(Very) Quick Trip to Munich

Any first visit to Munich has to include Hofbrau House if just for a beer (and maybe a giant pretzel for breakfast) in the old downtown area. (If you are there in the morning for 'breakfast' be sure to come back during the afternoon just to walk thru and enjoy the place when it's rocking and rolling.) Within 3-4 blocks from it are 6-7 brewery/restaurants that you can stop in for a beer. (Ayinger is just across the street.) Just walk around that area and enjoy the architecture and people, and stop in wherever/whenever you feel thirsty. It's all great. If you have the time, order the book The Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich.
https://www.amazon.com/Beer-Drinker...1&keywords=The+Beer+Drinker's+Guide+to+Munich

 

12 hours is plenty of time to see and do plenty. Conveniently the Munich rail system goes to and from the airport every 10-15 minutes. It can drop you right in the heart of Marientplatz in about 45 minutes, too.

Definitely do the Hofbrauhaus. It's a 5-minute walk from the Marienplatz station. Ayinger is across the street, Schneider is a block away, Paulaner and Tegernsee aren't much further, and there are multiple Augustiner and H-P halls scattered around there.
Depending on how much time you spend in that area, it's also potentially worth taking a train to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) and making the 10-minute walk to the Augustiner Keller. It's probably the easiest 5-star biergarten to reach.
Going much further probably isn't worth it since you're in a time crunch. Those two stops cram the most of Munich's beer culture in the smallest space IMO.

 

It's not exactly Munich, but you could go to Freising. Twenty minutes by bus or s-bahn.....then also a walk or cab or whatever to one of the two breweries in town.

The lesser known one is Hofbrauhaus Freising.
http://www.hofbrauhaus-freising.de/hofbrauhaus-freising.html

You could drink their beers here:
https://weissbraeu-huber.de/en/
Or here:
https://www.hb-keller-freising.de/

A little further out is Weihenstephan. No introduction needed! Restaurant, beer garden, etc.
https://www.weihenstephaner.de/en/

 

I think the Englischer Garten > ALL other biergartens, but it's extremely large and the beers vary depending on which part you're in. The Chinese Tower = Hofbrau. Seehaus = Paulaner, Hirschau = Lowenbrau/Franziskaner. Aumeister = Hofbrau. Of those, I like the Chinese Tower and Hirschau personally. Both of those require a little bit of wandering around, while the Augustiner Keller is super quick and easy to reach when time is an issue.

As far as places I like in Marienplatz, I'd go with Schneider and Augustiner Am Dom as my faves. There used to be a Andechs spot there, but it closed and supposedly won't re-open for a little while. Tegernsee is okay. I like the beers I've had from them in Marienplatz, but I've had hit and miss bottles. Paulaner has a massive list and some obscure items (like a Roggen) so it's a good spot, too.

 

I did really like the beers at Ayinger, which is why I mentioned them, but each of the places that I visited in the area was a treat just because they were all new to me. I'd go with what @Domingo suggested, he has more experience in Munich than I have. If it is a nice day you have to drink outdoors somewhere. When I was in Munich last year it was an off/on rainy, chilly day but I made it to the English Garden and Chinese Tower. It was about a 20-30 minute walk from Hofbrauhaus, so your time constraints may keep you looking only for an outdoor table or biergarten in the Marienplatz area. I think it was Hacker-Pschorr that had a nice one that I had to walk past to get inside for a warmer and drier experience.

 

Very good recommendations here already. I travel to Germany for work a few times a year, and just did the 1-day stay in Munich like you're going to do (been there before, just wanted to spend a post-work day there to relax before flying on to Rome). Something that I wanted to mention that I think gets overlooked: very few of the "downtown" locations have much in the way of outdoor seating. There will be some cafe-style outdoor tables, but not the giant outdoor gardens that people tend to think of (with exceptions noted below). Here are my suggestions:

Hofbrauhaus. It's big, loud, by far the most touristy/commercial, and you'll be surrounded by a much higher proportion of non-beer people who happened to see a listing in some travel guidebook. Having said that, I'd still consider it a must-stop destination in the Marienplatz area. What can I say? It's a fun stop.

As other people mentioned, there are plenty of other good places within a few blocks of Hofbrauhaus. You can even make a quick stop into Hard Rock Cafe right there to use their free wifi (being a Sprint customer, I'll take anyplace overseas where I can get reliable bandwidth for a few minutes).

