Olympic Park (Olympiapark)

TOURS IN MUNICH: A couple look out over
the Olympic Park in Munich. Pic: Daveybot

OLYMPIC PARK: Almost 40 years have passed since the world converged on Munich's Olympic Park to go faster, higher, stronger.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening at Olympiapark, the site of most of the events at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Soccer, ice skating, boxing, open-air rock concerts, the list goes on and on. The park is humming with activities all year round.
It’s free to wander around the grounds and the park is popular with joggers, in-line skaters and hang-abouts.
Park centrepieces are the massive Olympiastadion, the Olympiahalle and the Olympiaschwimmhalle water sports centre. All three feature a webbed, transparent roof that look like high-tech tents from some distant planet.

Up on the roof

TOP VIEW : The Olympiastadion and Olympic Park from above. Aerobild Luftbild / Presseamt München

You can do a tour of the Olympiastadion’s roof but you’ll pay through the nose for it. There’s also abseiling and other tours on offer (see below).

Other points at the park include the winding lake Olympiasee, the Olympia Tower (known to the locals as the Fernsehturm, meaning Television Tower) and the Eissportzentrum, an ice hockey stadium.
The tower holds a revolving restaurant called 181 – that’s how high off the ground it is. Also inside are a free Rock Music Museum and a viewing platform that you can visit daily until midnight.
With a capacity of 75,000 the Olympiastadion is Munich’s biggest venue and was the home of football clubs FC Bayern Munich and 1860 München until Allianz Arena took over in 2005.

Rock the park

DIVE IN: Inside the Olympiaschwimmhalle (swimming pool) in the centre of the Olympic Park. Olympiapark München

The stadium and the nearby Olympiahalle are the usual venues for most of the big-name rock concerts that come to Munich.

It hosts the likes of Madonna, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

As an alternative to the tower, you can get a great view of the area by climbing the Olympiaberg
(Olympic Hill), a man-made mass construed of cleared rubble from World War Two bombing.
The hill is also a popular place to sit and listen to the big name concerts for free.

Summer park highlights include the Tollwood "world" festival in June and July and free, open-air shows at the Theatron, the lakeside stage. The Olympiapark is conveniently close to BMW Welt and museum and is home to Munich’s new Sea Life Centre.
Sea Life was made in partnership with Greenpeace and has fish from Bavaria’s lakes and rivers, the Baltic, North and Mediterranean seas.

The Details
Location:	The Olympic Park is at Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21, Munich. It's about 5kms north-west of the city centre.
Phone:	For info on the Rooftop Tour and Abseiling call 089 30 67 24 14.  For info about other attractions including the Olympia Tower call 089 30 67 27 50.
Website:	www.olympiapark-muenchen.de
Tours, costs and times	Olympia Tower Munich’s highest lookout point with views all the way across to the Bavarian Alps. Costs €5.50 for adults, €3.50 concession and €15 for families valid for two adults and three kids. Kids under 6 free and birthday kids are always free. Open from 9am to midnight. Roof Climb Tour As the organisers say, supply the guts to get up there and they’ll supply the rope and carabineers. Booking ahead is essential. Takes about two hours. It’s done in German, and English and French are available for groups. Costs €41 for adults and €31 for children aged 10 to 15. The minimum group rate is €320. Runs daily from April 3 to November 8 at 2.30pm and sunset. Tours for groups can be arranged all year round on request. Abseiling Jump 40 metres off the stadium tent roof and down onto the ground. Bookings essential. Also takes about two hours. It’s done in German, and English and French are available for groups. Costs €51 for adults and €41 for children aged 10 to 15. Minimum group rate is €400. Takes place daily from April 3 to November 8 at 4pm. Organisers can make separate arrangements for groups all year round. Stadium tour Much hyped are the old training rooms of Munich soccer clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München, as well as the VIP area. You can also enjoy a kick at the "goal wall". Costs €7.50 for adults and €5 for children. Runs daily at 11am. Adventure tour including Olympia Lobby Covers what’s done in the Stadium Tour and includes visits to the Olympic Hall and swimming centre. You cover basically the whole Olympic Park, getting around in a silly little blue and white train. Costs €9.50 for adults, €6.50 for children and €26 for families. Runs daily from April to November at 2pm and takes about 90min. Can be done out-of-season for groups on request. In English and German. Round trip park railway If you don’t want to do a tour you can just take the silly little train for a ride and see the Olympiapark that way. Costs €3 for adults and €2 for children. Takes about 20min. Audio tour Grab an MP3 player and explore the park at your own pace. Costs €7 and available in English and German. Pick them up from the Info-Pavilion at the Ice Stadium from April to October and in the Olympic Tower from November to March. Takes one to two hours to do the walking tour.
Site map:	*The tourist info centre is in at the right end of the lake, next to the Eissportzentrum.
Directions:	Take the U3 to Olympiazentrum. It’s the last stop on the line.

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