Your first day in Munich, in the order it actually happens: getting in from the airport, working out the ticket, finding the centre, and knowing what will be shut when you arrive.
Getting in from the airport
Munich Airport is outside the inner fare zone, which is the single most expensive thing to get wrong here. The S1 and S8 both run into the centre and take roughly 40–45 minutes; a ticket must cover the zones you cross, not the stops you pass. Fares, zones and the airport routes.
Your first hour in the centre
Almost everything a first-time visitor wants is inside the ring of the old walls and walkable. Marienplatz is the middle of it; the Glockenspiel performs there daily and costs nothing to watch. The old town gates — the Isartor, the Sendlinger Tor, the Karlstor — still mark where the walls stood, which makes the centre unusually easy to read on foot. What to look at, and what it costs.
What will be shut
Shops close on Sundays and public holidays — German law, with narrow exceptions for stations and the airport. Bavaria also keeps more public holidays than any other German state, several of them midweek. Museums generally close one day a week, and it is not the same day everywhere. Hours, holidays and the Bavarian year.
The thing everyone asks about
Oktoberfest runs mostly in September — in 2026, 19 September to 4 October. Outside those two weeks the beer gardens do the work, and they are open to anyone: you may bring your own food to the traditional ones and buy only the drink. Beer & Oktoberfest.
If you are staying longer
Most people reading this are here for a few days. If you are not — if you are moving, or staying long enough to rent — the short version is that registration is compulsory within two weeks of moving in, your landlord must give you a written confirmation before the office will register you, and Munich is the most expensive city in Germany to rent in at roughly €23.70 per square metre. That is the whole of what we cover on the subject; the Living in Munich section has the detail.
Where to go next
- Munich Guide — what to see, and what it costs
- Munich, Practically — fares, hours, closing days
- Beer & Oktoberfest — the part everyone comes for
- Neighbourhoods — which district is near what you came for
- Day Trips — Neuschwanstein, the lakes, Salzburg
Checked 3 September 2026. Fares and opening arrangements change; confirm before you travel.