Driving and parking in and around Munich

Most German cities are fairly easy to drive through and have ample parking... Munich is the biggest exception. There's only a few parking garages in the center of town, and even with signage and a GPS, they may require a little trial and error to find. It may be a little easier to find parking in the evening, but if you're arriving mid-day during the work-week... good luck.

You can try the large parking garage by the Hauptbahnhof. There should be something available there, but it's slightly outside the center of town (only one Ubahn stop away, though). This is probably you're best bet, I wouldn't even try the garages inside the inner ring.

This may not apply anymore, but at least as of last August when I was last in Munich, many of the feeder arteries into town were undergoing a massive reconstruction and partial re-routing. If you're relying solely on a GPS, it may not yet reflect the changes. If you are unfamiliar with the layout of the city, make sure you understand German road signage. Munich is hard enough to navigate through even without road construction.

I would reconsider the notion of "driving around" Europe if you have so little time for the places you want to see. Most places just cannot be experienced by driving through them like this. You certainly don't need a week for Munich, but you need to spend a couple of days if you're going to bother visiting a place like Munich. If that's all the time you have, it sounds like your trip will involve more time in your rental car than actually exploring Europe.

Dachau - then a beer hall? Dachau is a sobering and sickening experience for many, and it's supposed to be. This just isn't a healthy combination.

Sorry to be the bearer of negative feedback...

I would park outside of the old town and take public transportation into town. The old town itself has a lot of one-way streets, so sometimes going a few blocks by car involves a much longer, circuitous route. And if you don't know that route, you might never get to your destination.

Many S-Bahn stations have park 'n ride lots. The station in Dachau has 610 parking spots. Parking is allowed only when the public transportation is running. In the middle of the day, it is quite full (over 90%).

While Dachau followed by a beer-hall meal is counter-intuitive, our tour groups do it every time (at Andechs). You do have to somewhat compartmentalize your feelings and re-focus on your next experience. Most people don't fast all day after visiting a concentration camp memorial, even though that sounds appropriate. I'll also mention that there are many concentration camp memorials in Europe, which can be more complete experiences than Dachau, and which you can easily reach with a car, depending on your route and how long you have for the whole trip.

I agree that I'd rather give Munich more time, especially if you're interested in any of the museums or the BMW factory tour (reserve ahead).

It has been 21 years since I drove into Munich and parked near the Marienplatz tourist office, using a combination of Michelin map and following "Stadt-Mitte" signs to the city center. It's not a bad memory at all, but things do change.

As an alternative to going out to Dachau ... the new NS Doku-Zentrum in Munich, on the site of the wartime Nazi party headquarters, is due to open in April. It's on Briennerstraße, just east of Königsplatz. Around the corner is the "Führerbau", where Hitler, Mussolini and Neville Chamberlain signed the 1938 Munich Accord (the building is now the School of Music and Theater, and Hitler's former office is now a practice room for music students). Across the street is the Verwaltungsbau, a twin structure of the Führerbau. Wartime battle damage is still evident on the east side of the building.

If the new Doku-Zentrum in Munich is anywhere as good as the one in Nürnberg, it will be well worthwhile.

It's about a 20-minute walk from the Doku-Zentrum to the Hofbräuhaus. Along the way you pass Odeonsplatz, where Hitler's 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch" march came to a violent end.

"While Dachau followed by a beer-hall meal is counter-intuitive, our tour groups do it every time (at Andechs)."

Surreal. Pork knuckle and a Maß of Monkbier after what you've seen at Dachau. Well, at least you weren't singing along to beer hall songs.

I can see why a tour leader would WANT to pry his troops out of the black void that Dachau puts you in, but my goodness. It's almost scary what groups can be led to do...

There's never a bad time to go to the Hofbräuhaus. Or sing along to the songs.

To bring this back to the original questions:

How much of a headache is driving in Munich?

Not really more than any other German city. Be prepared for a lot of construction and confusing streets but with GPS and a navigator you should be fine.

I know the main street thru town (Neuhauser) is pedestrian-friendly, but is it closed to traffic?

Yes, it is close to traffic. You can approach the Marienplatz area by car from the west or south but I don't recommend it plus you won't find parking there.

Are there any places to park near the old town that won't cause great pains to get to?

