Chances are English Garden is the first place you are suggested to visit while you are in Munich! And if you are living in Munich and haven’t seen this place yet, that is on serious criminal level offence –at least according to the faces of people when I told this when I first came to Munich and didn’t had chance to visit it yet! But actually now that I visited it many times, I might just agree with them! But before getting into what makes English Garden Munich special let’s talk a bit on park culture in Munich.
It is safe to assume every main district/neighborhood has its own big park in walking distance. And I don’t mean just a bit of grass and some outdoor toys for kids to play, like you can train for running without making loops every five minutes big. I had to mention this because before coming to Munich I lived 10 years in İstanbul, though it is an amazingly beautiful city, unfortunately it doesn’t have many big parks inside city. So it was a pleasant change for me. (For the record the nearest park for me is WestPark and it has a Budist Temple and Japanese Garden inside –and just as a corner!)
So in a city where stumbling upon big parks is no big deal, what makes English Garden Munich “must see park”?
Well, let’s start with its enormous size. I mean I already told parks tend to be big here but for crying out loud, English Garden Munich is not just Munich’s greatest park but it is one of Germany’s biggest parks. Let me say it like this, it is bigger than New York’s famous huge Central Park!
Naming comes from the popular design style when it was first build. Because at the time (1789) it was popular to have parks in English countryside landscape style. Hence English Garden. Though since this name is too general, you probably found this page by searching English Garden Munich 🙂
So of course size matter, but it is not everything! Describing English Garden Munich as nice grassy place near river side would be simplifying it as much as describing a human being as an organism made of multiple cells. Because depending on which part you are in, English Garden Munich really changes character and offers many interesting things!
Of course there are nice grassy areas near river side but there are also areas where you can cycle, ride a horse (yeap a horse), swim, play games with ball or without ball, and even surf! Yeap, you read that right too, really surfing!
And that’s not all, there are beer gardens inside which is typical places for Munich people to enjoy a good beer and eat something along, preferably outside on a sunny day! The one near Chinese Tower is actually second biggest beer garden in Munich with its 7000 people capacity!
That’s not over yet, there is a special area of English Garden Munich where you can go by your birth suit (aka naked) in public and if you are more on calm side, you can learn Japanese Tea Ceremony in Japanese Tea House or watch flocks of sheep enjoying green grass or just enjoy barbecuing outside!
I think at his point I should confirm for curious readers who are still stuck on previous info about being naked in the park and wonders if I wrote it wrong. It is right info of course but for your information mostly old gentlemen and ladies of Munich enjoy this “freedom” so it may not be as enjoyable as for by-passers compared to people enjoying their sun tan with no clothing mark 🙂
As you can imagine with so many different parts and things to do, your English Garden Munich experience will totally be different! And also of course depending on weather.
Because if weather is nice and sunny, and if it is a weekend, expect mass crowds in the park especially on touristic parts!
Also you will see many ducks and squirrels around. They are like street animals for Munich!
By the way you may also be interested in:
Munich guide -all you need to know
