Local Life

• Beer halls and gardens
• Oktoberfest Museum

Right in the thick of the retail frenzy on Neuhauser Strasse, this humungous beer temple belonging to the Augustiner Brewery is as good a place as any to kick off a beer-themed tour of the Altstadt. Out back is a true oasis of peace in the form of an ancient arcaded beer garden complete with flower boxes and murals.

Among many other themes, the Münchner Stadtmuseum examines the role of beer and brewing in the city, and the boozy relationship between famous artists and the local suds.

Munich's most central beer garden is this centuries-old, chestnut-shaded patch among the stalls of the aromatic Viktualienmarkt. Staff in traditional garb offer every kind of Munich beer (though not necessarily at the same time), and there's lots of traditional food to help the froth on its way.

Time for a little variety at this pleasantly tranquil beer hall where an intruder from the Alps has the audacity to serve suds to all-comers. Brewed by the crystal waters of the Tegernsee south of Munich, it's one of the few beers from outside the capital that the drinking folk of München will tolerate.

Almost opposite the Tegernseer Tal, the Weisses Bräuhaus is one of Munich's most staunchly conservative beer halls, serving its very own wheat beer and the city's finest Weisswurst breakfast. In the evening the atmosphere here can be one of the best.

This must-see museum for disciples of the hop examines Munich's beer traditions from the Middle Ages onwards, plus the whole Oktoberfest thing. It also holds tasting sessions led by the in-house beer sommelier, and there's a pub where you can apply your freshly acquired theoretical knowledge in a practical way.

Saving the biggest – and for some the best – till last... Welcome to the mothership of all the world's beer halls, the Hofbräuhaus, with its thousands of carved pine seats, industrial catering operation and raucous oompah-band performances! It's so big, it even has its own currency.

• Studenty bohemian atmosphere
• Vintage shopping and ethnic food

From morning till dusk the area around Munich's Ludwig Maxmilian University bustles with students, many of whom tie up their rattling two-wheelers along Ludwig Strasse. The top attraction for visitors within the uni building is the DenkStätte Weisse Rose, a couple of rooms dedicated to students who were executed for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets.

Running next to the uni, Schellingstrasse funnels students to various watering and feeding spots throughout the day. In addition to its many cafes, it's also the location of Words' Worth Books, the city's best English bookstore, and the uni bookshop.

Running north-south, Amalienstrasse bustles like a United Nations of edibles, with cafes, delis and restaurants that serve a multitude of cuisines lining its arrow-straight length. It's one of the best places to head come the lunching hour, though things get very busy with hungry students.

Türkenstrasse is the place to head for more interesting shops, including shops stocking antiques and vintage clothes, and even an Oxfam shop at No 81. But the highlight here is Alter Simpl, one of Munich's most famous historical pubs where Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse and many other Schwabing writers, poets and artists once drank.

Take a break at this neighbourhood park, especially good for kiddies with its large playground. Normally packed with students from the nearby Art Academy lazing on the grass or writing a last-minute essay, it's a relaxing place to occupy a bench and soak up the atmosphere.

Schwabing becomes more gentrified the further north you stroll, but it wasn't that way when Wassily Kandinsky and Rainer Maria Rilke lived at Nos 36 and 34 respectively on Ainmillerstrasse. Seek out their brass plaques, admire the perfectly renovated art nouveau facades, then head east.

Beyond the Münchner Freiheit transport hub, the area around Wedekind-Platz is a real nightlife hotspot, with bars, cafes and quirky German-language comedy theatres aplenty. On Wedekind-Platz, look out for the crooked lamp post, the Schwabinger Laterne, once made famous by local chanson singer, Schwabinger Gisela.

• Old workers' houses
• 19th-century grandeur

Tram 18 drops you off at Mariahilfplatz, the venue for some of Munich's dult festivals (traditional fairs with rides and food). Passing by the red-brick Mariahilfkirche you'll come to the Auer Mühlbach, a fast-moving stream that once powered mills. You can follow it to the next stop through leafy residential areas, one on an island.

Munich's most famous swimming pool is an exquisite art nouveau affair that first opened its doors in 1901. It's one of Europe's most attractive swimming baths and a dip here under the ornate stuccoed ceiling is a real treat. Despite the period look, it boasts 21st-century pool and sauna technology.

The Biergarten Muffatwerk is a kind of cooler version of the traditional Munich beer garden: reggae instead of oompah, vegetarian plates instead of pig-knuckle platters. There's regular live music in the evenings and a great vibe all day long.

