Family-friendly residential districts of Munich

My husband and I arrive in the summer with our toddler and will need accommodation somewhere between Munich and Starnberg where my husband will be working.

Where is the best/safest/most accesible place to live? I feel we want to be on the outskirts of Munich rather than towards Starnberg, but really have no idea!

Which areas are great to live in, in south/south west Munich?

Related pages: Choosing a residential district to live in and Munich city districts

I think this whole area in beautiful Oberbayern is a safe and comfortable place to live with a baby.

If your husbands working in Starnberg, whats wrong with living directly there? Why do you want to be more towards the outskirts of Munich?

Some things to keep in mind. Munich is expensive, and usually the towns around it (like Starnberg) tend to be cheaper. I believe however Starnberg is one of the exceptions in that it is also expensive, a lot of rich people live there and go into Munich each day.

But its really close to Munich to practically be a suburb, you wont have too many problems travelling between the 2.

Also, it can be hard and take a while to find accommodation in these parts, so if you need a place for summer, its never too early to start looking for a place. Do you have someone here who can help you look for places?

Have you considered any of the other towns in the area? They might well be cheaper than Munich and Starnberg.

Theres some really nice little towns and villages slightly further towards the mountains, and you would still be only 15 mins from Starnberg and 30 mins from Munich.

solln

pullach

I would have to agree, Starnberg is a really beautiful place, but is a little quiet, so it really does depend what you want.

If you like the quiet life, then would recommend Starnberg, in the summer, its lovely to sit in the cafe's around the Starnberger See, (Starnberg Lake), relax and drift away.

Munich there is more to do, but could take some time travelling in the mornings. Starnberg is a little isolated.

Agree to some degree, Solln and Pullach are nice and they are just on the outskirts of Munich city.

We'll live almost anywhere but I want access to things for our daughter like baby groups etc. It doesn't have to be Munich or Starnberg - it can be anywhere in between.

Towards the mountains is a possibility but I don't want to feel too isolated from people/places. It's highly likely I won't have a car...

The suburban train that goes to Stanberg is the S6. Along the S6 are several lovely satellite communities. A good choice would be Planegg. It's still within the inner tarif zone of Munich, has enough industry and shops to keep you happy on a day to day basis and is only a 20 minute train ride into town. Alternatively, it's only a 15 minute ride down to Starnberg. And Kza is right, anywhere is safe to live with a baby.

I an only repeat what the others have already said: Solln sounds like it would be ideal. I babysit for a number of english families there, and I know that they all go to english speaking baby groups too...

www.solln.de is in german but you might get used to looking at stuff in german if you are going to be living here.

There are also some international/bilingual/english preschools (kindergartens) in the area. Discussed here (dead link removed by admin).
ta

Kathie/anyone that knows!

You mentioned in a previous message to someone else an English speaking preschool in Pullach - do you know its name/number etc.

Thank you!

The address is Schwanthalerstraße 1 in Pullach and the telephone number is 793 12 166. That's a Munich number, so the dialling code is 089.
Hope this helps!

Thank you Kathie - I'm getting really excited at the thought of living in Munich and with all the information people have given me, I feel ready!

Vicki x

Yup, there's a Schwantalerstr in Pullach too... Pullach doesn't really count as Munich anymore (officially, although there are places further away from the centre which do!) - the postcode is 82049. If you go to www.hot-maps.de and type in the postcode, Pullach and Schwantalerstr at the top, you can see where it is!!

Hello! I am an American living in England. My husband may be transferred to Munich so I have a question:

Where is the best place to live if we are youngish parents with one small child?

I would prefer to be in the city but which neighbourhoods should we look at? Do I need to consider pre-schools/kindergarten in our decision (our girl is almost 3 and is in preschool in the UK currently).

Thanks for any or all replies!!

Children start Kindergarten at the age of 3 over here... when are you looking to move? If you wanted to get your daughter a place in a Kindergarten, for September, you would really need to be applying now!! City neighbourhoods which are good for kids? Solln springs to mind, I know a lot of families that live there. Or a bit further out... on the other hand, Munich has a lot of parks etc, so anywhere in the city would be ok, although of course some areas are nicer than others...

Live on the U-Bahn, but outside of the zentrum. Personally, I would stay on the U1, 2 or 6 lines. Kids can start to kindergarten earlier if there is space available. We live in Freimann and our son will switch over to KG from preschool in about two months and they have several more openings available.

Solln is very nice for kids/families...quiet, tree-lined streets, play grounds and very close to S7 train and 15 minutes from zentrum.

