If there's such a thing as the German dream, MUNICH (München) embodies it. Germany's third – and favourite – city often tops surveys to find the most liveable city on the planet, and it's easy to see why, with lakes and mountains on its doorstep, a fine roster of historic and cultural sights, glittering shops and the air of confidence that comes from being the home of BMW and Siemens. For all Bavaria's conservatism, it's also relatively liberal. If there's a fault, it's perhaps in the very lack of a flaw: with little grunge to offset it, Munich's well-groomed bourgeois perfection can at times seem a little relentless.