Garching near Munich offers several distinct points of interest to consider when planning a trip: the old town centre with St. Katharina parish church, the Isar floodplains in the eastern part of the city, Garching Lake and cycle routes. This lets you decide whether cultural history, landscape, a lake or a cycling route should shape your stay.
Church and local history
The old parish church of St. Katharina stands opposite the centre of Garching’s old town. It dates from the Romanesque-Gothic period, has Baroque furnishings and is the city’s oldest building. This brings together two distinct points of interest for those interested in culture: the church’s Romanesque-Gothic origins and its Baroque furnishings. Its position opposite the centre of the old town also makes it a specific landmark in the historic part of the city. If you would like to include architectural history in your stay, you can consider this as a focus in its own right alongside the lake and landscape.
Isar floodplains and landscape
The Isar floodplains follow the Isar for more than seven kilometres, and their alluvial forest landscape extends across the entire eastern part of Garching’s municipal area. Together with the fields in front of them, they were placed under landscape protection in 1986 because of their particular importance for recreational use. Unlike the single cultural and historical landmark of St. Katharina, the focus here is a landscape extending across a large part of the eastern municipal area. If you are also considering Garching for its nature and recreational opportunities, the area’s length, location and alluvial forest character provide a specific framework for this focus.
Garching Lake
Garching Lake is located within Garching’s municipal area and can be described using three different measurements: it covers a total area of 91,000 m², of which 47,000 m² is water, and has 1,000 metres of developed shoreline. These figures do not all describe the same thing: total area, water area and shoreline length are different measures. When choosing where to visit, you can therefore consider the lake as a focus in its own right alongside the riverside alluvial forest landscape and the town centre. If lifeguard supervision is important for your visit, the period matters: during the swimming season, from 15 May to 15 September, the Munich-Oberföhring DLRG provides lifeguard supervision on weekends and public holidays. Check current local information for specific operating days.
Cycle routes and the Heidepfad trail
There are also two clearly identified long-distance cycle routes to consider when planning a cycling trip: Garching is directly connected to the Isar Cycle Path and the Munich RadlRing. These are separate from a trail running between Eching, Neufahrn, Garching and Schleißheim. It connects the Echinger Lohe, Garchinger Heide and Mallertshofer Holz mit Heiden nature reserves. In Garching-Hochbrück, at the Schleißheim Canal, the Heidepfad trail joins the Munich RadlRing. For your planning, this information answers different questions: the two routes describe Garching’s direct connection to long-distance cycling routes; the trail describes a route between towns and protected areas, as well as its connection to the RadlRing.
If you are planning a stay, first decide whether local history, the Isar floodplains, the lake or cycle routes should shape your trip. You can then tailor your search for hotels in Garching near Munich to your own requirements.
Discover more destinations: Schäftlarn, Munich Airport, Ottobrunn, Straßlach-Dingharting, Planegg, Oberschleißheim, Munich, Feldkirchen
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