Olympic Park (Olympiapark)

The Olympic Park is where Munich shows off its modern face, and more than half a century after the 1972 Summer Olympics it remains one of the most successful Olympic sites ever built, used every day by locals for jogging, swimming, concerts and simply lying on the grass. In 2025 alone it counted around 4.6 million visitors. The park was designed as a deliberate contrast to the monumental Berlin Games of 1936: the architects Guenter Behnisch and partners, working with the engineer Frei Otto and the landscape architect Guenther Grzimek, set out to create the "cheerful Games", with a green, open landscape and sports venues sunk into the ground beneath a light, transparent roof. That roof, a vast tent-like canopy of acrylic glass panels hung from masts and steel cables, sweeps over the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Hall and the swimming hall and remains a landmark of twentieth-century engineering. Around it, the landscape was shaped from an old airfield and the rubble of the Second World War: the Olympic Hill, the Olympiaberg, is built from bomb debris, and its summit is one of the best free viewpoints in Munich, looking across the stadium roof to the city and, on clear days, to the Alps. Below lies the Olympic Lake, with paths, a lakeside stage and SEA LIFE Munich on the northern shore. The Olympic Tower, at 291 metres the tallest structure in the city, has been closed for renovation since 1 June 2024, and reopening is expected from October 2027, so the hill is the place for the view for now. The park is free and open around the clock. It hosts the summer Tollwood festival, big open-air concerts, sports events and ice-sports venues, and in summer the lawns and the lake are full of life. BMW Welt and the BMW Museum are just across the road.

How to plan your visit: take the U3 to Olympiazentrum, walk past the Olympic Hall to the lake, then climb the Olympic Hill, a gentle twenty-minute walk, for the view over the tent roof. Walk down to the lakeshore and around to the stadium, where you can admire the roof up close. The park operator runs tours, including architecture tours and options on and around the stadium, though availability varies with the season and the building works, so check the official tours page in advance. Allow two hours for a walk, more with a tour or a visit to SEA LIFE or BMW Welt.

When to go: summer is the park at its best, with swimming, open-air events and the Tollwood festival. Sunset from the Olympic Hill is a local ritual on clear evenings, and New Year's Eve brings crowds for the fireworks view. In winter the park is quieter but beautiful under snow, with sledging on the hill. Check the event calendar, as concerts and matches bring big crowds and change access to parts of the park.

Things to know: the Olympic Tower is closed until an expected reopening from October 2027, and parts of the stadium and roof are undergoing long-term refurbishment, so some areas may be fenced off. The park is large and spread out, so wear comfortable shoes. It is an easy half day to combine with BMW Welt and the BMW Museum, and on a family day with SEA LIFE.