Munich

Munich began in 1158 as a settlement "zu den Munchen" — "at the monks" — founded by Henry the Lion to control the salt trade. It grew into the royal seat of Bavaria and, today, Germany's third-largest city, where Wittelsbach palaces and world-class museums sit beside beer gardens, river surfers, and an unhurried Gemütlichkeit that locals still sum up in the affectionate nickname Millionendorf — the village of a million people. It is also a city made for exploring at your own pace, with a self-guided audio tour telling each landmark's story as you stand in front of it.

Start on Marienplatz, Munich's central square since the city's founding. At 11 a.m. and noon the tower of the New Town Hall comes alive as the famous Glockenspiel — 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures — re-enacts a 1568 tournament for Duke Wilhelm V and the coopers' Schäfflertanz, danced to coax Munich back outdoors after the plague; the audio guide unpacks the scenes while you watch. A few steps away rise the twin domed towers of the Frauenkirche, the city's silhouette since the 15th century, the food stalls of the Viktualienmarkt, and the Hofbräuhaus, pouring beer under ducal license since 1589.

Seven centuries of royal rule left Munich extravagantly endowed. The Munich Residence unfolds room after gilded room in the heart of town, while Nymphenburg Palace, the dynasty's baroque summer residence, stretches a garden front of 632 metres — wider than Versailles — and was the birthplace of "fairy-tale king" Ludwig II. Add the Deutsches Museum, the Pinakothek art galleries, BMW Welt, and the sweeping tent roofs of the 1972 Olympiapark, and you have museum-going for a week.

The English Garden, laid out from 1789 by Count Rumford, covers 3.7 square kilometres — larger than New York's Central Park — with 75 km of paths, the 7,000-seat Chinese Tower beer garden, and the Eisbach wave, where surfers ride a standing river wave all year round.

Come for Oktoberfest — held since a royal wedding in 1810 — but Munich rewards a visit in any season: a city of kings and coopers, monks and surfers, best discovered one story at a time.