I prefer Ayinger am Platzl (may also see it listed as Wirsthaus Ayinger). It's directly across the street from Hofbrauhaus. Excellent food. I thoroughly enjoyed the horseradish soup with a pretzel to dip in it, followed by a giant fried smoked pork knuckle.

Viktualienmarkt. This is an outdoor area on the south end of the Marienplatz. There are outdoor food vendors that make up a semi-permanent farmer's market, as well as a couple places for hot meals, and a nice little bier garten. If that doesn't do it for you, there's a Hacker-Pschorr and Eataly right across the street.

Augustiner Keller. If you want one location that ticks off all of the high points, this is the one. Giant outdoor seating area with plenty of shade, food, warm inviting indoor area, music, etc. If I only have time for one stop, it'll always be this one. It's a little bit of a walk west of the Marienplatz, but the 10 minutes is worth it.

English Garden. Worth it for the nice stroll and people watching, let alone the opportunities for beer. Sit along the river and watch locals enjoy the weather, then grab a beverage somewhere. Especially nice at dusk when you can see the buildings lit up in the distance.

For history, the Residenz is the old imperial palace. My wife and I went through years ago - we enjoyed the grandeur of it, but I don't feel the need to revisit. Frauenkirche is the largest church in the area. It's right there downtown, so it's an easy detour. It's not on the same level as the cathedrals in Cologne/Trier/Worms, but it's worth a few minutes if you've never seen a giant European historical cathedral.

 

It's all been said, I second the suggestion of just hanging out in/around Marienplatz. There's absolutely plenty to do and see in a very small space and being close to train to get you back to airport on time.

 

I would only look inside the Hofbrauhaus and soak up the atmosphere. If you just have to stay, then stay for a beer. Echoing others, there's amazing beer across the street at Ayinger and a one minute walk to Schneider. You can also walk another minute or two and see the Viktualienmrkt biergarten and Hacker-Pschorr which is next to it.

It's a short train ride to Hackerbrucke station and short walk to Augustiner Keller, my favorite biergarten in Munich. Augustiner beer is a MUST have while in Munich for me.

 

The Hofbrauhaus food isn't terrible or anything, but it's not going to be as good as any of the other halls around there. It'll likely cost more for the same items, too. Don't be afraid of their pretzels and obatzda, though. They might be seasonal, but I've seen their traveling pretzel vendors carrying giant flat donuts on occasion, too. Those are straight up delicious.

Meal-wise, Der Pschorr is adjacent to the Viktualientmarkt and has great food. Augustiner Am Dom, Augustiner Grossgastatte, and the wurst place beside Am Dom (I forget the name) are have really good. For that matter, Schenider does as well.

 

Schneider for food IMO. Or of course Nürnberg Bratwurst Glöckl which also serves Augustiner.

 

The cordon bleu schnitzel with käsespätzle at Weisses Bräuhaus is fantastic - especially washed down with an Aventinus or Hopfenweisse!

If you go out to Augustiner Keller and you like brewery buildings, you’re also very close to the Spaten-löwenbräu complex. You can walk over hackerbrucke and that puts you very close to the Augustiner brewery and also the brewery pub- Bräustüben, much cheaper beer and food also fantastic.

 

Augustiner Bräusrüberl or Keller. Was just at both this week.

If you want to see Englischer Garten you could save some time with the U-Bahn. Same for Alte Pinakothek. A day pass might be just what you need, good for S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Trams, and buses.

 

I agree w/ Domingo, Der Pschorr was the best meal we had in Munich and, of course, the beer & outside seating area were great too. I know museums are important, ( I visit as many as I can), but your time is limited & you're in Munich...focus on BEER! Enjoy your visit!

 

Best of both worlds.

 

I drove down from the Rothenberg area where I was working and checked into the hotel downtown by late afternoon. All in all, I only spent 6 or 7 hours wandering because I didn't want to be out too late. A couple hours walking the Marienplatz area and doing a little gift shopping. An hour or so at Viktualienmarkt. Walked up to Ayinger am Platzl for dinner, which was surprising quick (for Germany, at least). On a side note, I usually travel solo for work, and how long it takes get a sit down meal is always one of my pet peeves. I know, chat with your neighbors/enjoy the slower-paced casual communal dining atmosphere/etc, but there are times when I just don't want to do the whole chitchat with my neighbors thing and don't feel like taking 2 hours for a meal. #hungryintrovert. Anyway, after dinner I spent a couple hours in the English Garden, then closed out the night with a walk to Augustiner Keller. My hotel was near the train station, so I was back in bed by midnight.