Mia Julia’s Top 5 Munich Spots: Local Favorites Revealed

When people ask me where to go in Munich, I don’t give them the usual list of beer halls and neocastles. I give them what Mia Julia told me - the real places locals love, the ones that don’t show up on every tour bus. She’s lived here for over a decade, worked in art galleries, taught yoga in the English Garden, and still finds new corners of the city every week. Here are her top five spots - not because they’re Instagram-famous, but because they feel like home.

1. The English Garden’s Secret Beer Garden

Everyone knows the main beer garden near the Eisbach wave. But Mia Julia’s favorite? A quiet spot under the linden trees near the Kleinhesseloher See, just past the Chinese pagoda. It’s called Seehaus. No signs, no queues, just wooden tables, locals sipping wheat beer, and dogs napping in the grass. You walk in, grab a glass from the self-serve station, and sit wherever there’s room. The beer costs €5.50, the pretzels are warm, and the view of the lake with paddle boats drifting by? Priceless. She comes here every Sunday after her yoga class. Says it’s the only place in the city where time slows down.

2. Viktualienmarkt’s Butcher Who Remembers Your Name

Viktualienmarkt is packed with tourists snapping photos of cheese wheels and flower stalls. But Mia Julia heads straight to Metzgerei Schmid, a tiny butcher shop tucked behind the onion tower. He’s been there since 1987. His sausages? Hand-ground, no fillers, aged for 72 hours. He knows her order by heart: two bratwursts, one bockwurst, and a slice of liverwurst for her cat. He doesn’t have a website. No delivery. Just a chalkboard outside with the day’s specials. She says if you want to taste real Bavarian meat, this is it. The line moves slow, but it’s worth the wait. And if you smile, he’ll toss in a free sample.

3. The Hidden Rooftop at Gasteig HP8

Most people think Gasteig is just a concert hall. But Mia Julia discovered the rooftop terrace at Gasteig HP8 - the newer wing - during a free architecture tour. It’s open to the public, no ticket needed. You take the elevator to the 6th floor, walk through the library, and step out onto a concrete deck with panoramic views of the Alps on clear days. No bars, no crowds. Just benches, a few students sketching, and the occasional jazz trio playing on weekends. She calls it her thinking spot. “You can see the city’s soul here,” she says. “Not the postcard version. The real one.”

4. Schwabing’s Bookstore That Sells Only Used Books

There’s a bookstore on Leopoldstraße called Buchhandlung zur alten Stadt. No website. No online sales. Just shelves stacked floor to ceiling with secondhand books in German, English, French, and even Russian. Mia Julia found her first edition of Kafka’s Metamorphosis here for €8. The owner, Frau Weber, is 82 and still sorts books by mood, not genre. “If you’re sad, go left. If you’re curious, go right,” she told Mia Julia on their first meeting. The shop smells like old paper and cinnamon. There’s a small table in the back where you can sit with a coffee and read for free. No pressure to buy. She goes every Tuesday. Says it’s the only place in Munich where you can be alone without feeling lonely.

5. The Night Market at Sendlinger Tor

Forget the Christmas markets. Mia Julia’s favorite night market is every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to midnight at Sendlinger Tor. It’s not fancy. No fairy lights. Just local artisans, street food trucks, and musicians playing old Bavarian folk songs. She loves the dumpling stand run by a Ukrainian woman who uses her grandmother’s recipe. The Varenyky are filled with potato, cheese, and wild garlic - and they cost €2.50 each. There’s also a guy who makes handmade leather wallets from recycled bike tires. And a 70-year-old woman who sells herbal teas she brews in her kitchen. Mia Julia says this is where Munich feels most alive - messy, real, and full of stories you won’t find in guidebooks.

These aren’t the spots you’ll see on a travel blog. They’re the places Mia Julia returns to, again and again, because they don’t try to impress. They just are. And that’s what makes them special.