English Garden

The English Garden stretches across 3.75 km² in Munich's northeastern quarter along the Isar River, making it one of the largest urban parks in the world — larger in area than New York's Central Park. Laid out from 1789 by landscape architect Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell and American-born Count Rumford, it was originally conceived as a recreational space for Bavarian soldiers before opening to the public. The Monopteros, a neoclassical rotunda perched on an artificial hill, offers one of the city's most photographed views across Munich's historic roofline. The park is equally famous for the Eisbach standing wave, where surfers ride a hydraulically generated river wave year-round — an urban surfing phenomenon unique in the world. The beer garden at the Chinese Tower seats over 7,000 and is one of Munich's oldest continuously operating outdoor drinking venues.

925 acres — one of Europe's largest inner-city parks. The Eisbach standing wave at the south end, Chinese Tower with beer garden, open meadows out to Hirschau beach.