What different parts of Munich are like to live in — character, transport, green spaces, housing and honest trade-offs.
Munich is described here by its districts and the localities inside them. This page currently covers 14 districts and 0 localities.
There is no “best neighbourhood”: what suits you depends on your work, budget, family and lifestyle. We describe places — we do not score them.
Larger pins are districts, smaller ones localities. Every place is also listed below.
Map of neighbourhoods in Munich
District
Munich's historic centre and the elegant Lehel quarter between the old town and the Isar, with the southern English Garden, the museum mile and the city's busiest transport hubs. It is small, central and among the most expensive places to live.
District
Two former villages on the east bank of the Isar, close to the centre. Haidhausen has a largely pre-1914 townscape, the Franzosenviertel and a lively but residential feel; the Au is quieter, with the Auer Dult fair and the Nockherberg. Very densely populated, with good S-Bahn and U-Bahn links.
District
A large north-eastern district from the Isar to the city boundary, with villa quarters in Alt-Bogenhausen and Herzogpark, Munich's first high-rise estate in the Parkstadt, the Arabellapark and former villages with their own centres. Green, with many families, served by the U4 and S8.
District
A dense inner-city district south and west of the old town, stretching from the main station and the Oktoberfest grounds to the Gärtnerplatz and Glockenbach quarters, the centre of Munich's LGBTQ scene, and down to the Isar and the Schlachthof area.
District
Munich's university and museum quarter north of the old town, with the LMU and TUM, the Pinakotheken and Königsplatz. Young, densely populated and lively around the universities, with few children and many students.
District
A diverse northern district shaped by the 1972 Olympic Park, the BMW plant and large residential estates, with the former Olympic Village, the Petuelpark and good U-Bahn links on the U2 and U3. It has the highest share of international residents of all Munich districts.
District
A large, green district west of the centre that combines lively Neuhausen around Rotkreuzplatz with villa quarters and the Baroque palace and park of Nymphenburg. With more than 100,000 residents it is one of Munich's three most populous districts.
District
A former workers' district in the south-east of the inner city, with the Heilig-Kreuz church on the Giesinger Berg, a mix of small house estates and larger blocks, the former American settlement near the Perlacher Forst, and good U-Bahn and S-Bahn links. Rents are described as lower than in other inner districts.
District
A district in Munich's west with its own town-like centre around Pasing station, one of the city's main rail hubs, plus villa quarters, terraced and single-family houses, the Würm river green corridor and many families. Pasing was an independent town until 1938.
District
Munich's most populous district in the south-east, combining the historic village of Altperlach, the garden-city area of Waldperlach and Neuperlach, Germany's largest satellite town of the 1960s, now an urban renewal area. Many families, the Ostpark and the U5 and S-Bahn connect it with the centre.
District
Munich's former artists' quarter around Leopoldstraße and Münchner Freiheit, with Jugendstil streets, cabaret and nightlife, joined to the larger and greener Freimann in the north with the Studentenstadt and most of the northern English Garden. The U3 and U6 run through it.
District
The "district of squares" north of the Maxvorstadt, with well-kept older apartment buildings around Kurfürstenplatz, Hohenzollernplatz and Elisabethplatz, the Luitpoldpark and good U-Bahn links. The most densely populated district in Munich and a sought-after residential area.
District
A small, very dense former working-class district west of the Theresienwiese, known locally as the Westend, with old tenement blocks, the Augustiner brewery, the redeveloped former trade fair site with the Bavariapark, and the U4/U5 through its centre.
District
A densely built, traditional district south of the centre, between the railway and the Isar, with many rental and cooperative buildings, Jugendstil facades around Harras, the wholesale market hall and the Flaucher riverside. Good U-Bahn links, currently affected by station renovations.