Maxvorstadt, Munich

Maxvorstadt encompasses the area surrounding Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) and Technical University (TU). These two massive universities have more than 70,000 students and, combined with a glut of museums, means the neighborhood is overrun with German and international academics at all hours of the day.

Maxvorstadt is full of bars, cafés, and restaurants whose environments and prices all cater to a clientele made up mostly of students and faculty from the universities. Cafés are generally packed during the day when Munich's intellectuals pop in for a coffee and a discussion about anything from physics to Kafka, while at night most of these places transform into cozy bars where conversation becomes the centerpiece of the action.

All about comfort and conversation rather than loud music and dancing, the venues of Maxvorstadt attract young professionals, students, and even professors who show up for drink specials or, in the summer, to unwind at a sidewalk table and have a beer or two under the stars.