What to do in Bavaria: 17 must-see sights

Begun in 1869 for Ludwig II above the Pöllat gorge, Neuschwanstein is an opera set in stone: Neo-Romanesque architecture, a throne hall modelled on Byzantine basilicas, a Singers' Hall devoted to Wagner's legends. The king lived there only a few months, and the castle was still unfinished at his death in 1886.

Since 12 July 2025 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Ludwig II's other palaces: Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and the Schachen lodge. The most famous view is from Mary's Bridge, above the gorge.

The Bavarian capital is best explored on foot from Marienplatz, where the New Town Hall glockenspiel comes to life every day at 11 am and noon. Just behind it, the Viktualienmarkt, set up in 1807, combines fresh-produce stalls and a beer garden.

Further out, Nymphenburg Palace was the Wittelsbachs' summer residence, the Pinakotheks hold European painting from the Middle Ages to today, and the English Garden, larger than Central Park, hides a permanent surf wave on the Eisbach. Munich is also the most practical base for King Ludwig II's castles and the Alps.

On the Austrian border, the Zugspitze rises to 2,962 m; on a clear day the summit platform takes in hundreds of peaks across four countries. Three ways lead up without walking: the Eibsee cable car, which climbs in one go from the lake; the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn rack railway from Garmisch to the Zugspitzplatt glacier, then the Gletscherbahn to the summit; and, on the Austrian side, the Tiroler Zugspitzbahn from Ehrwald.

In winter the Zugspitzplatt is Germany's only glacier ski area; in summer the Reintal and Höllental trails are for experienced hikers.

Hemmed in by sheer walls in Berchtesgaden National Park, the Königssee stretches for almost 8 km. It can only be explored by silent electric boat from Schönau; halfway along, the boatman stops to play a few notes on a trumpet and let the echo come back off the cliff.

The boat stops at St Bartholomew's, a red-domed chapel on a spit of land below the Watzmann, then continues to Salet, where a short path leads to the Obersee, a smaller and even wilder lake.

Nuremberg unfolds its old town inside almost complete ramparts, from the Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg) on its sandstone rock down to the Hauptmarkt and its Gothic fountain, the Schöner Brunnen. The Germanic National Museum holds the broadest panorama of German art and culture.

The city also faces its 20th-century history: the Documentation Centre, set in the Nazi party's unfinished Congress Hall, and Courtroom 600 in the Palace of Justice, where the 1945-1946 trials were held, are both open to visitors.

Perched above the Tauber valley, Rothenburg has kept its 14th-century walls, which you walk along the covered wall walk looking over tiled roofs. The Plönlein, a fork of two lanes below a tower, is the town's best-known image; the Marktplatz and its Gothic and Renaissance town hall are its centre.

A stop on the Romantic Road between Würzburg and Füssen, the town also houses the Medieval Crime Museum and, in December, the Reiterlesmarkt. Try the local Schneeballen, balls of fried sweet pastry.

Built on seven hills beside the Regnitz, Bamberg has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993 for its intact medieval centre. The fresco-covered old town hall (Altes Rathaus) stands on an island in the middle of the river, between two bridges.

On the cathedral hill, the late-Romanesque Dom houses the Bamberg Horseman, a 13th-century equestrian statue. Below, Little Venice lines up former fishermen's houses at the water's edge. The town is also the capital of smoked beer, Rauchbier.

A Roman camp on the Danube, Regensburg still has its Porta Praetoria, a 2nd-century gate built into later houses. Its old town, a UNESCO site since 2006 together with Stadtamhof, lines up medieval patrician towers around the Gothic St Peter's Cathedral.

The Stone Bridge, completed in the 12th century, links the two banks; at its foot, the Historische Wurstkuchl, whose origins go back to the bridge's building site, still grills sausages. Less crowded than Munich or Nuremberg, the town takes a day, between Passau and Nuremberg.

Built from 1720 to 1744 for the prince-bishops to plans by Balthasar Neumann, the Würzburg Residence is one of Europe's great Baroque palaces and a UNESCO site since 1981. Its grand staircase, with no central pillar, carries a vault measuring 18 by 30 metres.