It is pretty good all over compared to London (I am a Londoner BTW). I have lived in Bogenhausen, Schwabing, Sendling and Großhadern, but I would say that we would like to move out of Großhadern and back into town a little bit (Westpark-Partnachplatz-Sendling would be a priority). My kids are 9 years and 22 months. It seems easier to find friends and local socialising in the city rather than in the burbs. The Bavarians out here are a bit more insular.

Thank you for the responses everyone -

Solln came up a couple of times - I have looked on a couple of websites for estate agents but there weren't a lot of properties in Solln, more places like Bogenhausen. Any recommendations on property estate agents to use? Also, any idea of budget we should target for a 3 or 4 bedroom place centrally?

3 and 4 bedroom flats are expensive, but not as expensive as they were 2 years ago.

If you are renting, expect to part with €1000-1500 per month.

Bogenhausen is nice. You may want to look at Schwabing as well. Very trendy, very central, and same kind of prices as Bogenhausen.

Best place to look is the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Good luck

How about in the north of Munich or outlying towns (towards Freising)? We are particularly interested in towns that have excellent preschools and Grundschule...and that have successfully integrated a limited number of foreign students - while avoiding the Auslaender ghettoes...

Hi, what age are your children?

I can't give you much advice of the where to live, as I live here since last July. We live in Giesing, pretty central,and I 'm happy with the area and Grundschule, my son is going to.

As each part of Munich has its own particular characteristics, the best thing to do is to make a list of your priorities. Everyone seems to have their own favourites but their priorities might not be yours and they might be on a different income.
Do you like the suburbs? Do you really want a house with a garden? Would you prefer a central location? Do you like living in a flat? Old or new? Where do you have to go to work? Will you be using the car a lot and not want to spend hours per week looking for parking spot? How close to parks and playgrounds?
Here's my brief, and probably contentious, rundown of Munich districts:
Altstadt - little residential space, bits of green, few playgrounds
Glockenbach/Gärtnerplatz - supposedly the gay quarter, but has the highest birthrate in the city, so I've heard. Lots of young, trendy 30something families. Good access to the Isar & its parks.
Schlachthof/Sendling/Westend - more working class areas that are fast becoming trendy, if not yuppified. Not an awful lot of green.
Schwabing - fairly middle class, nice area, residential space is mostly flats, can be quite far to parks if you're not on the Englischer Garten side.
Lehel - very pleasantly boring bit of Munich, squeezed in between Engl. Garten and the Isar. Flats. Easy access to parks and river. Quite a few families.
Neuhausen/Gern/Nymphenburg - Good areas, mostly flats, quick U-Bahn access to city centre. Good access to parks. Gern is where I really want to live with a family.
Haidhausen/Au/Giesing - on the eastern banks of the Isar. Mostly flats. Historically working class but Haidhausen has become very trendy. Good access to parks and river.
Bogenhausen - mostly upper middle class. Very nice property. Lots of green. Boris Becker lived here.
Outer suburbs: Middle class leafy suburbs are often to be found in the south (Solln, Grünwald, Hadern). Working class areas by reputation are Hasenbergl or Neuperlach, but you'll find a big mix everywhere with detatched houses close to big estates. The big decision further out is transport: rents are higher closer to the S-Bahn lines and the south is more expensive than the north.
The inner city areas are much more cosmopolitan; the suburbs more conservative. In my experience, if you persist, you can find affordable accommodation, even in the posh areas.

must add. the 'burbs have better school and kindergarten availability, you've more of a chance getting your child into the local football team (soccer), and they can be very cosmopoitan especialy the southwest areas. and you can be in town in 30 mins with lots of park and rides available.

By that you mean Holzkirchen Gideon? That's where we are headed.

not so far out although thats not countryside anymore really. say from grünewald up round to germering.

I would have to say Praa gave the best info on Munich areas! Good work!

I would also have to reccomend Gern - this is one of the few areas in Munich where kids can actually play on the streets! Very residential and still close to the city (and the Nymphenburger Schloß).
Quite a few Kindergartens and a school.

Internet sites for renting/buying - www.immobilienscout24.de
or Mr.Lodge - but very expensive...

Good luck!

I would also add Gauting, Planegg and Neuried in the South of Munich. Neuried is the closest in of the three and seems to be FULL of young families. They just put an addition onto the school.If you want to be right on an Ubahn line (the U3) then Maxhof is also nice--right adjacent to Forstenrieder Park, a huge stretch of woods which goes all the way to Starnberg. Good luck!

It's me again...

I have a friend who just moved to Solln - very nice residential area - kids can't play on the streets...

BUT it's on the S-Bahn. I can't reccomend the S-Bahn, only because they often don't have good access for stollers or prams and they come at 20 minute intervals. 20 minutes can be a pretty long time when you're waiting with an impatient child!

