Munich in 4 days

Some 140 stalls of cheese, charcuterie, fruit and flowers around a chestnut-shaded beer garden; build a lunch of obatzda, pretzel and beer.

The central square since the 12th century, under the neo-Gothic town hall, whose Glockenspiel sets 32 figures turning several times a day.

The royal brewery founded in 1589: brass band, painted vaults, long shared tables and beer by the litre.

Larger than Central Park, with meadows, streams and beer gardens; at the southern end, surfers ride the standing wave on the Eisbach.

Dürer and Rubens at the Alte Pinakothek, modern art and design at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Kandinsky and the Blue Rider at the Lenbachhaus.

The vast ground below the Bavaria statue where the Oktoberfest takes place each autumn; the rest of the year it is open space.

The Wittelsbachs' baroque summer palace behind a swan canal; Ludwig I's Gallery of Beauties and the rococo Amalienburg justify the visit.

Ludwig II's castle against the Alps, with Wagner-themed rooms, an artificial grotto and a Byzantine throne room; he lived there only 172 days.