Maximilianstrasse

Lonely Planet review

It's pricey and pretentious, but no trip to Munich would be complete without a saunter down Maximilianstrasse, one of the city's grandest boulevards. Starting at Max-Joseph-Platz, it's a 1km-long ribbon of style where sample-size fembots browse for Escada and Prada, and suits sip champagne in pavement cafés, with nary a hair out of place. Several of Munich's finest theatrical venues, including the Nationaltheater, the Kammerspiele and the Kleine Komödie am Max II are also here.

Built between 1852 and 1875, Maximilianstrasse was essentially an ego trip of King Max II. He harnessed the skills of architect Friedrich von Bürklein to create a unique stylistic hotchpotch ranging from Bavarian rustic to Italian Renaissance and English Gothic. It even became known as the 'Maximilianic Style'. That's the king gazing down upon 'his' boulevard - engulfed by roaring traffic - from his perch at the centre of the strip. Clinging to the base are four rather stern-looking 'children' holding the coats of arms of Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia and the Palatinate.