Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Palaces
Dachau
Dachau Palace sits on a ridge above the old town of Dachau, just northwest of Munich, and was once a summer residence of the Wittelsbach dukes of Bavaria. Only one of its four wings survives, but it holds a magnificent banquet hall with on…
Palaces
Coburg
Ehrenburg Palace (Schloss Ehrenburg) in Coburg was the town residence of the dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and is dressed in a rare English-style Gothic Revival facade designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Inside you will find Baroque stuc…
Castles
Schwangau
Hohenschwangau Castle in Schwangau, near Füssen in southern Bavaria, is the yellow castle facing Neuschwanstein across the valley and the place where King Ludwig II spent his childhood. Smaller and more lived-in than its famous neighbor, i…
Palaces
Aschaffenburg
Johannisburg Palace (Schloss Johannisburg) in Aschaffenburg is one of the most important Renaissance palaces in Germany and the defining landmark of this Bavarian town on the Main River. Built of red sandstone with four towering corner tur…
Palaces
Memmelsdorf
Schloss Seehof in Memmelsdorf, just outside Bamberg in northern Bavaria, is the baroque summer palace of the former prince-bishops of Bamberg. The yellow four-winged palace with its distinctive onion-domed corner towers stands in a large f…
Palaces
Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim Palace (Schloss Veitshöchheim) is the former summer retreat of the prince-bishops of Würzburg, set in one of Europe's finest surviving Rococo gardens. Located about 5 miles (8 km) down the Main River from Würzburg in northern…
Palaces
Pommersfelden
Schloss Weissenstein in Pommersfelden is a showpiece of Franconian Baroque and is still owned by the Counts of Schönborn. Built as a country residence for a prince-bishop, it has a spectacular staircase hall, a marble hall and a picture ga…
Palaces
Oberschleißheim
Schleißheim Palace in Oberschleißheim, just north of Munich, is a complex of three Baroque palaces set in a vast French-style garden. The New Palace, with a facade more than 300 meters long, is the centerpiece, flanked by the Old Palace an…
Other
Ahorntal
The Sophienhöhle (Sophie Cave) near Ahorntal is one of the most beautiful show caves in Franconian Switzerland, a limestone landscape in northern Bavaria between Nuremberg and Bayreuth. It sits on the slope of the Ailsbach valley next to B…
Churches & monasteries
Nürnberg
St. Lorenz in Nuremberg (St. Lawrence's Church) is the great Gothic church of the southern Old Town and one of the finest medieval churches in southern Germany. Its twin towers and huge rose window dominate the pedestrian zone, and inside…
Churches & monasteries
Waldsassen
The Waldsassen Basilica (Stiftsbasilika Waldsassen) is a lavish Baroque church in the small town of Waldsassen in northeastern Bavaria, just a few miles from the Czech border. Built for a powerful Cistercian monastery, it surprises visitor…
Caves
Pottenstein
The Devil's Cave (Teufelshöhle) near Pottenstein is the largest of roughly 1,000 caves in Franconian Switzerland, a craggy hill region in northern Bavaria about an hour's drive from Nuremberg. A guided tour leads through lofty halls filled…
Churches & monasteries
München
The Theatinerkirche, or Theatine Church of St. Cajetan, on Odeonsplatz in Munich is Bavaria's first Baroque church and one of the best-known landmarks of the old town. Its yellow facade, huge dome and twin towers define the city skyline. A…
Theme parks
Erding
Therme Erding, just northeast of Munich, is widely described as the largest thermal spa in the world – a vast indoor and outdoor complex of thermal pools, a wave pool, water slides and saunas. Only about 9 miles (14 km) from Munich Airport…
Castles
Coburg
Veste Coburg is a vast medieval fortress perched about 160 meters above the town of Coburg in northern Bavaria, close to the border with Thuringia. Often called the "Crown of Franconia," it is one of the largest and best-preserved castle c…
Industrial heritage
Kochel am See
The Walchensee Hydroelectric Power Station in Kochel am See is one of Germany's great industrial landmarks and still produces electricity a century after it opened. Six enormous steel pipes carry water from Lake Walchensee down roughly 200…
Monuments
Donaustauf
The Walhalla near Donaustauf, just east of Regensburg, is a hall of fame built in the form of a Greek temple, high above the Danube River. King Ludwig I of Bavaria created it to honor great figures of the German-speaking world, and today m…
Castles
Eichstätt
Willibaldsburg Castle towers over the town of Eichstätt and the Altmühl Valley in Upper Bavaria, roughly halfway between Munich and Nuremberg. For centuries it was the seat of the prince-bishops of Eichstätt. Today it houses the Jura Museu…
Churches & monasteries
Würzburg
Würzburg Cathedral (Dom St. Kilian) in Würzburg, Bavaria, is one of the largest Romanesque churches in Germany and the seat of the city's bishops. Behind its four austere towers lies a surprising interior that blends white Baroque stucco w…