German beer gardens: A guide to Bavarian biergarten culture

Are you in search of the utmost German experience? Then you might drop into an authentic Bavarian beer garden for a tall, cool one under a spreading chestnut tree and hobnob with locals and out-of-towners alike. And you can even take a picnic along, if so inclined.

Ursula Seeböck-Forster, active as president of the Society for the Preservation of Beer Garden Tradition, highlights the social aspect of the Bavarian beer garden. "You can bring your own food; it doesn't cost near as much as going to some restaurant with the whole family. In a big city like Munich, you can hardly afford that anymore," she said.

And that by itself is reason enough that beer gardens are indispensable to life in Munich and Bavaria.