How to Visit the English Garden in Munich

You'll feel some international confusion, but you'll have a lot of fun when you visit the Chinese Tower in the English Garden in Munich, Germany. The 3-mile-long garden, modeled on eighteenth-century English landscape gardens, contains interesting structures from other countries, such as a Greek temple, a Japanese teahouse and the Chinese tower. The park also offers something very German--your choice of four beer gardens.

Instructions

1. Visit the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower), a five-story wooden pagoda. People come to admire the building and to drink in the 7,000-seat beer garden surrounding it. Have a beer, listen to live Bavarian music and/or try the mostly German food in the tower restaurant. You'll see lots of tourists but also some locals, including students from the nearby university.

2. Head to Kleinhesseloher See (Lake) to relax in a beautiful setting, rent a rowboat or enjoy a beer. The area features a restaurant and a lovely beer garden. Ice skating on the lake is a popular winter activity.

3. Stop by Hirschau, the quiet northern part of the park. It has plenty of room for strolling, a small amphitheater for summer performances and two beer gardens, Aumeister and Hirschau. Aumeister includes a classic drinking area and a restaurant housed in an old hunting lodge. Hirschau is known for its low-key atmosphere, live jazz and better food than you find in traditional beer gardens.

4. Enjoy the English Garden in the same way the locals do. They go to jog and cycle in summer, cross-country ski in winter and escape the bustle of the city any time of year.

Tips & Warnings

• The English Garden earmarks certain areas for nude sunbathing--just so you're not surprised when you visit.