Munich is a great city to explore and you do get around easily by public transport as you would expect being in Germany. Even to the surrounding lakes and ski areas. But as in most metropolitan areas walking distances can be quite long changing lines and even if there are elevators, they are not always easy to find and sometimes involve even more walking. With smaller kids it is easier to use a sling or a small, easily foldable buggy. I love exploring Munich with kids even more since my daughter doesn’t need the buggy anymore. We love to take the scooter if we need to cover longer distances within the city.
We travel to Munich frequently as my best girlfriend lives there with her family. They have kids almost the same age, which makes visiting even more fun for all family members. Our two girls (now almost 6), know each other since they are little and get along as great as their mothers do.
One of the things I love about Bavaria is that you can always bring a picnic to all the beer gardens and just buy your beer or other drinks there. That’s what many families do here, but of course you would then miss out on the fantastic bavarian food ;). Nothing for the veggie lovers or vegan fans though. But who doesn’t love a good Brezn – otherwise just BYO stuff.
Besides the typical things you can find in every guide book we love doing day trips in and out of Munich. Here are some of our favorite ones:
- A day out at the lake: Ammersee
- Deutsches Museum Munich
- Wildpark Poing
- Strolling along the Isar
- Oktoberfest
- Bavaria Film Studios
- LEGOLAND Günzburg
- Tierpark Hellabrunn (Munich Zoo)
A day out at the lakes: Ammersee
You can easily escape the city and enjoy a beautiful day out at the lakes taking the S-Bahn from the main station to Herrsching am Ammersee. It’s only a short walk to the lakeside from the last stop. It can be quite busy on a weekend, especially Sundays but strolling along the shoreline with its restaurants, ice cafes and beaches is very relaxing. We love taking a tretboat out on the lake. You can hire them from along the footpath and take in the views from the water. The kids love it and in summer you can jump off the boat for a swim.
There is a mini-golf facility when you walk south down the lake promenade, apparently the longest in Germany, with a lovely café that also offers some yummy snacks. Its small but perfect with kids. You can enjoy great lake views, especially during sunset, from the course and café which has a boat shape construction. Along the promenade there are also several restaurants and beer gardens where you can enjoy typical bavarian food. We found a table at Seehof beer garden and enjoyed the lovely lake view before heading back to Munich.
Wildpark Poing
If you want to take your kids to a wildlife park, Wildpark Poing is a fun day out. On a 4k walk through the forrest you can discover and feed free roaming deer and mouflon, pet and feed sheep, ponies and goats as well as try to spot wolves, lynx and birds of prey in their natural environment. There is a fantastic adventure playground with picnic facilities and a fairly nice beer garden like kiosk if you didn’t bring your own picnic.
Octoberfest or d’Wiesn
I guess you have to visit the Octoberfest (people in Munich just call it “d’Wiesn” which means meadow) at least once in your life. I know, I am German but I have never braved it until last year with my 5-year old. First: I am not a beer drinker. Second: I am not a big fan of crowds. The Oktoberfest has two important sides: the beer-tents, where people start drinking and celebrating already in the mornings, and the fair with all it’s roller coasters, carousels, rides, and so on. While during the week many local companies invite their staff and clients to the Wiesn, having their own reserved areas in the tents, the weekends are more touristy or visited by local families on their weekends out. Of course our kids went straight to the fair requesting their Lebkuchenherz ;). As it can be very overwhelming I always allow my kids to choose three rides and one sweet treat (in this case of course a Lebkuchenherz) before entering such places. This works great for us so far and avoids many discussions during our stay.
If you want to eat in of the big beer tents you need to reserve well in advance or be there very early (as in before 11am ;). We only walked through for the experience but picked up some food from stalls along the fair.
We decided to go to the Wiesn already on a Saturday morning and arrived there around 10ish, walking from the tram station down. That’s already a fun pilgrimage with all tourists and locals in lederhosen and dirndl. Of course were also dressed in local costumes. My daughter loves her lederhosen, which we also wear up at festivities at our black forrest house. The morning was still reasonably bearable and around noon when the crowds really arrived we already finished our adventures and slowly made our way out again watching the crowds streaming in. Perfect timing to enjoy the Wiesn with our kids. A good idea for big crowds like that is to write your mobile number on your kids wrists in case they might get lost.
Deutsches Museum
The German Museum not only the biggest science and technology museum in the world but also offers great activities and a planetarium for kids especially on a rainy day. Older kids will love the Egyptian section with mummies and sculptures of pharaohs, while for the younger kids (3-8 years) there is a dedicated “Kinderreich” area with many installations to explore science and technology in a playful way. They also have a workshop area offering courses for kids and families. Every day from Monday to Friday at 3pm there is a free kids activity to join in.
LEGOLAND Günzburg
About 1,5 hours from Munich you can find LEGOLAND Günzburg which is a perfect day adventure from the City. You can get there easily by train or car. It offers various rides, theme worlds, shows and great workshops such as programming and building robots or fighting in knights games. They have a lovely play area for the little ones, too. It is quite commercial though with lots of merchandizing shops allover the park and you might have to consider spending some extra money or talk to your kids before entering the park about gifts and extras. My daughter (5 by the time we visited) enjoyed her first roller coaster ride at LEGOLAND and loved the various rides offered for kids her age, there were actually just 2 rides she didn’t want to go on. I would say it is perfect for kids age 5 and older.
PLAYMOBIL FunPark
We loved PLAYMOBIL FunPark for it’s non-commercial approach – only one shop when leaving the park, affordable kids menus, toilets and changing tables everywhere. It is a great day out just playing, exploring and discovering. No rides and major attractions like in other parks. It is really perfect for kids of all ages. We went there with our 2-year and almost 6 year old and they both loooved it. My older one really enjoyed digging for gemstones in the WildWest area and finding fairy treasures in the water shells in fairyland. Some of her other highlights were rafting with her daddy in pirate land, climbing the walls of the castle, paddle boating and taking a ride on the police ketcar. The PLAYMOBIL FunPark is just before Nürnberg, a bit more than 1 hours from Munich.
Bavaria Film Studios
The Bavaria Film Studios are a great first experience on how movies are made. The official tour takes about 1,5 hours and you get to visit different german film sets like the one for the new “Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer”, “Wickie und die starken Männer”, “Never ending story” , the old classic “Das Boot” as well as the Hollywood Production of “The Game”. The kids learn how a green box works, can enjoy flying on the dragon Fuchur of the never ending story (see picture), and at Bullyversum even have a first experience dubbing a movie. My daughter loved flying on Fuchur and the parts where she could see herself in the movie through being in a green box.
As my girl was not yet over 1,20m we didn’t get to explore the 4D cinema but had a browse around Bullyversum which is probably better suited for kids 8 and older as most of the things besides the dubbing studio were a bit advanced for my almost 6 year-old. Bully is german comedian and the Bullyversum is centered around his person, movies and jokes with a small 3D-cinema, a VR-experience, a laser ride and a studio where you can play scenes from on of his popular movies “(T)Raumschiff Surprise”.
Tierpark Hellabrunn (Munich Zoo)
The Zoo in Munich is called Tierpark Hellabrunn and is a lovely day out with kids. The set-up is beautiful and it is located just along the Isar offering a nice stroll along the river after a visit to the Zoo. You can rent little “Bollerwagen” at the entrance for 5,-€ you can use pulling the kids and any backpacks or other belongings through the park.
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