A Guide to Visiting Nymphenburg Palace

Visiting Nymphenburg Palace is a great way to spend a day if you are in Munich or the surrounding area. The palace is conveniently located just outside of Munich’s city centre. You can reach the palace easily from the city centre by car, tram/bus, S-Bahn or U-Bahn. I hope you enjoy this guide to visiting Nymphenburg Palace!

HISTORY

Nymphenburg Palace was the main summer residence of the Wittelsbach royal family, the former rulers of Bavaria.

Construction of the palace began in 1664 by Bavarian Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, who had just given birth to the next heir to the throne. Over the years, it has been expanded and small palace retreats were added to the grounds.

THE TOUR

The main palace of Nymphenburg is actually quite small compared to others I have visited. However, the palace grounds are expansive.

When buying your tickets to tour Nymphenburg, you can choose to tour the main palace, the Marstallmuseum and the park palaces separately or purchase a combination ticket. We chose the combination ticket and I’m glad that we did! I recommend spending about half a day here so that you can visit each building and walk the palace grounds. Your ticket includes an audio guide for each of the buildings.

Main Palace

Start your tour with the main palace, which houses the royal apartments. Touring the main palace takes only 25 minutes.

The central room is called the Great Hall and it is absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of Versailles!

I enjoyed learning about each room in the royal apartments. The most interesting room was King Ludwig I of Bavaria’s Gallery of Beauties. The king commissioned a painter to paint 36 portraits of beautiful women from all classes of society. One famous portrait is of Helene Sedlmayr, the “Beauty of Munich”, who was a shoemaker’s daughter. Another is of Lola Montez, a Spanish dancer who was the king’s mistress.

Another important room is the Queen’s bedchamber. This is where King Ludwig II of Bavaria was born. King Ludwig II built many of Bavaria’s famous castles/palaces. He built Neuschwanstein castle (the “Disney castle”). I am totally fascinated by Ludwig II’s life story so I loved seeing where he was born.

Marstallmuseum

After touring the main palace, make your way over to the Marstallmuseum, which houses over 40 carriages and sleighs of the royal Wittlesbach family. The Marstallmuseum is located in a former riding stable. The most valuable horses were kept here during the summer months.

The main attraction of the Marstallmuseum is the Coronation Coach of Emperor Karl VII, it’s breath-taking!

Many of the other coaches and sleighs belonged to King Ludwig II. His riding gear is also on display.

The upper floor of the Marstallmuseum contains the Nymphenburg porcelain collection.

Gardens, grounds and park palaces

Make your way to the beautiful gardens.

Scattered amongst the expansive grounds, there are four park palaces to visit. I recommend seeing them all. The walks between each building are mostly through forest and fields, it’s very enjoyable!

Amalienburg

Amalienburg is a pink hunting lodge built for Maria Amalia of Austria. The inside is elaborately decorated and absolutely stunning. This is my favorite of the park palaces!

Badenburg

Badenburg is a pretty pavilion with a beautiful banquet hall and a large indoor bath. Very cool!

Pagodenburg

Pagodenburg is another charming pavilion. The interior is decorated with Dutch tiles. It was used as a tea house.

Magdalenenklause

Magdalenenklause was a place for retreat and meditation. It is purposely designed as a ruin and it’s beautifully decorated with seashells. This was the most interesting park building.