It is for this reason I would suggest anything on a U-Bahn line. Trams (a.k.a. Streetcars) are even nicer (you don't have to rely on escelators running in the right direction!). Gern has trams, buses and u-bahns!

I'd like to add a vote for Trudering. It's got a small-town feeling, yet is within city limits & has good mass transit (U-Bahn, S-Bahn & buses).

We live in an international neighborhood, next to the forest, yet have 3 bus stops and a small shopping center within a 3-minute walk. When we go X-country skiing or mountainbiking, we can literally ski away right from our front door in the winter. We're a 10-minute drive from 2 indoor malls (Riem Arcaden & PEP), and have an elementary (primary) school and a sledding hill a 3-minute walk behind our house. Our neighborhood is a paradise for kids (I've lost count!), with Halloween trick-or-treating, winter snow bar parties, kid's flea markets & a sommerfest. The biggest drawback is the lack of a decent gymnasium (secondary school) nearby. I love living here!

For city center living, I recently moved to Haidhausen from Glochenbach and really love it. I have a 3 year old in kindergarten here. There are a lot of amenities for children, including many Kindergartens, very familial neighborhoods, child friendly restaurants (e.g., Hofbraukeller where they have babysitting play room), and close to the Deutsches Museum, parks, playgrounds, great library with english books, and the river. It also has great access to everything nearby, with a lot of international families living in Haidhausen. I also love living near the river where you can easily ride bikes down to the zoo when spring finally hits.

Welcome to Munich! I know it's a big move to make with a kid, so congratulations on having made it this far.

For all the information you could want about English speaking kindergartens, look here. Scroll down for a list of most, if not all, English-speaking Kindergartens in Munich.

As for child friendly parts of town, there are many, and we could better answer your questions if you were a bit more specific. Do you want to live in an apartment or a house? Do you need to be near your husband's work? Do you want to live in the city proper, or better like suburbs? Are you on a tight budget, or have more flexibility? Things like that will help us give better suggestions.

This is also a helpful thread with lots of good information: Preschools, playschools & kindergartens in Munich

And you can make good use of the search function on this website. Many topics have been covered and can easily be found by searching for one or two key words.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info! As far as what we are loooking for in a place to live, we would like an apartment that is close to shopping, restaurants, parks, etc. I love the idea of walking everywhere possible. We have been considering Schwabing, Haidhausen, Bogenhausen, Lehel, etc. I want to have parks nearby and if possible be close to the Englischer Gardens. My husband and I run a lot and we also have a dog. We looked at a place yesterday that was close to the Viktualienmarkt on Reichenbach, but it seemed like it would be full of professionals and tourists walking around. Then we looked at one in Bogenhausen on a quiet street. My husband felt like it didn't have enough of a city feel. So we're all over the place and feel like we can't get a grip on the areas of the city yet.
As far as budget, that is flexible. And as far as my husband's work, he can take the train, etc. if needed. He also may be traveling a lot so we're not going to factor his company location into the mix.
Thanks!

You might want to consider living along the Isar bike /walking path instead of thinking "park." There are some nice flats near Wiener Platz (nearest U-Bahn Max-Weber Platz, also trams and S-Bahn at Rosenheimer Platz), for example. It's also not far from downtown, with shopping and nice pubs/restaurants/beer gardens nearby.

what about Nymphenburg/Neuhausen?
nymphenburg castle and olympic park are great for running and outdoor activities.
city center is 10mins by train, 15mins by bike...

I will be in Munich for the first time for 2 days next week. During this time I want to explore areas where me, my wife and two young children could live. Does anyone have any ideas on which areas to explore? It needs to be within a 30 min radius of the main station. Could be an apartment with a large balcony or communal garden, or a house. Budget of upto 2000 Euro. Where to start the search?! Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

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I live in the Würmtal area in Gräfelfing. It's twenty minutes to the centre of town with the S-bahn very yery child friendly, tons of green space and good supermarkets. It's also only 45 minutes to one hour away from the ski slopes of Garmish and Lenggries! The schools are good, the sports clubs do not have a waiting list as do not the kindergarten. If you are sending your children to MIS it is on the S6.

More info though on what your situation, ie what age are the kids, do you have pets what are you're interests etc would help people give a more accurate answer.

A lot of English-speaking families live in Solln.

Hi Chid,
you might want to have a look at Pullach im Isartal, just south of Munich, it is very clean and easily accessible to Munich center with the SBahn.
Another place a bit further south of there is Berg on lake Starnberger. It is a bit far but has a fast autobahn connection to Munich. The International school is situated there so it could be good for your kids.