In 1752-1753 Tiepolo painted on it a fresco of about 677 m², one of the largest in the world: the four continents paying homage to the prince-bishop. The tour also takes in the Imperial Hall and the Mirror Cabinet, before the terraced Court Gardens.

On Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee, Ludwig II began his tribute to Louis XIV in 1878: a new palace modelled on Versailles, with its own Hall of Mirrors. The king's death in 1886 halted the work: only about twenty of the 70 planned rooms were finished, and a whole wing remains bare brick.

The palace is one of Ludwig II's castles listed by UNESCO in 2025. It can only be reached by boat, and the island is explored on foot, between formal gardens and the former canons' monastery.

In a remote valley near Ettal, Linderhof is Ludwig II's smallest palace and the only one finished in his lifetime. An admirer of Louis XIV, the king turned it into a gilded Rococo villa, with a hall of mirrors and a table that rose from the kitchen so he could dine alone.

The park holds the surprises: the Venus Grotto, a lit artificial lake recreating a set from Wagner's Tannhäuser, and the Moorish Kiosk. Linderhof is one of Ludwig II's palaces listed by UNESCO in 2025.

Facing Neuschwanstein across the village, Hohenschwangau is the yellow castle where Ludwig II grew up. His father, Crown Prince Maximilian, had it rebuilt in the 1830s on the ruins of a medieval fortress, in the Romantic taste of the time.

Its rooms, painted with scenes of chivalry and Germanic legends, including the Swan Knight, show the world that fed the future king's projects. Smaller and quieter than its neighbour, it takes about half an hour, with views over the Alpsee.

Germany's only Alpine national park, created in 1978, Berchtesgaden protects about 210 km² of mountains, forests and lakes around the Königssee. The Watzmann, at 2,713 m the country's third-highest peak, is its skyline.

Trails range from easy walks to high-mountain routes; the quieter Klausbach valley and Lake Hintersee are the gentlest ways in. Above Berchtesgaden, the Kehlsteinhaus (the "Eagle's Nest") is reached by a special bus and a lift cut into the rock, from May to October.

In the middle of meadows near Steingaden, the Wieskirche hides behind a plain facade one of the most accomplished Rococo interiors in Europe. The brothers Johann Baptist and Dominikus Zimmermann built it from the late 1740s to 1754 around a statue of the Scourged Saviour, the focus of a pilgrimage since 1738.

The oval, light-filled church combines white and gilded stucco, coloured columns and a trompe-l'œil ceiling. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

On the Austrian border, Passau sits on a peninsula where three rivers meet: the Danube, the green Inn and the dark Ilz. The colours of the water can still be told apart at the tip, beyond the Baroque old town rebuilt by Italian architects after the fire of 1662.

St Stephen's Cathedral houses one of the largest church organs in the world: almost 18,000 pipes and 233 stops, spread over several organs playable from the main console. Across the Danube, the Veste Oberhaus fortress looks down on the confluence.

Two villages merged for the 1936 Winter Olympics form Garmisch-Partenkirchen, at the foot of the Zugspitze. The Olympic ski jump still towers over the resort; in Partenkirchen's streets, painted facades (Lüftlmalerei) show religious scenes and farming life.

Half an hour's walk from the stadium, the Partnach Gorge (Partnachklamm) cuts in for more than 700 m between 80 m walls, on a path carved into the rock and through tunnels, below waterfalls. It is the natural base for the Zugspitze, Linderhof and the Eibsee.

Founded in 1330 by Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria, Ettal Abbey is still home to Benedictine monks. Its basilica, rebuilt in Baroque style in the 18th century, is laid out under a great painted dome, visible from far down the valley.

The monks run a school and make beer and herbal liqueur (Ettaler Klosterlikör), sold in the shop. On the road to Linderhof and Oberammergau, the abbey is a natural stop on a day devoted to Ludwig II's palaces.