirche, the Viktualienmarkt and probably the Residenz in one morning or afternoon. They are very close to each other. Munich has a nice U-bahn that is easy to use as well. Nymphenburg is farther out.

Dachau will take at least half a day.

I would recommend the Alte Pinakothek (old masters paintings) and the Glyptothek (in my opinion the finest museum of classical sculpture in the world) if you like art.

The Asamkirche is very different -- dark, almost scary Baroque. The tomb of "Mad" King Ludgwig II is in the crypt of Michaelskirche. Of course there is also the Frauenkirche.

It may sound campy, but I enjoyed the Hofbrauhaus. I had dinner, but you could just go for beer.

You can do Dachau on your own fairly easily - we used the Rick Steves guidebook as our guide.

The Pinakothek's are both wonderful. My husband and I are not "art people" but spent more time than normal in both of these museums as they are laid out very nicely and have good guides/descriptions of the works in each room.

We found Munich a great city to wander as well.

I'm sure we will visit the Hofbrauhaus as well!

I have been thinking about the art museums, but have been to so many art museums lately (Vatican, Louvre, Orsay, Metropolitan, Chicago Art Institute) that we may be a little "Arted-Out" at present! Is there something unique about Munich's art museums?

The Marien Platz, St Peter's, Viktualien Market, Frauen Kirche, and Hofbrau Haus are all close together and can easily be seen and experienced in one day maybe a half a day. I recommed the Bavarian folk evening show on the third floor of the HB Haus every evening at 7. You can get it with or without the buffet, we skip the buffet and have an early or late dinner at our favorite, the Augustiner Brewery's restaurant a few blocks away, toward the main train station. If you decide to go to the show have your hotel call ahead with reservations because it can fill up with bus loads of tourists. It is a cheesy but fun show with slap dancing, woodchoppers,cow bell music, alp horn playing and the chicken dance.

The Residenz is also close by but it is huge and on a given day you will only see a portion of it depending on which tour is offered. It was all rebuilt after the WWII bombing (as was most of the city) so it is pretty sterile. The treasury with the Wittlesbach crown jewels is interesting.

Take a half a day to go to the Deutsches Museum, the enormous hands on science museum. It will most likely be one of your favorites

You can do the Dachau tour on you own. Just check at the ticket window at the main train tation which subway to take. Once you get to the village of Dachau you will transfer to a local bus just outside the subway station. If you want a guided tour they have "show up and tag along" tours that start somewhere at the train station. Fyi there is a tourist information office in front of the train station. They have information on tours like this and a lot more.

When you go to The Nymphenburg Palace be sure to see the Coach House full of Cinderella Coaches.

Often thought of in the Munich package are day trips to Neuschwanstein and Salzburg, time permitting.

The three art museums Alte, Neues, and Moderne Pinakotects are excellent.

Close to Sendlinger Tor is the Asam Kirche, probably the most over the top Roccoco on steroids church there is. It is certainly worth sticking your head in for a couple of minutes.

Can you tell we love Munich and could spend eons there? Have a wonderful visit and raise a glass for all of us Fodorites.

AisleSeat - agreed. I used to go to Munich for weeks at a time on business. Left me plenty of time for sightseeing.

I'm not a super fan of Germany, but the Bayerische are a lot of fun to be with.

There is nothing that unique about Munich's museums in themselves. The unique things are the works inside. The Alte Pinakothek has works by Rubens, Durer, Titian (Tiziano), Leonardo, Botticelli, Rembrandt, etc. which you will only see there. The Glyptothek has my favorite sculpture in the world (more so than David, Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace, Laocoon Group, etc.), the Barberini Faun, as well as many other beautiful works. It just depends how much you like art as to whether you spend the time to go.

www.inyourpocket.com/germany/munich