Munich

Bavaria's capital and the home of Oktoberfest — which started in 1810 as a horse race for a royal wedding and grew into the biggest folk festival on earth. Year-round beer halls and chestnut-shaded gardens, the glockenspiel on Marienplatz, day trips to mad King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein, and the vast Englischer Garten with surfers on a standing wave. Orderly to a fault, until the Wiesn opens.