Munich or Nuremberg?

Munich is so much more than breweries or Nazis. You could spend time at the Nymphenberg Palaces and the Residence and have a very interesting day. I took a walking tour last fall which was also excellent.

I love the churches in Munich. We followed the RS walking tour in the guide which took us past many of the interesting sites. I don't like beer but we did enjoy a bit of time in Augustiner and the Hofbrauhaus. We really enjoyed the Residenz including the treasury and even more Nymphenburg. We didn't do anything Nazi related. I can't compare to Nuremberg because we have never been.

I think Munich has much more to offer. As noted, the palaces, for starters. The Pinakotheks (art museums). And some of the historic churches. If visiting in the warmer months, one of the public gardens.Certainly more than enough for a day.

both are excellent for that and we have done WW2, Third Reich Tours in BOTH. Nuremberg has the courthouse where the trials were and many HITLER places to see. Munich has Dachau Concentration Camp close by. You really can't go wrong with either - just depends on what you want. If you need a great guide for Third Reich and Dachau, we LOVED bighattours.com

Another vote for Munich. Surprised me that it was my favorite city in Germany but the parks, clean transport and bakeries won me over. I’d recommend taking a walking tour of the city which explains it is so much more than Nazism.

@ChinaLake67, I think you misread the OP.

Nuremberg is a lovely city and I enjoyed my stay there, but it is comprised of a lot of Nazi history. If you really aren’t interested in that, I would suggest you stick with Munich, since you know it and like it, and there are so many wonderful options there.

Munich by far

Sounds like Munich would be best for you. Nuremberg has a few good museums and the castle is nice but for me the draw was the WW2 Nazi sites so taking those away, I would recommend Munich.

I’ll be a dissenting vote. With only one day you can see pretty much everything Nurnberg has to offer while skipping the Nazi sites. I enjoyed the castle and walking around the historic center.

To properly see Munich more than one day is needed.

I agree with James. One day is enough to get a good viewing of Nürnberg. München takes more time just to get a feel for the place. Nazi history will not jump out at you in either town center.

With only day, I would take Regensburg over either.

Another vote for Munich. Much more to see and do.

Where will you be before and after this magical 1 day at your disposal ?

If you went to Munich and want to see something different go to Nuremberg. I went to Nuremberg for a day in 2016 with my family. We did not visit one Nazi site and you do not need too. There are so many better things to see in Nuremberg. The imperial castle is incredible. Walk around the old town. Visit Albrecht Durer's house. Eat at the Bratwursthäusle Nürnberg the oldest restaurant in Nuremberg. It was founded in 1312 and is located in the city historic center. Walk the old town. There are numerous museums. After WWII German cities were faced with the choice to build from new or restore. Nuremberg decided to restore its medieval old town. It is beautiful. If you don't like beer try the local Franconian wine.

If you aren't interested in the Third Reich there are plenty of things to do in central Nuremberg. In particular there's the Germanic Museum (art and culture, with a particularly good collection of the local celebrity Duerer), and the German national railway museum near the station.

When I visited Germany with my mom and daughter, we stayed in both cities. I think we were 7 nights in Nuremberg (and used it as a base to take the DB to other places) and Munich for 3 nights. You could consider what kind of "feel" you are looking for.

I enjoyed Nuremberg a lot more. While we mainly used it as a base and stayed near the DB station. I found the whole city very walkable and I enjoyed the castle, the old town center, the Germanic History museum, restaurants, etc. I didn't visit (or even see) one Nazi site the whole week we were there. We did a wine tour there as well. To me, it had the feel of a large town vs. a city.

Munich was much more cosmopolitan and I think my daughter liked it a lot. It kind of reminded me of other big cities I've been to with it's own, unique charm. it was definitely more busy and less laid back but the trade off is there is more to do. My main enjoyment were the Hofbräuhaus and watching the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.

I am not a city person, so I enjoyed Nuremberg more. My daughter is more of a city person and I think she enjoyed Munich more. You said you loved Munich in the 70s... it could be fun for you to compare then to now.