In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The city’s own Old Town tour is €22 for 2 hours, with an English tour most days until December from the Tourist Information at the New Town Hall. Private Old Town walks are from €25 to €26. For history, see Third Reich tours in Munich, from €25. Bike tours are €39 to €45 and take 3 to 4 hours. The hop-on hop-off bus is €24 to €25 for 24 hours, and the Munich City Pass includes the official tour, a bike tour and the bus. None of the walks goes inside a building: the Residenz has its own tour on Fridays. Or book now: the city’s Old Town tourad is €22 and the Walkative Old Town tourad from €26 (GetYourGuide). Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.
The tours compared
| Tour | Run by | Length | From | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town Guided Walking Tourad | München Tourismus | 2 hours | €22 | Tourist Information, New Town Hall |
| Old Town Guided Walking Tourad | Walkative Tours | 2.5 hours | €26 | Main gate of St Peter’s Church |
| Third Reich & WWII Walking Tourad | Munich Walk Tours | 2.5 hours | €29 | Tourist Information, New Town Hall |
| 3-Hour Guided Bike Tourad | Munich Walk Tours | 3.5 hours | €39 | Marienplatz |
| Hop-On Hop-Off Tourad | CitySightseeing München | 1 or 2 days | €25 | Bahnhofsplatz, by the Hauptbahnhof |
Old Town walks
The Old Town is small enough to walk. The city’s tour names the Frauenkirche, Marienplatz, Maximilianstrasse, Odeonsplatz and the Residenz; the private tours add the Hofbräuhaus and the Nazi period.
Odeonsplatz, with the Feldherrnhalle and the Theatinerkirche. Photo: Guido Radig, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The city’s own tour
€22 · 2 hours · English and German · 4.6 stars from 564 reviews
The Old Town tourad is run by München Tourismus with the city’s trained guides, and the München Tourismus booking page sells the same tour at €22. In English it runs on Thursdays at 14:00 and Saturdays at 11:30, and from the end of March to December also on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 14:00 and on Sunday at 11:30. Meet 10 minutes early at the Tourist Information at the New Town Hall on Marienplatz. The booking confirmation gets a city map and 50% off the official city guide at the Tourist Information, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours ahead. The listing is wheelchair accessible.
Walkative Tours
From €26 · 2.5 hours · English · 4.8 stars from 577 reviews
Munich Old Town: Guided Walking Tourad meets at the main gate of St Peter’s Church under a yellow umbrella. It passes Marienplatz, the Hofbräuhaus, Odeonsplatz, the National Theatre and Max-Joseph-Platz, and covers both the Wittelsbach dynasty and the Nazi period. The listing says the booking joins the general pay-as-you-wish tour and that the amount paid covers the reservation fee and the guide’s payment in advance. A private tour can be arranged with the operator.
Original Munich Walks
From €25 · 2 hours, group · private tours from €299 a group
Original Munich Walks runs its “Discover Munich” group walk of 2 hours from €25 a person. Private tours start at €299 a group for the 2-hour “Munich Express” and €399 for the 3-hour “Discover Munich”, and a brewery visit of 2.5 hours is from €279 for one to four guests. Cancellation is free up to 72 hours ahead.
Inside the Residenz
€22 · 2 hours · English on Fridays at 11:00
The city’s guided tour through the Residenz does not include admission: buy the museum ticket first, because nobody joins without one. The Residenz page has the ticket prices.
The painted facade of the Kaiserhof in the Residenz, with the Theatinerkirche domes behind. Photo: Jebulon, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Bike tours
€39 to €45 · 3 to 4 hours · bike hire in the listing
Four operators run guided rides of 3 to 4 hours through the Old Town, the Isar and the English Garden. The Munich City Pass includes a Radius bike tour.
| Tour | Run by | Length | From | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Hour Guided Bike Tourad | Munich Walk Tours | 3.5 hours | €39 | Marienplatz, in front of the Tourist Information |
| Daily City Bike Tour with Beer Garden Stop at 11:30ad | Mike’s Bike Tours | 3.5 hours | €39 | Marienplatz 15, by the Toy Museum |
| Bike Tour with Beer Garden Breakad | Fat Tire Tours | 4 hours | €40 | Karlsplatz 4 |
| Munich by Bike: Half-Day Tour with Local Guidead | Radius Tours | 3 hours | €45 | Dachauer Straße 4 |
The Munich Walk Tours ride stops at the Hofbräukeller beer garden and goes to the English Garden; Fat Tire’s stops at the English Garden, with food and drinks not included, and Radius’s passes Königsplatz and Odeonsplatz and stops at the Chinese Tower beer garden. The rides go in all weather, and Mike’s asks you to bring cash. The listing for Radius sets a minimum height of 160 cm and excludes children under 16.
