Three tours you should take in Munich

Munich is a beautiful and welcoming city. If you're only in Munich for a couple of days, there are still great ways to see the city. Here are three walks you should take to appreciate the city, its history and of course — the beer!

1. Sandemans "Free" walking tour

For a complete overview of Munich's history, and a walking tour of the city center, Sandemans is the way to go. While it is technically free, the tour guides will ask for tips at the end. It's pay-what-you-can, so if you are a poor college student this is a budget way to learn about Munich. What I enjoy about Sandemans tours is each guide puts his or her personality into a tour, so it's a little different every time. And, it starts in Marienplatz just in time for you to hear the famous, poorly tuned glockenspiel. Something you really only need to hear once in your life.

2. Any tour of Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

While it's a heavy subject, I think it is hugely important for anyone to tour Dachau. The immensity of World War II sets in when you can see first-hand what conditions were like during the Holocaust. We once again went with Sandemans (tour supply was short over Christmas), but there are several highly-recommended guides on Trip Advisor who lead smaller groups. I do recommend you go with a guide instead of walking the grounds and reading the placards. My husband has done both and felt he had a much more meaningful experience with an expert than he did on his own. Good guides also have answers to your obscure questions.

3. Build-your-own Beer Tour

Ok, this is cheating a little bit :) But it's so easy to find beer in Munich! Start at the iconic Hofbraeuhaus (the atmosphere is electric!), but then make it your mission to never drink there again. Try the Jodlerwirt, Augustiner, anything on this map, or turn to Yelp if you're really stuck. And if tours are just how you like to travel, the Internet has you covered there, too. Check out these bar crawls (but don't blame me if you're "bro"ed out by the end of the night).

Prost!