Most interesting things to do in Munich, including off-the-beaten path suggestions?

The unexpected highlight of our 2015 visit to Munich was the BMW Welt (World) and Museum. I'm not much of a "car person", but the Museum was beautiful and fascinating, as was the "World". If I had planned more in advance, we could have toured the factory or test-driven a car.

https://www.bmw-welt.com/en.html

And, it's across from the grounds of the 1972 Olympics. Nice parkland and good food and beer to be had.

We took a wonderful bike tour to get an overview of the city and then went back to see areas that interested us the most.

Thanks - which tour operator did you use?

Anyone go with a walking tour?

The Schleißheim palace complex is spectacular, and much less crowded than Nymphenburg or the Residenz. Take S1 to Oberschleißheim, then a ten-minute walk. Just a five-minute stroll beyond the palaces is Flugwerft Schleißheim, the aviation branch of Deutsches Museum, located on a WW1-era airfield.

I took a walking tour of Third Reich sights. The guide had very particular views about why certain structures still stood and others were destroyed; I'm not sure I agreed with all his points, but it was very interesting. This was in 2005, so I'm certain you'll get a different guide, even if you use the same company (and I don't even remember which one it was - this was before "free" tours, and there were two main walking tour companies at the time).

For me, the most memorable single sight in Munich was the Deutches Museum. If you are at all interested in science museums, this is one of the very best.

The Hunting and Fishing Museum
Nude sunbathing in the English Garden
Climbing the tower at Peter's Church
Doing the underground mining exhibition at the Deutsches Museum
Rock climbing at the Bouldercentrum
The Japanese Garden
The Transportation Museum
The Olympic Stadium complex
The Aquarium
Antique shopping (north of Oskar von Muller Ring)
Schaflarn Monastery
The Zoo
Schloss Blutenburg
Golfing (there are several good courses)

That's just off the top of my head. I used to just get off the U Bahn at random stops and walk around. That can be fun.

Thanks - great list of suggestions!

Don't forget the Deutsches Museum, "the world's largest museum of science and technology."
For quirkier sites, scan Atlas Obscura, for "20 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Munich, Germany".

Take a look at Mike's Bike Tours. We used them for an outing to Neuschwanstein and loved it, but they also do bike tours right in the city. We rented bikes from them for a full day and rode all through the English Garden and beyond. It was a great day just wandering, and of course stopping at the beer gardens along the way.

We did Rick's audio Munich walking tour as soon as we arrived and it was a great way to get a feel for the city. We also did a Third Reich bike tour with Mike's Bike's, which was good. I had hoped to do a tour with Dark History Tours, but the dates didn't work out. https://dark-history.eu/

The film below was made exactly to to give a visitor a feel of the essence of the city, landmarks, museums, squares, food, pulse of the city on the streets, places to rest etc. I am a frequent visitor and I couldn't find better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBmIkdH5v0

The bike tour was with Mike’s Bikes.