Local Tips for Munich’s Beer Gardens
Trying to pick the best beer gardens in Munich is like trying to pick the top songs or movies of all time. There are so many great ones to choose from, it’s very subjective, and it’s an easy way to get in to a friendly quarrel amongst friends and family. Suffice it to say, Munich has plenty of great beer gardens and on a beautiful day enjoying the local culture there is hard to beat.
For this list we consolidated the choices a bit by keeping our focus central. For many visitors this will be the only realistic set of beer gardens to choose from anyway as other great options are too far afield for short trips.
Regardless of where you end up, on this list or any of the other great beer gardens in town, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
- Cash is king. Credit cards aren’t readily accepted as many of the pop-up cash registers in the beer gardens don’t have the machines and it’s just also not part of the local tradition.
- You can bring your own food. This is one of the many great things about beer garden culture. Pack a picnic and indulge on your own food. Please remember, this is only true in the outside self-service sections of the beer gardens.
- Tips at the restrooms are the norm. More often than not, you will find someone in charge of keeping the facilities clean requesting €0.20 or €0.50 for use of the restroom. This is generally optional but certainly appreciated.
- Deposits on the beer steins. Often you will have to pay €1 or €2 as a deposit for your beer steins. To get your deposit back, take the token you were given at checkout together with your glasses to the window where empties are returned. By the way, having paid €1 or €2 extra for your stein doesn’t mean you paid for a hefty souvenir…
- Particularly on busy evenings, you’ll only have the option of the liter size for your “Helles” lager. Ordering a weissbier, or wheat beer, will be your option if you want the smaller half liter.
- Beer gardens are family friendly affairs. Almost always the beer gardens come equipped with excellent playgrounds for the little ones.
Did we miss any important pointers? Let us know in the comments section below!