You could look at the biggest real estate web site in Germany (unfortunately only in German):
houses for rent: http://www.immobilienscout24.de/de/finden/...miete/index.jsp

put in:
Strasse/Hausnummer=Street / house number:
Marienplatz 1
(Marienplatz is the absolute centre of Munich)

PLZ/Stadt = Zip / City:
Muenchen

Umkreis=Region:
20km

click on: Weiter=Continue

On the next page:
Zimmer = number of rooms (from, to): 4 8
(kitchen and bathroom do not count as rooms)
Wohnfläche = surface in square metres (from, to): 120 200
Kaltmiete=monthly rent without utilities costs in Euro (from, to): 200 1750
2000 euro rent means 1750€ cold rent + 250€ for heating, electricity, water, etc.

click on "Ergebnisse anzeigen" = show results

You will get all offers available with photos, you can sort them according to:
Entfernung=distance to Marienplatz
Kaltmiete= monthly rent without utilities
Wohnfläche=surface

registers on page:
Bilder=photos
Karte=map
Kontakt=contact details of real estate agent (they charge 2.38 times the monthly rent as their fee, non-negociable !)

*******************
flats for rent: http://www.immobilienscout24.de/de/finden/...miete/index.jsp
same procedure as above for houses

Having recently been in this situation, It's very hard trying to pick an area of Munich suitable for kids in 2 days! The places we considered after looking at many were Solln, Grunwald, Pullach, Unterhaching, Trudering and Wald Trudering. All appeared to have good parks, english speaking playgroups and good pools close by, with child friendly cafes/restaurants. We picked Trudering which is close to the Ost Park which is great for kids. there are a lot of children's shops in Wald Trudering. I don't know as much about areas in the North though.

A few things to consider: some of the areas mentioned are those, where mostly wealthy people live, like Gruenwald, Solln, Pullach.
I for example don't want to live in those areas, not only because I'm not rich enough (you have to be able to afford those places) but also because I'd rather stay where normal people with normal problems and a normal lifestyle live.

Some areas I like (but since I'm not the only one, it's become rather difficult to find an affordable place in these areas) are: Haidhausen, also called the french quarter, Glockenbachviertel, where most of the gay scene is, as well as plenty of nice pubs and cool shops, some parts of Giesing and Au, where I'm currently living, and maybe Neuhausen, cos it's a nice area too.

A huge no no would be Bogenhausen (way too many posh people) and Gruenwald (where most of the celebrities live). I also wouldn't like to live in Schwabing, for reasons I can't really name. There are lot's of students, plenty pubs and clubs, shops, parks etc. yet there's something about it that seems to put me off...

So what it comes down to IMO is personal preference, because nice are all of those areas if that's what you want.

Don't move to Hasenbergl though, if you're looking for a good environment for your kids...

Depends how central you want to be. I live in Neuhausen. Weve been here nearly a year and a half I love it here but where weve ended up isnt great for our only son. He's a bit isolated. Gern is lovely - quite posh and Nympenburg is lovely too. what I really miss is being able to open the door and let my son go out and meet with other children without me taking him there. When we move that will be my priority. The word is that Solln is the hotspot for families at the moment, before that it was Pasing. Dont know if any of that helps. Good luck.

We live in a house in Laim close to Wilibaldplatz, direction Pasing, and we really enjoy it. It is very residential, so not for everyone, but the houses are affordable and within your 2000Euro budget. We have a small yard and garage. 70% of our neighbors have kids, and even though most of them are German they all speak some English. The kids play out on the street and there are several playgrounds very close by. Downside is all English speaking playgroups I go to are downtown, in other words I have not found any around here. The connection to downtown is not bad, especially with the Stroller, I take the tram which is about a 4 minute walk from my house. Whats nice about the tram is no worry about elevators or escalators, etc. Good luck in your search.

Hey everyone
I'm a languages student moving to Munich in September to work for 8 months and I was wondering if anyone knew of an area that was particularly friendly to move to. I don't know anyone in Munich so I'd like to be in an area where people are particularly sociable, I've spent some time in Munich so I know the different areas fairly well I know that Schwabing is the university district so do you think this would be my best bet? Also the company sent me some links for Studentenwerk but I'm not sure if this is only valid for students of the Munich universities, any ideas? ny help would be appreciated! Thanks

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Hi

We will be moving to ideally north munich in September, we have two young children, (3 1/2 and a 14 month baby), we are looking for at areas to live and would appreciate any help and advice.

We would like preferably some where with a community feel ideally close to english speaking pre school or nursery's, where you can walk to parks, shops etc and where we can meet other english speaking families.

I as yet speak minimal German so feeling very anxious.

thanks
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