May 14, 2025

Kugler Alm, the Radler Beer Garden in Southern Munich

So Many Beer Gardens …

Let’s assume for a moment that you love beer gardens as much as I do. You’ve explored all that there is to offer in the English Garden, you’ve visited some of the iconic beer gardens in the center of town, and you’ve headed south for a drink amid the myths and legends of Munich’s beer gardens along the Isar.

What’s left? Plenty, as it turns out.

Like the Kugler Alm, an ideal “destination” beer garden, perfect for those times you want to get out of the city center.

Me at the Kugler Alm beer garden — *FDH approves (photo courtesy of Rich Carbonara of BeerWanderers)*

In the Woods at the Edge of the City

Finding your way down to the Kugler Alm in the southern tip of Munich is half the fun. You could do it the easy way. Just take the S3 (S-Bahn) toward Holzkirchen, get out at Furth bei Deisenhofen, and walk about twenty minutes.

Or you could do it the more adventurous way and make an afternoon beer hike of it. The adventurous way involves taking Tram 25 to its terminus in Grünwald, then walking west along the main road through the woods for about 5 kilometers, with occasional forays into the forest trails if you’d like.

The walk from Grünwald to the Kugler Alm beer garden — *Oberhaching is where you want to go*

By the time you arrive, you’ll be right and primed for a beer in the shade. The alpine-style huts and the setting in the woods will make you feel like you’re eons from the big city. And if you’d like even more peace and quiet, the orchard near the back provides a tranquil respite from the crowds near the Ausschank. Food runs along the entire gamut of beer garden victuals, and there’s Steckerlfisch on the grill as well. But since you’ve made a day of it, unpack that picnic you remembered to bring with you from the center of town.

The Birth of the Radler

The bucolic setting is one thing, but what makes the Kugler Alm special is its place in the history of beer garden beverages. This beer garden is, by many accounts, where the Radler was invented. (For those who don’t yet know what a Radler is, it’s a mix of beer and lemon-lime soda—à la Sprite— that’s meant to quench your thirst without getting you too shlamboozeled. The word itself means cyclist.)

As the story goes, Franz Kugler, a one-time railway worker and founder of the eponymously named beer garden, knew what it meant to work up a prodigious thirst on a hot day. Nearly three decades after opening his successful beer garden in 1895, Kugler hit upon a new idea. His beer garden just so happened to be along a cycling path (as it still is). In the days before the proliferation of the automobile, the bicycle was an increasingly common mode of transport. Since getting on a bike and riding home after downing a few Maß of beer didn’t exactly guarantee safe passage home, Kugler decided to temper his beer by mixing it with lemonade. Needless to say, the idea was a hit among the cyclists. The Radler was born.

Cycling for beer in the Chiemsee: the bike I rented — This photo has nothing to do with the Kugler Alm. But it’s of a bike (obvs.) And I was riding said bike while going from one beer spot to the next. Hence (by way of plenty of lateral thinking): Radler

Back to the Big City

When you’re ready to head back to the bright lights of the big city, drink a Radler and get on your bike. If you came by foot, you can walk the roughly 20 minutes it takes to get to the Furth bei Deisenhofen station. Or (since you’re being adventurous), walk south to Deisenhofen with a detour through the meadows and get the train back from there. If you’re still thirsty, there’s a well-stocked bottle shop near the station. Prost!

Talkin’ About a (Beer Garden) Revolution: Munich’s Waldwirtschaft

Beer Gardens with a Dash of Spice: The Menterschwaige in Munich

Beer Gardens in Baden-Württemberg, Germany’s Southwest

The Art of the Beer Garden Food Feast

Alpine huts at the Kugler Alm beer garden — *A foretaste of the Alps at the Kugler Alm*

All photos by Franz D. Hofer, with the exception of moi, taken by Rich Carbonara of Beerwanders. I’m going out of my way here to point this out so you can check out his site, if you don’t know it already.