Near the training ground of FC Bayern München on Säbener Straße, in the heart of Harlaching, where millionaires kick balls on heated lawns, you can find the greenspace Kuntersweg leading to Perlacher Forst. While on Tegernseer Landstraße and Naupliastraße traffic is busy you can only hear birds' twitter am Hohen Weg, Am Hollerbusch and Vollmarpark.

Here in Munich's south east the woodlands Perlacher Forst, Grünwalder Forst and Forstenrieder Park can be found. The recreational area with its broad trails is perfect for cycling, jogging and skating.

Following the Isarhochufer you will find Isarleiten. The more you get out of the city the wilder and more natural is the tree vegetation and the more you can imagine, how it must have been before the cultivation of this former inaccessible area.

A little further north along the shores of the Isar river you find the zoo Tierpark Hellabrunn, a very beautiful spot at the pebble beaches of Flaucher. Hinterbrühler Park continues at the raft landing spot across. Built in 1909 due to the buidling of a working canal and a water power plant, this park with theadjacent lake is a wonderful destination including a small kiosk with seats and the restaurant „Gasthof Hinterbrühl am See.“

The natural Prinz-Ludwig-Höhe on the Western side of the Isar is blessed with mansion gardens. One of the nicest complexes is the one of the former 1. mayor of Munich, Knight Wilhelm von Borscht. The private complex can only be visited with prior notice and opens up an amazing view to the entire garden landscape with pond and Neptungrotte.

Schlosspark Fürstenried in the district of the same name is not really known, located directly by the motorway to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The castle is used as a retreat and can be visited and marveled at.

The cemeteries are all worth a visit, especially the Alte Israelitische Friedhof on Thalkirchner Straße. With its outstanding planting, mainly consisting of thujas and alleged cypresses, wanting to remind of Mediterranean plants. Munich's largest cemetery (160 ha), the Waldfriedhof on Fürstenrieder Straße is a retreat for species in danger of extinction due to old conifers. Bird species like spotted woodpecker, chiffchaff, song thrush and blackcap share the beat with red-backed shrike, green woodpecker, whinchat, sperrow hawk and snake-bird. In immediate vicinity, on Tischlerstraße in Hadern, you can visit the war grave location at Waldfriedhof with its granite ashlars.

by Dietmar Stanka