Welcome to Munich
As the capital of Bavaria, Munich is an energetic city with a friendly atmosphere. Business travelers often come for the city's role as a hub for trade, research, engineering and medicine, but many of the 70 million people that visit each year are here on vacation. The metropolis is a cultural utopia, combining the contemporary with the historic - walk the streets to find modern skyscrapers laid out alongside exquisite architecture that recalls the pre-World War II era - many of the buildings were destroyed during bombings but were restored to their original beauty afterward.
The downtown area, called the City Center, is the throbbing pulse of the destination with a majority of the top attractions and plenty of shopping and dining opportunities. But there are also many other neighborhoods throughout the metropolis that offer delightful travel experiences. Dachau, for example, is older than Munich itself and was erected on a hill so visitors can see the Alps in the horizon. Schwabing and Maxvorstadt contain some of the city's best museums, while Ammersee is a rustic stretch of land where hikers, boaters and other outdoor adventurers gather to take advantage of the waterfront and diverse terrain.