Glühwein, Glockenspiel & Gemütlichkeit

Drop your bags at your Altstadt or Lehel hotel — keeping central means every Advent market is a short walk away. Wrap up warm before heading out; Munich in December bites.

The city's beating centre hits different in Advent. The square fills with market stalls selling hand-carved ornaments and roasted almonds, and the Glockenspiel above you performs on the hour. Take your time — this is the classic Munich moment the season is built around.

Step back from the market stalls and look up. The neo-Gothic New Town Hall looms over Marienplatz with extraordinary detail — gargoyles, coats of arms and a tower lift that gives you a rooftop view over the Advent market below and the Alps on a clear day.

Directly beneath the New Town Hall, the Ratskeller is exactly where you want to be on a cold December afternoon — vaulted ceilings, Bavarian classics and a warmth that makes the outside world feel very far away. Order whatever the kitchen is doing with pork and dumplings and settle in.

A short walk from Marienplatz into the old city lanes, this museum traces Munich's centuries-long relationship with beer — from the medieval purity law to the first Oktoberfest. Small, personal and genuinely interesting, it's a good counterpoint to the market buzz outside.

Back on Marienplatz, slip inside the city's public Kunsthalle for whatever exhibition is running. The building alone — part of the Old Town Hall complex — is worth the detour, and it makes a warm, quiet contrast to the market crowds just outside the door.

Schumann's is one of those bars that has nothing to prove and knows it. Perched in Altstadt, it draws a loyal crowd for precisely mixed drinks in an atmosphere that feels like a proper grown-up evening out. Start here before dinner and let the bartenders set the tone for the night.

The Umadum giant Ferris wheel gives you a slow, sweeping panorama of winter Munich — the old town rooftops, the Alps to the south when the sky is clear, and the city's Advent market lights glittering below. A very good way to get your bearings for the day ahead.

On its own island in the Isar, the Deutsches Museum is one of the largest science and technology museums on earth. On a cold December morning it is also one of Munich's great indoor escapes — lose yourself in the mining galleries, the original U-boat or the astronomy section. Two hours feels short.

Cross the river into Haidhausen for lunch at this neighbourhood Augustiner outpost. The food is reliably Bavarian — Schweinsbraten, Leberknödelsuppe, a Maß if the afternoon permits — and the room has the kind of easy, unhurried energy that makes you want to linger over a second beer.

A five-minute walk along the Isar embankment brings you to one of Munich's great Jugendstil buildings — a public baths complex opened in 1901 whose ornate pool hall looks more like a Habsburg palace than a swimming venue. Even a brief visit to admire the architecture is worthwhile; a proper swim is even better.

Head back towards the centre and duck into MUCA for a final cultural hit of the weekend. The museum champions street art and urban contemporary work in a way that feels energetic and current — a good tonal shift after all that baroque and Jugendstil grandeur.

End the weekend at the brewery restaurant that sits on the Nockherberg hill above the city — Paulaner's home ground, with food that matches the setting: hearty, seasonal Bavarian cooking and the brewery's own beers poured fresh. It's the right note on which to close out a proper Munich Advent weekend.

A late-evening stand-up bar in Schwabing that keeps things simple and social — the kind of place where a final beer turns into two without anyone minding. A low-key, convivial way to let the weekend wind down on its own terms.