Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The complex draws people year-round with concerts, festivals and sporting events; the
swimming hall and the ice-skating rink are open to the public as well.
A good first stop is the
Info-Pavilion
( 3067 2414; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri,
10am-4pm Sat & Sun)
, which has information, maps, tour tickets and a model of the com-
plex. Staff also rent MP3 players for a self-guided audiotour. Tickets to the 90-minute
guided Adventure Tour that covers the entire Olympiapark on foot and by toy train are
available, too.
Olympiapark has two famous eye-catchers: the 290m Olympiaturm and the warped
9am-8pm mid-May-mid-Sep, shorter hours rest of the year)
. Germans have a soft spot for
the latter because it was on this hallowed grass in 1974 that the national soccer team - led
by the Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer - won the FIFA World Cup.
When the sky is clear you'll quite literally have Munich at your feet against the breath-
taking backdrop of the Alps from the top of the
Olympiaturm
Offline map
Google map
(Olympic Tower; adult/child €4.50/3; 9am-midnight)
. Your lift ticket also buys access
to the small, if quirky, Rock Museum, also up on top. Ozzie Osbourne's signed guitar, a
poem penned by Jim Morrison, and Britney Spears' glitter jeans jostle for space with let-
ters, photos and concert tickets, all the result of three decades of collecting by a pair of
rock fans.
BMW-Welt, Museum & Plant
( Olympiazenturm)
Next to the Olympiapark, the glass-and-steel, double-cone tornado
spiraling down from a dark cloud the size of an aircraft carrier holds
BMW-Welt
(BMW
World; 0180-2118 822;
www.bmw-welt.de
; admission free, tours adult/child €7/5;
9am-6pm)
, truly a petrol head's dream. Apart from its role as a prestigious car pick-up
centre (new owners fork out €500 for the privilege), this king of showrooms acts as a shop
window for BMW's latest models and a show space for the company as a whole.
Straddle a powerful motorbike, marvel at technology-packed saloons and estates (no
tyre kicking please), browse the 'lifestyle' shop or take the 80-minute guided tour. On the
Junior Campus, kids learn about mobility, fancy themselves car engineers and even get to
design their own vehicle in workshops. Hang around long enough and you're sure to see
motorbike stunts on the staircases and other petroleum-fuelled antics; the venue also hosts
jazz and classical music concerts.
BMW Welt is linked via a bridge to BMW Headquarters, another stunning building of
four gleaming cylinders, and to the silver-bowl-shaped
BMW Museum
Offline map
NOTABLE BUILDING
