The either-or tour reviewed: 4.5 from 36, nine written reviews, and most of them do not say which palace they saw
The problem with this page, stated up front
Nine people wrote something. One of them names Nymphenburg. None of them names the Residenz. The other eight describe a palace tour, a guide, a costume and a good time, and there is no way to tell from the words which of the two buildings they were standing in.
That is not a flaw in the reviews. It is what happens when a listing sells a choice: the score, the 36 ratings and the nine sentences are all split between two different buildings on two different sides of the city, and nobody records the split. So a 4.5 here tells you the guiding is good. It does not tell you the guiding is good at the Residenz, and this page is not going to pretend it does.
All nine written reviews
“+ The tour with a palace employee was fun, and we learned a lot about all the people who lived at Nymphenburg. - In addition to the ticket for the guided tour, you also need an admission ticket for the palace. We only found this out a few minutes before the tour was scheduled to start.”
“The tour itself was good, informative, and entertaining. The description of the meeting point should be more specific. Residenzstrasse 1 isn't enough for the size of the residence. "Ticket counter" is too general and hard to find.”
“Schlossführung mit viel Wissen, Herz und es macht einfach Spaß zu zu hören. Vielen Dank für die aussergewöhnliche Schlossführung!”
“The chambermaid was simply a dream. She was super nice and authentically dressed and showed us around the Munich Residence. We and the children were very impressed and had a lot of fun and were able to learn a few things too 😀 we would be happy to do it again any time.”
“We had a really great maid. Our guide was extremely friendly and competent. We had a lot of fun. We would gladly come back anytime! Thank you!”
“The tour was extremely entertaining, amusing, and informative. Katharina (?) took us on a journey into the past right from the start.”
“The guided tour was exciting, the tour guide was great, it was never boring, and it was very informative.”
“Great interaction with participants, very entertaining and enjoyable, and the knowledge sticks!”
“If you think a guided tour of the castle is long-winded and boring, then this one is the complete opposite. A guided tour with passion, humor and interesting historical content. Absolutely to recommend.”
Ursula dropped a star for a ticket, and hers is the review to read twice
She lays it out in her own plus-and-minus format. The tour was fun. And: in addition to the ticket for the guided tour, you also need an admission ticket for the palace, which she found out a few minutes before the start.
Her tour was at Nymphenburg, which she says herself, so what she describes is that palace’s arrangement rather than this one’s. But it is the single clearest warning in the whole review file about a distinction most people never think to make: a guided-tour ticket and an admission ticket are not automatically the same thing. Before you book any listing at either palace, read its inclusions for the word admission rather than assuming it. What each of the sixteen listings here says about its own tickets, in its own wording, is on the full list, and the palace’s own tariff for this building is on tickets.
Hans-joerg is describing this building, and he is right about it
His four-star review says the meeting point description should be more specific, that Residenzstraße 1 is not enough for the size of the residence, and that “ticket counter” is too general and hard to find. That is a review of the Residenz side of this listing and it is accurate. The address is a single number on a street front that runs the length of a city block, with more than one entrance behind it, and it identifies the complex rather than a door.
Both four-star reviews on this listing are about logistics. Neither is about the guiding, which every one of the nine praises. That is a useful split: the product is good and the instructions are not (the doors of this block, how to reach the address).
The costumed guide, and why three reviewers mention a maid
Martin describes a chambermaid in period dress who showed them round the Munich Residence and delighted the children. Sylvia describes a maid too. Heike names a Katharina, with a question mark of her own. Whatever these tours are on a given day, at least some of them are led in character, and reviewers with children are the happiest of the nine about it. Nothing on the listing prepared them for it, and none of them minded.
What works
- The cheapest guided listing at this address, at about a third of what the flagship guided visit charges a head
- Nine written reviews out of 36 ratings, which is a high proportion of people bothering to write
- Every single one of the nine praises the guiding, including the two that dropped a star
- Costumed, in-character guiding is described by three reviewers, and families rate it highly
- Two languages of review text, German and English, which suggests it runs in both
Worth knowing
- The listing covers two different palaces, so the 4.5 and the 36 ratings are split between them and nobody records how
- Only one of the nine reviewers names a palace at all, and the one she names is the other one
- One reviewer discovered minutes beforehand that a separate admission ticket was needed on top
- Another says the meeting point instructions are too vague for a building of this size
- 4.5 is the lowest score of the six listings here that walk you round a palace with a guide
If you are trying to choose between the two palaces
This listing will not choose for you, and neither will its reviews. The case for this building, argued from this building’s own facts, is on Residenz or Nymphenburg, including the part where this palace loses the argument. If you already know you want the Residenz and you want the whole of it, the flagship guided visit covers all three ticketed parts and is reviewed here.
The guided oneMunich: Residenz Palace and Hofgarten Skip-the-Line Tour
One reviewMunich Residence Tour: Historical Highlights & Storytelling
Private, all three partsMunich: Residenz Palace, Museum and Treasury Private Tour
Frequently asked questions
Does this tour go to the Residenz or to Nymphenburg?
Whichever you choose on the day — that is what the listing sells. It is also why its reviews are hard to use: of the nine written ones, only a single reviewer names a palace, and she names Nymphenburg. The 4.5 and the 36 ratings behind it are split between two buildings with no record of the split.
Is admission included in the either-or palace tour?
Read the inclusions before you book. One four-star reviewer records finding out a few minutes before her start time that she needed a separate admission ticket on top of her guided-tour ticket, on the Nymphenburg side. What every listing on this site says about its own tickets is set out on the full list.
Where does the tour meet at the Residenz?
A four-star reviewer’s complaint answers this better than the listing does: Residenzstraße 1 is not enough for a building this size, and “ticket counter” is too general to find. The address names the whole complex, which has more than one entrance. See which door is which before you go.
Why is this tour so much cheaper than the others?
It is the cheapest guided listing in this catalogue and it is also the shortest-described: its page does not state a duration. What its reviewers consistently praise is the guiding rather than the coverage, and two of the nine dropped a star over logistics rather than content.