Munich's English Garden on foot: a self-guided walk from Odeonsplatz through the Hofgarten to the Eisbach wave, the Chinese Tower and the Seehaus, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Munich. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at Odeonsplatz and finish at Münchner Freiheit: 4.9 km, about an hour of walking and half a day with the stops. Go on a dry day from Wednesday to Monday: Haus der Kunst is shut on Tuesdays (and free on the last Friday evening of the month), and the Chinese Tower beer garden opens only in dry weather, from 11:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on weekends. Surfing on the Eisbach wave has been allowed since 8 May 2026, but the wave can be dry. The Japanese tea ceremonies run on the second weekend of the month from April to October, so there are none in winter. The sun sets at about 17:00 on 1 November. Or book a tour: the Munich bike tour with a beer-garden stopad is from €39 and rides through the park.

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

The route leaves the old town through the Hofgarten, follows the park’s southern edge to the Eisbach, then runs north along the paths to the Monopteros, the Chinese Tower and the lake. The English Garden is the park guide; this page is the route. Prices are the adult rate in euros from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

No guided walk goes through the park on foot, so the guided choice is a ride. All three are bike tours that include the park and a beer-garden stop. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Munich 3-Hour Guided Bike Tourad, run by Munich Walk Tours: from €39, 4.6 stars from 1,997 reviews, 3.5 hours. It goes through the Old Town, the Hofgarten and the English Garden, and stops at a beer garden. It starts at Marienplatz.
• Munich: Bike Tour with Beer Garden Breakad, run by Fat Tire Tours: from €40, 4.9 stars from 636 reviews, 4 hours. It passes the river surfers and Odeonsplatz, with lunch in a beer garden. It starts at Karlsplatz 4.
• Munich: Daily City Bike Tour with Beer Garden Stop @ 11.30ad, run by Mike’s Bike Tours: from €39, 4.7 stars from 654 reviews, 3.5 hours. It takes in the Old Town, the English Garden and the Chinese Tower. It starts at Marienplatz 15.

Munich walking tours sets these beside the Old Town walks.

1. Odeonsplatz

Free, open always · U3, U4, U5 and U6 under the square

The square is where the old town walk ends: the Theatinerkirche stands on its west side and the Feldherrnhalle, now under scaffolding for a restoration expected to last until 2028, on the south. The Hofgarten opens on the square’s east side, through the Hofgartentor that Leo von Klenze built in 1816. Café Luitpold, 100 m west on Brienner Straße, is the place for breakfast before you start.

• Getting here: Munich public transport has the tickets.

2. The Hofgarten

Free · the court garden beside the Residenz

The arcades of the Hofgarten under autumn trees. Photo: GFreihalter, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Hofgarten was laid out from 1613 for Duke Maximilian I, outside the town’s moat, at the same time as the Residenz was extended. At its centre is the pavilion of 1615, with eight arches that fix the paths, topped by a copy of the bronze Tellus Bavarica, a figure of the riches of Bavaria. The original, cast by Hubert Gerhard around 1590, now stands indoors in the Residenz. The garden is 380 m from the square.

• The Residenz along its south side is a ticketed museum: see the old town walk and Residenz tickets.
• Next: Haus der Kunst is 590 m from the Hofgarten.

3. Haus der Kunst

€10 for the small ticket, €15 for the large · Wednesday to Monday 10:00 to 20:00, closed Tuesdays · free on the last Friday of the month, 16:00 to 22:00 · Prinzregentenstraße 1

Haus der Kunst on Prinzregentenstraße. Photo: Rufus46, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The gallery opened in 1937 as the “Haus der Deutschen Kunst”, one of the Nazi regime’s first showcase buildings, and since 1946 has shown modern and contemporary art. The Hausticket Large is €15 and the Hausticket Small €10, each for a different exhibition, with reductions to €11 and €8, €5 for students and pupils aged 12 and over, and free entry under 12. The exhibitions close 15 minutes before the building does.

• Free evenings: Friday 30 October and Friday 27 November 2026, from 16:00 to 22:00.
• Closed every Tuesday.

