Linderhof Palace

Neuschwanstein is the castle everyone photographs, but Linderhof is the palace that tells you most about the king who built it. Ludwig II of Bavaria had it created in the Graswang valley near Ettal, in the Ammergau Alps, on the site of his father's hunting lodge, and it is the smallest of his three palaces and the only one completed in his lifetime. It was also the one he used most: the shy, nocturnal king spent long stretches here, far from Munich and from the ministers he increasingly avoided. The palace is a small villa in the style of a French maison de plaisance, inspired by the Versailles of Louis XIV, whom Ludwig idolised, and the interiors are a concentrated burst of gilded rococo: a Hall of Mirrors where reflections multiply candlelight into infinity, an audience chamber, a tapestry room and the king's bedroom, the largest room in the house, with an enormous crystal chandelier. In the dining room is the famous wishing table, which could be lowered through the floor to the kitchen below and raised again fully laid, so that the king could dine without seeing a servant. The palace can only be seen on a guided tour of around half an hour. Outside, the formal gardens step up the hillside in terraces and cascades, with a gilded fountain in the pool in front of the palace whose jet rises high into the air at intervals. Beyond them, the landscape park hides Ludwig's follies: the Venus Grotto, an artificial cave with an underground lake and a shell-shaped boat, built as a stage set for Wagner's Tannhaeuser and fitted with early electric lighting, the Moorish Kiosk, the Moroccan House, Hunding's Hut from Wagner's Valkyrie and the Hermitage of Gurnemanz. These park buildings open only in the summer season, roughly from mid-April to mid-October; in winter only the palace itself and the Royal Lodge exhibition can be visited, which makes a winter visit shorter but quieter and often beautiful under snow.

How to plan your visit: Linderhof lies around ninety kilometres south-west of Munich, close to Oberammergau, and it is most easily reached by car or on an organised coach tour. By public transport, take the train to Oberammergau and a regional bus to the palace, which runs infrequently, so check the timetable carefully. Many visitors combine it with Neuschwanstein on a long day tour from Munich, and that is the easiest way to see both, though it leaves limited time at each. If you are driving, Linderhof pairs naturally with Ettal Abbey and the painted houses of Oberammergau, and the Wieskirche, a UNESCO-listed rococo pilgrimage church, is not far away. Tickets are sold at the visitor centre, and the guided tours run continuously; at busy times in summer you may wait for a slot, so arrive early.

When to go: in the summer season, from mid-April to mid-October, the palace and the Venus Grotto open from 9am to 6pm and the gardens are at their best, with the water features running. From 16 October to 14 April the palace opens from 10am to 4.30pm, and the park buildings, including the Venus Grotto, are closed. All buildings close on 1 January, Shrove Tuesday and 24, 25 and 31 December. At the time of writing the Moorish Kiosk is covered in scaffolding for repairs to its facade and roof, with the interior expected to reopen at the start of the 2028 season. The Venus Grotto reopened after a long restoration and is one of the highlights of a summer visit.

Is it worth it if you have seen Neuschwanstein? Yes, and for some visitors Linderhof is the better palace. Neuschwanstein is the more dramatic silhouette, but much of its interior was never finished, while Linderhof is complete, intimate and lived-in, and the setting, in a quiet valley ringed by forested mountains, is lovely. Allow at least two hours in summer to see the palace and walk the park; in winter an hour is enough for the palace tour and the gardens. Combine it with the Residenz and Nymphenburg in Munich to see the full sweep of Wittelsbach taste, from baroque to Ludwig's late, dreamlike rococo revival.