Best Time to Visit Munich: A Month-by-Month Guide

Munich has four clear seasons, and each one suits a different trip. The weather figures below are 30-year averages for the Munich-Stadt station from the German weather service DWD. Temperatures are the average over day and night, so afternoons are warmer.

1. March to May: mild weather and city walks

Spring is a good time for walking the city if you can live with cool mornings. Temperatures rise from 5.7 °C in March to 10.2 °C in April and 14.3 °C in May. March and April get 61 and 56 mm of rain, and May is wetter at 107 mm. Sunshine grows from about 145 hours in March to 186 in April and 213 in May. For the other months, DWD shows 52 mm of rain in January, 45.5 in February, 67 in October and 58 in November and December, and about 75 hours of sun in January, 95 in February, 224 in June and 232 in August.

The castles also open longer. In 2026, Neuschwanstein tours ran from 9:00 to 18:00 between 28 March and 15 October. A day trip such as the Neuschwanstein and Linderhof full-day trip costs from €76 per person. It lasts 10 to 10.5 hours, has a 4.6 rating from about 17,200 reviews on GetYourGuide, and is run by Gray Line Munich Day Tours. It is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with low fitness.

Pro Tip Pack layers in April. The average of 10.2 °C hides cold mornings and mild afternoons.

2. June to August: the warmest and wettest months

Summer is the warmest season and also the rainiest. July is the warmest month at 19.6 °C on average, with about 16 days of 25 °C or more. June, July and August get 121, 119 and 117 mm of rain, the most of the year.

The sun helps. July has about 241 hours of sunshine, against 66 in December. A dry day is best spent outside, and a guided bike tour with a beer garden stop fits it well. The 3.5-hour ride starts at Marienplatz, costs from €39 per person and has a 4.7 rating from 654 reviews. Groups are up to 22 people, and lunch at the beer garden and tips are not included. Helmets come on request, the tour is not for people who cannot ride a bike, and it offers a full refund up to 24 hours before.

Key Takeaway Plan one indoor option for every summer trip. June, July and August each average more than 115 mm of rain.

3. September to early October: Oktoberfest and mild days

September is mild, and it is also the Oktoberfest month. Expect 14.7 °C, with 78 mm of rain and about 170 hours of sun. The next Oktoberfest runs from 18 September to 3 October 2027 on the Theresienwiese, according to the festival's own site. The 2026 festival has already ended, and the site gives no 2026 dates now, only a final report.

Entry to the grounds and tents is free. A reserved table is what needs planning, and Oktoberfest tickets are explained step by step how tent tables work. For the dates and the opening day, see the answer to when is Munich Oktoberfest.

If you come outside the festival, a beer and food tour with the Oktoberfest Museum gives you a taste of the same culture. It meets at Dachauer Straße 4, runs 3.5 hours, starts from €72 per person, has a 4.7 rating from about 1,200 reviews and takes up to 20 people. The tour is run by Radius Tours GmbH, and hotel transfers are not included.

Is a tour worth it here? Not for the festival itself, because you can walk in alone. A tour only adds a guide and a tasting. On crowds, the festival's home page and the city publish no crowd levels by day, and no official page gives festival-week hotel prices. On prices, this guide has no festival-week hotel price, and the hotel figures near the end of this guide cover 4-star rooms by month only. Plan for a busy festival and book your bed early.

The best week for a festival is the one you booked a bed for months ahead.

4. Late October and November: short days and little sun

Late autumn is the darkest and coldest stretch before winter. October averages 10.1 °C and November 4.9 °C. Sunshine drops from about 123 hours in October to 74 in November.

Opening hours shrink too. From 16 October 2026, the Neuschwanstein tours run daily from 10:00 to 16:00. The Zugspitze is fully closed for maintenance on 9 to 13, 16 to 20 and 23 to 26 November 2026, according to the Zugspitze timetable page. Check the sight's own page before you plan a mountain day.

The honest limit: if you want warm weather or long days, this is the wrong part of the year.

5. December: Christmas markets in the cold

December is the best month for Christmas markets, and it averages 1.8 °C. The Münchner Christkindlmarkt on Marienplatz runs from 20 November to 24 December 2026, with more than 130 stalls. Hours are 10:00 to 21:00 Monday to Saturday and 10:00 to 20:00 on Sunday. On Sunday 22 November the market is closed, and on 24 December it closes at 2 pm. The city page gives no 2027 dates, and no official page lists the other markets in one place with their dates, so check each organiser's page.

Find the others in the guide to the Munich Christmas market, and the month in detail is in Munich in December. Dress warm, because December has about 5 days a year when the temperature stays below 0 °C all day.

To taste the markets with a guide, a Christmas markets food and drink tour lasts 3 hours and starts from €55 per person. It has a 4.6 rating from 50 reviews, takes up to 15 people and includes mulled wine and gingerbread. You bring a €15 deposit for the cup, which is returned after the tour.

Note that the Neuschwanstein castles are closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January.

6. January and February: the coldest months

Winter is cold, dry and a good time to stay indoors or head for the mountains. January averages 0.9 °C and February 1.9 °C, so expect frost at night and little warmth by day. The DWD file used here gives averages only, so this guide has no figure for daily lows. February is the driest month of the year, with 45.5 mm of rain. Days are short, with about 75 hours of sunshine in January and 95 in February. If you like museums and mountain snow more than long walks, it is worth the trip; if you want mild weather, it is not.

Museums and palaces make the city work in the cold. The Zugspitze ski season is expected to run from 27 November 2026 to 2 May 2027, per the mountain railway's page. The guide to day trips from Munich shows what else is within reach.

How to choose the best time to visit Munich

Choose by what you want to do, then check the price. The table below puts the weather next to the main reason to come.

Hotels follow the calendar too. A 4-star hotel night in Munich cost the most in January, a median €179 per room for two, and the least in December, a median €104, according to the 2026 Munich Travel Cost Study. So the cheapest month for a 4-star room is the same month as the Christmas markets, and the priciest is the middle of winter. The study covers 4-star hotels only, so this guide has no figure for other hotel classes. For a bed, see where to stay in Munich to pick you pick an area.

The Best Travel Destinations' count of GetYourGuide listings for Munich on 28 October 2026 found that 234 of 238 listings (98%) offer free cancellation, which helps when you book before you know the weather. Prices and ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 28 October 2026. The ratings, review counts and operator names come from each tour's page, and how reviews are checked is not published there. For ideas that suit any month, see walking tours in Munich.