Depends on what you mean by "near" and "pains". Street parking does exist but it's usually limited to only 2 hours so you will be better off finding a garage. Most of the public garages near the city center are on the west side so just aim for that area when approaching Munich. If you have a GPS just enter "Parkhaüser" and hopefully it will show you the locations (here is a list as well http://www.muenchen.de/verkehr/parkhaeuser.html). Most garages have some intication at the entrance if they are full or not like a red vs green light or even a sign stating how many available spots are left. You should have no problem finding one that is 15-20 min walking from Marienplatz. Expect to pay €2-€4 per hour.
Alternatively you could use a Park and Ride (P+R) location from outside the city center and take public transportation. There should be one in Dachau. I'd imagine you could park in Dachau and get to Marienplatz faster (S-Bahn will take right there) than if you drove into the city, found a space then walked to Marienplatz. The S2 takes 25mins to get to Marienplatz and runs every 20 mins, thats tough to beat.

DJ

Sorry, it's just me, I guess. And I guess also what I know about the past - right after a concentration camp visit, anyway - that completely spoils my beer hall fun. I'll have a sandwich in my room, thank you very much. Maybe you know the past role of beer halls, maybe you don't:
Hofbräukeller (Site of an early Hitler speech in 1919, where he first addressed the "Jewish problem."
Hofbräuhaus 1929 (Solving the problem of the Jews over a couple of beers)
Bürgerbräukeller 1938
Bürgerbräukeller 1939
Löwenbräukeller 1940
"Wer die Vergangenheit nicht kennt, kann die Gegenwart nicht verstehen und die Zukunft nicht gestalten." (Helmut Kohl, 1995)
There's a time and place for everything.

The KKK held a massive rally in Washington DC in 1928. I guess we better avoid Pennsylvania Avenue when we visit the city, especially after visiting the MLK memorial.

When the next NS (or NDP) rally is held at the Hofbräuhaus, I'll stay away. But until then, I'll gladly enjoy the good-hearted company of my fellow revelers and gladly sing:

"Da, wo die grüne Isar fließt,

Wo man mit "Grüß Gott" dich grüßt,
Liegt meine schöne Münch'ner Stadt,

Die ihresgleichen nicht hat.

Wasser ist billig, rein und gut,

Nur verdünnt es unser Blut,

Schöner sind Tropfen gold'nen Wein's,
Aber am schönsten ist eins:

In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus:
Eins, zwei, g'suffa ...
Da läuft so manches Fäßchen aus:
Eins, zwei, g'suffa ...
Da hat so mancher brave Mann:

Eins, zwei, g'suffa ...
Gezeigt was er so vertragen kann

Schon früh am Morgen fing er an

Und spät am Abend kam er heraus

So schön ist's im Hofbräuhaus."

Have fun in your hotel room.

rbrianwolfe: It's not the place alone. Beer halls are fun. It's also the history and the timing... After witnessing the torturous treatment and emaciated corpses that characterized Dachau KZ, you may still need a meal. But the greater Munich area has lots of great restaurants; racing in to downtown Munich for fun at a beer hall, the same sort of place where the architects of Dachau's 40,000 deaths planned their deeds, and where the "Good Germans" of Munich in the pre-war and war years welcomed antisemitism and later ignored the activities in nearby Dachau while tending to their own stomachs, perhaps even singing a round or two of "Die Fahne Hoch" (a now-outlawed Nazi battle song) ...that's a hard choice for me to understand. Not completely unlike practicing your putting at the American Cemetery in Normandy. You won't be arrested of course. I just don't see how normal human beings with normal reactions mix these two experiences in a single day.

Why are people so bitter on this thread?

Not everyone is required to follow the same behavior after visiting a certain site.

Make no mistake: I do think what happened in concentration camps is extremely horrible. But it was something that happened 70 years ago. At some point we need to let it go, don't we?

Saying it again: I think all things that happened in the Holocaust were horrible. I don't reduce the seriousness of its evils. Yet, I don't feel bad for not getting on a grieving mood for an event that, though atrocious, is several decades on the past.

Thank you to those who gave helpful information, like especially DJ! We have decided to spend an overnite in Munich. It may please some of you to know we don't now plan to be following Dachau with a beer hall since we have a bit more time.