4. The Eisbach wave

Free to watch, any hour · surfing allowed since 8 May 2026 · no surfing from 22:00

The wave stands in the Eisbach, the stream that runs under the Prinzregentenstraße bridge 190 m east of Haus der Kunst, with the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum another 250 m on. It formed naturally, and the city decides whether surfing is allowed. A new order has allowed it since 8 May 2026, after a surfer died on the wave at night in April 2025 and the wave vanished after the stream was cleaned out in October 2025.

• Rules: a self-releasing leash is compulsory and nobody may surf from 22:00. The signs at the wave apply, and fixing anything to the listed bridge or the banks is forbidden.
• The stream is cleaned out each autumn, and the wave can be dry or absent afterwards. Treat it as something to watch if it is running.
• Bayerisches Nationalmuseum: €7, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, Thursday to 20:00, closed Mondays, and €1 on Sundays: see Munich’s museums. Tram 16 stops at Nationalmuseum/Haus der Kunst.

Detour: the Japanese Teahouse

€10, children to 12 €5 · second weekend of the month, April to October · Königinstraße 4

The Kanshoan teahouse on its island in the snow. Photo: N p holmes, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Add 0.7 km and a quarter of an hour: the Kanshoan teahouse sits on its own path off the main route, 350 m from the wave, and is run by the Urasenke tea school. A demonstration lasts an hour, with a sweet and a bowl of tea included. Entry is at 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00 for 25 people, with no reservations and no advance sales: tickets are sold on the day at the teahouse. The dates are not guaranteed.

• The 2026 season ran from April to October, and the last demonstrations were on 10 and 11 October. There are none in winter.

5. The Monopteros

Free, open always · the path up is steeper than 6%

Walk 910 m north along the park paths to the hill. The Monopteros is a round temple of columns that Leo von Klenze built in 1837 on a hill piled up for the purpose by Carl August Sckell, after the park’s designer Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell had died. It looks south over the park to the city. The path up is not barrier-free.

• At dusk: the sun sets at about 17:00 on 1 November and about 16:30 in the second half of the month.

6. The Chinese Tower

Free · beer garden in dry weather: Monday to Friday from 11:00, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 · kiosk daily from 12:00 in cold weather · Englischer Garten 3

The tower dates from 1790. Its beer garden, run by the Haberl family since 1974, has 7,000 seats and serves Hofbräu München beer.

• Winter rule: if it is dry enough to sit outside, the garden is open, and if it rains it is shut. In cold or uncertain weather only the kiosk is open, from 12:00 every day, with food and drinks to take away.
• The Christmas market stands round the tower from 19 November to 23 December 2026, Wednesday to Friday 11:30 to 20:30, Saturday and Sunday 11:00 to 20:30, and 21 to 23 December 11:00 to 20:30. It is closed on Sunday 22 November. See Munich Christmas markets 2026.
• Beer-garden custom: Munich’s beer gardens says how to order and whether you may bring food.

7. The Kleinhesseloher See

Free · Seehaus restaurant Monday to Saturday 12:00 to 24:00, Sunday 12:00 to 22:00 · garden from 11:30 in good weather · Kleinhesselohe 3

The Kleinhesseloher See. Photo: GFreihalter, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The lake, about 8 hectares, was made from 1804. It is 1.1 km north of the Chinese Tower. The Seehaus restaurant on its shore has a hot kitchen until 21:30 and takes reservations in the restaurant only, not in the beer garden.

• Next: Münchner Freiheit is 1.2 km from the Seehaus.

8. Münchner Freiheit

Free · U3 and U6 · Leopoldstraße, Schwabing

Münchner Freiheit in Schwabing. Photo: Rufus46, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The route ends at the U-Bahn station in Schwabing. The U3 and U6 run south through Odeonsplatz and Marienplatz, so the old town is a short ride back.

Where to eat

Café Luitpold

Brienner Straße 11 · Monday 8:00 to 20:00, Tuesday to Saturday 8:00 to 22:00, Sunday 9:00 to 20:00 · breakfast daily to 15:00

A coffee house 100 m from Odeonsplatz station, for breakfast before the walk. Where to eat in Munich has the rest of the city.