The hop-on hop-off bus
From €24 to €25 · 24 or 48 hours · free with the City Pass
Two operators run open-top buses with audio commentary. A day on the bus is for orientation, and the MVV day ticket (€10.10) reaches the same sights.
| Bus | From | Routes | Timetable |
|---|---|---|---|
| CitySightseeing Münchenad | €25 (4.3 stars from 4,816 reviews) | City Tour, Nymphenburg-Olympia Tour and Schwabing Tour, each one hour, from Bahnhofsplatz | Winter (1 October to 31 March): the City Tour every 30 minutes 10:00 to 16:00; the Nymphenburg-Olympia Tour at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 on weekdays and hourly at weekends; the Schwabing Tour at 10:30, 12:30, 14:30 and 16:30 |
| Big Bus Tours Munichad | €24 (4.1 stars from 1,243 reviews) | A Green Line of 60 minutes and an Orange Line of 80 minutes, about 2.5 hours in all | Green daily every 20 minutes; Orange every 30 minutes on weekdays and every 20 at weekends. The Deutsches Museum stop is suspended for building work |
Redeem a CitySightseeing ticket at any stop between 10:00 and 16:30 in winter. Alcohol, food and drink are not allowed on board. Tickets are valid for 24 or 48 hours from first use.
Which to book
- A first orientation, two hours: the city’s own Old Town tour, €22, with the Tourist Information as the start.
- A longer walk: the Walkative tour at €26 for 2.5 hours, which covers the Hofbräuhaus and the Nazi period as well as the Old Town.
- History: Third Reich tours in Munich, from €25, and the free NS-Dokumentationszentrum.
- Covering ground quickly: a bike tour, €39 to €45.
- Nymphenburg and the Olympiapark without planning: the hop-on hop-off bus, or the MVV day ticket.
- With a City Pass: the official Old Town tour, the bus and a Radius bike tour are free. Munich City Pass or Munich Card has the sums.
What to book before you go to Munich has the closed days for every sight. Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel says where to stand for the 11:00 show, and 3 days in Munich fits a walk into a plan. Munich food tours covers the market and beer tours. For the same guide in other cities, see Berlin walking tours and Vienna walking tours. To walk it yourself, the Munich old town walk and the English Garden walk are self-guided, with the opening hours and closed days of every stop.
Common questions
How much is a walking tour in Munich?
The city's own two-hour Old Town tour by München Tourismus is €22. Walkative Tours' Old Town walk is from €26 on GetYourGuide for 2.5 hours, and Original Munich Walks' own group tour is from €25 for 2 hours. Third Reich tours are from €25 to €29.
When does the Old Town tour run in English?
On Thursdays at 14:00 and Saturdays at 11:30 all year. From the end of March to December it also runs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 14:00 and on Sundays at 11:30. It meets 10 minutes early at the Tourist Information at the New Town Hall on Marienplatz.
Do the walking tours go inside the Residenz or the museums?
No. The Old Town walks are outdoors. The city runs a separate two-hour guided tour through the Residenz, €22 on Fridays at 11:00 in English, and the museum ticket is bought separately.
Is the Munich City Pass worth it for the tours?
It includes the official Old Town tour, the New Town Hall tour, a Radius bike tour and the hop-on hop-off bus, so it can cover the tour you want. Whether it pays depends on the sights; the sums are in the pass guide.
Is the hop-on hop-off bus worth it in Munich?
For the Nymphenburg and Olympic Park route, the bus is about €25 against €10.10 for an MVV day ticket that reaches the same places. It suits a first orientation with commentary. The City Pass includes it.
