Munich Residenz

For more than four hundred years, from the late fourteenth century until the end of the monarchy in 1918, the Residenz was the seat of Bavaria's rulers, the Wittelsbach dukes, electors and kings, and each generation added wings, courtyards and state rooms in the taste of its age. The result is a vast complex of ten courtyards and well over a hundred rooms open to visitors, in styles running from Renaissance to Rococo and Neoclassicism, and it is the largest city palace in Germany. Heavily damaged in the Second World War, it was painstakingly rebuilt, and much of the movable furniture and art had been evacuated, so the interiors are rich with original pieces. The visit falls into three parts, each with its own ticket or all together on a combined one. The Residence Museum is the long sequence of state rooms and apartments, beginning with the Antiquarium, a sixty-metre Renaissance hall completed in 1571 to house the dukes' collection of antique sculpture, often called the first museum north of the Alps, and continuing through the Ancestral Gallery, with its portraits of the Wittelsbachs, the Rococo Rich Rooms, the court chapels and the porcelain and silver collections. The Treasury, in a separate set of rooms, holds the crown jewels of the Bavarian kings and centuries of goldsmiths' work, crystal, enamel and reliquaries. And the Cuvillies Theatre, a red-and-gold Rococo court theatre completed in 1753, where Mozart's Idomeneo had its premiere in 1781, is still used for concerts and opera. In 2026 the Residence Museum and the Treasury cost ten euros each, fifteen together, and the combined ticket with the theatre twenty, with reduced prices for concessions and free entry for under-18s at Bavarian state palaces. From 16 October to the end of March the palace opens daily from 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm.

How to plan your visit: the Residence Museum alone is a long walk, and seeing every room takes two hours or more, so pace yourself. If time is short, choose the Residence Museum and the Treasury, which together give the best sense of the palace's scale and the dynasty's wealth, and add the Cuvillies Theatre if you have the energy; it is a short visit but one of the loveliest interiors in Germany. The audio guide helps make sense of the sequence of rooms, and the palace has a cafe for a break. Because some rooms close in rotation for staffing or restoration, the route can change from day to day, which is normal for a building of this size. The palace is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December, 1 January and Shrove Tuesday.

Tours and concerts: if you prefer a guide, a skip-the-line guided tour in English takes you through the highlights in about two and a half hours, and there are packages combining the museum with a short evening serenade concert in one of the palace halls. Classical concerts are also held in the Max-Joseph Hall, the Hercules Hall and the Cuvillies Theatre itself, which is a memorable way to see the rooms used as intended. The National Theatre, home of the Bavarian State Opera, is part of the same square, Max-Joseph-Platz, so an opera night pairs naturally with a palace day.

Around the palace: the Hofgarten, the Renaissance court garden on the north side of the Residenz, is free and lovely in every season, with its central Diana Temple, where musicians often play under the dome, and its long arcades. From there the Odeonsplatz, the yellow Theatine Church and the Feldherrnhalle are a few steps away, and the English Garden begins just beyond. Marienplatz is about five minutes south. On a rainy day the Residenz is the best indoor sight in the old town, and on a sunny one, the Hofgarten makes the perfect pause between the palace and the park.