MUNICH CITY LONG RUN-16K

This Munich City’s Long Run is a mixture of historical buildings, art, and greenspaces. Running this route early in the morning helps you discover the beautiful city of Munich before the business is opening, and while the streets are quiet before the tourists wake up and the locals start heading into work. This city tour is for more experienced runners who want to discover a city differently, or still to get in a workout while traveling. We would recommend it for people who already run similar distances to enjoy it fully.

We enter the city center through the medieval Sendlinger Tor gate. Our route will lead us towards the Viktualien Markt, the city center food market, before we head to the river Isar, via the Isartor the second medieval gate of our tour. Keep your eyes open for some surprising features of this gate that will be revealed on our tour. We’ll then cross the river into Haidhausen, which was once a working-class area of Munich, but which is now one of Munich’s most desirable residential areas, with quirky buildings and lots of cute restaurants, cafes and bars.

We’ll pass by the Muffathalle a 19th century power station that still generates hydroelectricity while being a popular event and concert venue. Net to the Muffathalle is the Müller’shes Volksbad–the first indoor public bath in Munich, dating from 1901. Don’t forget to note the location to relax after your long run or day exploring the city in the art nouveau splendor! We’ll then head to the Gasteig, the home of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. It was built in 1985 on the site of the former Bürger bräukeller, which was a huge beer hall where Georg Elser’s assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler took place.

After exploring Haidhausen, we’ll run along the river Isar to the Friedenengel (Angel of Peace). We will then head via the Eisbach, where we’ll see that you can actually surf in a city, and past the impressive Haus der Kunst, one of the modern art of galleries in Munich, to the Englischer Garten. This is one of the largest urban parks in the world and we’ll have time to explore the southern portion, including showing you the location of the most famous beer garden in Munich, before heading towards the University quarter. Here, the Munich City Long Run brings you to the University of Munich and then on to the Kunstareal, a large area occupied by the must-see museums and galleries of Munich.

On the way back to the city center, we’ll pass through the old botanical garden (der alter Botanischer Garten). This quiet park near the city center is really a hidden gem. Now, we rejoin the Heart of Munich tour by passing through the Residenz, which is the former palace of the rulers of Bavaria, to arrive at Odeonsplatz, where we’ll learn about some of the darker periods in Munich’s history. From Odeonsplatz we will head back towards the heart of the city at Marienplatz via the Theatinerstraße with its beautiful baroque church. On the way, we’ll pass by the Opera as well as the Maximilianstrasse, lined with designer boutiques. Of course, we won’t forget to pass by what is probably the most famous pub in the world, the Hofbräu Haus. There has been a brewery here since the early 16th century.

At Marienplatz, we’ll stop to admire the 14th Century Old Town Hall (Das Alte Rathaus)and the new Townhall (Das Neue Rathaus), built-in 1905 and known for the Glockenspiel whose figures reenact stories from Munich’s history twice a day. Our journey will then bring us to the 15th-century Frauenkirche (the Church of our lady), another iconic symbol of the city before we cross the main shopping street of Munich, the Kaufinger Strasse. On the Kaufinger Strasse, we’ll pass by the church of St. Michael Church, where Ludwig II, the last king of Bavaria is buried.

At the end of the street is Karlstor, where we’ll pass through another city gate which dates to the 18th century to reach Karlsplatz. Locals still affectionately call this square “Stachus” after a pub that used to be located here until the 18th century. This is a popular meeting place in Munich especially in the summer when you’ll find locals cooling-off in the fountain and in December when there is an open-air ice rink. Heading back to our starting point the last sight of our tour is the St. Anna Damenstiftskirche, which is a unique church as the decoration was reconstructed after the second World War according to black and white pictures, so it is literally in black and white.

The Munich City Long Run tour is 16km long and we suggest planning a good two hours for it before starting with the rest of the day. It has definitely a lot to offer and therefore we recommend to be in good shape to enjoy it fully, don’t worry you can take as many pictures as you want along the way which early in the morning will be definitely a plus for you as there won’t be a random stranger in the background. For shorter tours or beginners please consult our Heart of Munich or our Espresso tour.