English Garden - the northern section - Munich

I had a lovely weekend ride through the English Garden and, for the first time, decided to explore more of the section north of the Mittlerer Ring. It was really incredible to me how different it is than the souther part: quieter, a small fraction of the people (and this was an incredible day, perfect temperature and sunny) and simply felt more like a forest with paths and meadows and less like a groomed garden. I've been in Munich less than a year, so am fairly new here, but thought this might be new to some people.

A few of the surprises I encountered in my explorations:

1. The honey farm where you can ring the little bell and buy honey. This is tucked right next to the trail that parellels the Isar, not too far from the northern edge. It could be here, but I'm not certain. Go up or down that path and look away from the Isar and you'll see it. I think people live there too.

2. The fact that in all but name only, the park continues north along the Isar seemingly forever (looking on Google Earth, it appears to end just before Freising). I guess people who bike the Isar know this, but casual bikers or those who walk around the English Garden would probably miss the fact that you can keep going very far north. It becomes very dense forest as you travel north and pass the large greenhouses, flower nursery (and another honey farm) and the BR television studios. The trail remains gravel, but gets a little rougher and made me regret having city tires on my mountain bike.

3. A large group nude sunbathers. I was surprised because it was the only (clothed or otherwise) group of more than 2 or 3 people I'd encountered for past couple hours and I had thought that nude sunbathing was mostly confined to an area in the southern part. As the only clothed person, it felt a little like I was invading their privacy (unlike in the south where there's a mixture of clothing levels), since they had obviously sought a place away from the crowds. Their location was very concealed from the surrounding area, which is the reason that I was completlely unaware of them until taking my eyes off the trees and looking straight ahead to see an attractive, starkers woman strolling on the path directly towards me (I've also never seen anyone but mostly overweight men walk around nude, but never really paid attention either). Naked people in the English Garden are not surprising, it was just the circumstances.

4. The size of the English Garden. I spent about 5 hours on bike going reasonably fast, taking few breaks and covered maybe half (some of that time was beyond the northern border, however). Some parts in the north are very hard to explore as all but a couple of the paths are foot-only traffic (even though most people ignored the signs as did I if no one was around). It's also very easy to get turned around and go in the exact opposite of the desired direction. I had no map with me and relied on the very occasional sign.

5. How quiet it is when there are no (moving) people around. In parts you would have no idea that you are just a few minutes from a large, rather densely populated city. The road noise dies down rather quickly as you move away from it. I didn't see any sound barriers, but something effectively mutes the sound.

6. How many houses border or are seemingly inside what should be the borders. It would be interesting to see how the borders came to be where they are and how houses (and the honey farm) came to be within the borders. I had a very different impression of the border from the sourther part. It's also interesting to me that none of the houses I saw were especially fancy -- they just looked like normal houses, but I would guess they still are very pricey.

There are so many hits on searching this topic it's hard to tell if others have written about these sightings, so sorry if I'm repeating what others have written.

My advice on what to bring to properly explore the English Garden:
- a bicycle so you can see and explore so much more
- a bottle of water and/or light sports drink
- a light snack
- sandals to wade into the Isar or one of the streams and cool your feet
- bathing suit and/or towel to take a short break for swimming or sunbathing
- money, in case one of the beer gardens or huts tempts you
- I didn't bring a camera and don't really regret it because I find it takes away from the enjoyment of the moment and slows me down, but it's something to consider.

I had a great weekend exploring and just wanted to share it. I'm still in awe at how much there is to explore without leaving the city. Hope it inspires others who have not ventured past the Chinese Tower or Seehaus to do some exploring of their own. I'd love to hear of other great finds or surprises in the area.

Happy adventuring!

Thanks for sharing! That sounds like a great idea...

I had once taken a stroll along the river from the South End, and remember walking besides the Honey Farm, the old wooden bridge, and further up, till the Studentenstadt. It was lovely!

I hate the Englischer Garten - I always get really lost in it. Even with a map; not all paths are on the map, obviously, and it's not always clear which is the official path as lots of paths look the same.

Well, you can't stay lost for long in the English Garden. It's big, but it's bordered on all sides by the city. Eventually you reach either a landmark like the Chinese Tower or the Monopteros, or you end up in the residential areas bordering it.

I think the idea of getting lost in a city park is kind of charming, myself.

It would be charming were it not for the fact that this 'park' stretches on for miles and miles

or if you keep going along the river path, you will go on for miles and miles and miles etc...

I wish it was better illuminated at night. Specially its areas far from civilization like beer gardens,...

If you cross over the river at St. Emmeram bridge, quite a good bike path continues north for days and days...

It's a lot rougher on the Englisher Garten side and eventually you're forced to cross over anyway.