Biergarten am Chinesischen Turm

Englischer Garten 3 · dry weather only · kiosk daily from 12:00 when it is cold

Lunch is stop 6. Order Obazda, a Ochsensemmel (ox in a roll) or a Steckerlfisch, and a Hofbräu beer. The kitchen cooks to order, with vegetarian and vegan dishes every day.

Seehaus

Kleinhesselohe 3 · restaurant Monday to Saturday 12:00 to 24:00, Sunday 12:00 to 22:00 · hot kitchen to 21:30

The restaurant on the lake, for the end of the walk. Its beer garden opens in good weather from 11:30 and takes no reservations.

The best day to go

The timing that works, Wednesday to Monday in dry weather: leave Odeonsplatz at 10:00 for Haus der Kunst when it opens, be at the Eisbach by 11:00, walk to the Chinese Tower for lunch, and reach the lake by 14:30. That leaves the light until about 16:30 in November.

What closes:

• Tuesdays: Haus der Kunst. Mondays: the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.
• Rain: the Chinese Tower beer garden is shut, and the Seehaus garden is open in good weather only.
• The end of the tea season: the last ceremonies of 2026 were on 10 and 11 October.
• Sunday 22 November: the Christmas market at the Chinese Tower.

What does not close: the park, the Hofgarten, the Eisbach, the Monopteros and the lake. A Tuesday still makes a good walk: the park does not close, and only Haus der Kunst is shut. A wet day leaves the Seehaus restaurant as the one indoor stop on the route.

Getting there and back

• To the start: Odeonsplatz has the U3, U4, U5 and U6.
• From the end: Münchner Freiheit has the U3 and U6. To cut the walk, a bus goes to Chinesischer Turm and a tram to Tivolistraße.
• In reverse: start at Münchner Freiheit and walk south. The Eisbach and Haus der Kunst then come late, and the garden at the Chinese Tower is the lunch stop either way.

What to do with the rest of the day

• The old town: the old town walk finishes at Odeonsplatz, where this one starts.
• The park: the English Garden has the figures, the north of the park and how to get there.
• The beer: Munich’s beer gardens covers the Chinese Tower and the Seehaus.
• The museums: Munich’s museums has the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and the others.
• The days: 3 days in Munich places the park in day two, and what to book before you go to Munich has the closed days for every sight.
• Where to sleep: where to stay in Munich compares the areas.

Common questions

How long is the English Garden walk in Munich?

4.9 km from Odeonsplatz to Münchner Freiheit, measured along the park paths: about an hour of walking. The Japanese Teahouse detour adds 0.7 km. With Haus der Kunst, a lunch at the Chinese Tower and a coffee at the Seehaus it fills half a day.

Is the English Garden walk free?

The Hofgarten, the park, the Eisbach wave, the Monopteros and the lake cost nothing. Haus der Kunst is €10 or €15 depending on the exhibition and free on the last Friday of the month from 16:00 to 22:00, and a Japanese tea ceremony is €10. Food and beer are paid for.

Can you still surf the Eisbach wave?

Surfing was allowed again on 8 May 2026, after the wave re-formed naturally. A self-releasing leash is compulsory and nobody may surf from 22:00. The stream is cleaned out each autumn and the wave can be dry or absent, so treat the wave as something to watch if it is running.

Is the Chinese Tower beer garden open in winter?

Only when it is dry: Monday to Friday from 11:00 and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00. In cold or uncertain weather only the kiosk is open, daily from 12:00, and in rain the garden is shut. The Christmas market stands there from 19 November to 23 December 2026.

Which day is best for the English Garden walk?

A dry day from Wednesday to Monday. Haus der Kunst is shut on Tuesdays and the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum by the wave on Mondays. The Chinese Tower opens an hour earlier on weekends, and tea ceremonies are held only on the second weekend of the month from April to October.

Where does the walk start and finish?

It starts at Odeonsplatz, on the U3, U4, U5 and U6, and finishes at Münchner Freiheit in Schwabing, on the U3 and U6. The old town walk finishes at Odeonsplatz.