Short Munich Visit

Rick Steves walking tour of Munich provides a nice overview of the historical part of the city. We spent time at Dachau (easy to get to from Munich) and found it informative and insightful. However, it is raining, I would not suggest going as so much is outside.

Go to Salzburg for the day. What to see depends on your interests.
Watch the video on Munich to see what strikes you;
Rick Steves covers some sites in Munich
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/munich

There is plenty to see. I loved the Residenz. I would suggest you read the RS guide books on Munich, watch YouTube free videos and see what interests you. You can go to:

The Residenz (German: [ʁesiˈdɛnts], Residence) in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displays from the former royal collections.

Or the three or four art musuems including the below. You can look up or read in the RS Munich guide book the listings of the art musuems. All are near each other and so is the Residenz. They are all in the same area in Munich. You don't have to leave Munich to see a lot of things. Plus there are beer halls to hang out in and have a drink or a meal.

The Neue Pinakothek (German: [ˈnɔʏ.ə pinakoˈteːk], New Pinakothek) is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th century and is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world.[citation needed] Together with the Alte Pinakothek ( another art musuem) and the Pinakothek der Moderne it is part of Munich's "Kunstareal" (the "art area").

Going to an art musuem, seeing the palace and going to a beer hall will fill most if not all your whole day. You may even consider doing a walking tour. I believe there are group walking tours you may be able to join, again read the guide book or go on line to see about a walking tour. Munich also has some very nice churches to visit.

I hope this helps.

Have a great time.

Great ideas! Thanks so much!

I really enjoyed the BMW Museum and BMW Welt - a nice break from the more traditional tourist attractions in Munich. I'm not even all that into cars - it's like the Tate Modern with engines.

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

There is a lot to see in Munich, it depends on your priorities. Marienplatz, Karlsplatz (Stachus), Neuhauser-Kaufinger strasse, Sendlinger strasse with Asamkirche (church) are the obvious choice. In case of bad weather, I agree, Alte Pinakothek (Old masters painting gallery) and Neue Pinakothek are the best choice. Also Residenz museum with my personal highlight-Antiquarium.
All that in the film below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5LxM1Hd1Fc

If you don't absolutely have to do any shopping, I would strongly recommend avoiding it at that time. Those are pretty much the busiest shopping days of the year, all the stores will be crammed full of people who are in a terrible rush, trying to get everything together for Christmas, many of them absolutely stressed out and cranky. Also, every cold and flu virus you never wanted to catch is going to be passed around in those overcrowded department stores.

Which in turn means that museums and sightseeing should be great because hardly anybody has time for that during those days.

I would say the residenz with it's treasures. The museum with the old masters, the English Garden, the churches, a beer garden, the market.

For some more recent history, I found the NS-Dokumentationszentrum really interesting. I spent a couple of hours there. I also enjoyed the Stadtmuseum and the puppet collection with the warning that some of the puppets are a little creepy. Sadly, I write this from the Munich Airport on my way home.

Near the Residence, is a cute little middle ages Christmas Market. It didn't take us long to walk through, but it was something a bit different that the other markets we went to.