You cannot fail to notice the Gasteig, a mammoth building in brick and glass rising confidently over Am Gasteig and Rosenheimer Strasse. It's one of southern Germany's top concert venues attracting huge international acts. It's also home to the Münchner Philharmoniker.

In Preysingstrasse, the Herbergsmuseum is a tiny former worker's cottage that has been done up as it would have been when it was inhabited by a labourer's family in the 19th century. Opposite, the conspicuous all-timber Kriechbaumhof looks like it's been teleported from the Alps.

The austere, slender spire of the Church of John the Baptist rises above Kirchenstrasse and the adjoining and somewhat overgrown walled cemetery, one of Munich's most attractive, with rows of tombs in different artistic styles. Its most famous resident is Austrian actor Kurt Zips.

So called as it marked the start of the road to Vienna, busy Wiener Platz is known for its daily gourmet market, which has been held since 1901 under a supersize maypole. Tiny cafes and kiosks sell everything from fish mains to chocolate to sausages, and it's a great place to lunch or snack.

• Off-the-beaten-track cafes
• Monumental churches

The Old Botanical Garden is a pleasant, rather bushy park centred around a large sculptural fountain – a verdant oasis in a traffic-heavy part of town. There are acres of bench space here for picnickers or you could head to the Park Cafe, a less-known beer garden, but one that's frequented by locals.

Established by King Ludwig I in 1835, this neo-Renaissance red-brick and stone church is fronted by eight classical columns. That's unusual enough in Munich, but the interior is an even bigger surprise: the pews form a circle around the altar, there is abstract art on the walls and the organ looks like it's made from bits of BMW engine.

There are two eateries to look out for on busy Augustenstrasse. The former Jewish restaurant Schmock at No 52 (now the Vu Tang Laos noodle house) has an ornate original interior. Up the road, on the corner with Steinheilstrasse, Cafe Jasmin takes you back to the days of the Wirtschaftswunder (West Germany's post-war economic recovery).

Munich's 'other' university is one of Germany's best, turning out graduates that contribute to the country's engineering prowess. You should come here for the modern rooftop Café im Vorhoelzer Forum, which has some of the best views of any Munich eatery.

You might think this overgrown graveyard was the last place you'd want to hang out. However, the joggers, mums with prams, and running kids give the game away. After just 71 years, the Nazis decommissioned this 19th-century cemetery, and following WWII it became a park – just one with lots of gravestones…

Dominating Josephsplatz, the oversized neo-baroque St Joseph Church looks older than it is, having only been built in 1898. Inside, it's a mammoth barrel of whitewashed stucco. Outside, the city has installed an interesting children's playground, and there's a dribbling fountain you can watch from the benches.

The Nordbad is a Munich swimming pool with an old exterior but a fully modernised interior. It's one of the least frequented pools and is open from very early morning till late at night. However, you don't have to don trunks to access the adjacent Cafe Bellevue.

• Olympic heritage
• Lesser-known sights

What does every German city do with its spare bits of land – why hold a flea market on them, of course! The jumble sale at the Olympiapark takes place near the Olympiastadion almost every Friday and Saturday from 7am until 4pm.

The East-West Peace Church is one of the very few structures within the Olympiapark that predate the Olympics. This Russian Orthodox church was built illegally by a Russian hermit after WWII and narrowly avoided being demolished for the games. The hermit's house was turned into a museum in 2004. The church really wouldn't look out of place in rural Siberia.

The Olympic Mountain is one of the highest points in Munich and thus offers sweeping views of the Olympiapark, the city and even the Alps when conditions are right. It was artificially created using rubble from WWII bomb sites and actually stood here long before the Olympiapark arrived. In winter it's a popular skiing and sledging spot.

At the top of the Olympiaturm is the tiny Rock Museum dedicated to rock and pop memorabilia. Due to the obvious space restrictions, the museum can only display around one percent of its collection, and new, bigger premises are planned.

Imitating a Holywood-style Walk of Fame, the Olympiapark's Walk of Stars is a series of concrete tablets with handprints and footprints left behind by famous people. Illustrious celebrities to have left their mark include David Copperfield, Jon Bon Jovi and Cliff Richard.

Sadly the 1972 Munich Olympics are known for the hostage taking of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. Eleven Olympians died and this monument, finally opened in 2017, remembers them and the events of those terrible days.