Residenz or Nymphenburg? The case for each palace, and how to do both
This question gets asked so often that one listing in our catalogue is built out of it: a single guided tour sold as Nymphenburg Palace or the Residenz, where you settle it on the day. It is the cheapest guided option at this address and it has been reviewed by people who went to each. When a product exists whose whole proposition is “you decide later”, the question is real.
What follows is the case for this palace, made out of this palace’s own published facts, set beside Nymphenburg’s — both are run by the Bavarian Palace Administration, and the Nymphenburg column is drawn from its published tariff and hours. Check either palace’s figures on its operator’s page on the day; they move.
Two palaces, one administration, fact by fact
Everything in the left column below comes off the Bavarian Palace Administration’s own pages for this address, or off the city’s portal where it says so. The right column comes off the same administration’s published tariff and hours for Nymphenburg.
| The Munich Residenz — in the city centre | Nymphenburg — the same administration’s palace to the west |
|---|---|
| Three separate tickets: Residence Museum, Schatzkammer, Cuvilliés Theatre, plus two combinations | One combination ticket, about twenty euros in summer and less in winter, covering the palace, the Marstallmuseum with the porcelain collection and the four park palaces; singles for each part |
| Museum and Treasury open 9 am to 6 pm from 28 March to 19 October and 10 am to 5 pm from 20 October to 27 March; the theatre keeps its own timetable | Palace and museums open daily 9 am to 6 pm from April to 15 October and 10 am to 4 pm from 16 October to March; the four park palaces close from 16 October |
| A free audio guide in nine languages, covering the museum and the Treasury | An audio guide in several languages for a few euros; no regular guided tours, so the guided listings supply the live guiding |
| Open every day of the year but five | The same five days: 1 January, Shrove Tuesday, 24, 25 and 31 December |
| The Antiquarium, 66 metres, the largest and most lavish Renaissance hall north of the Alps by the operator’s description | The Steinerner Saal, the Gallery of Beauties with 36 Stieler portraits, and the room where Ludwig II was born |
| A treasury of ten rooms and a rococo court theatre where Idomeneo was first performed in 1781 | One of Europe’s great coach collections in the Marstallmuseum, the Nymphenburg porcelain museum, and the Amalienburg out in the park |
| The Hofgarten: free, no gate charge, on no ticket | A 200-hectare park, free to walk, gates open from 6 am every day of the year |
Both columns move with the season, so treat them as the shape of each visit rather than the figure at the desk, and check the day’s prices on the operator’s page or in the booking widget.
The case for this palace, in four facts
It is where you already are. Residenzstraße 1 is in the old town, with two underground interchanges in reach and a tram stop at Nationaltheater. There is no journey to build a morning around, which means the Residenz can be half a day rather than a day (the stops).
It is three different museums. A state-apartment route through interiors made between the 16th and the 19th century in five styles; a treasury of ten rooms with the Bavarian crowns in it; and a court theatre. Those are three quite different kinds of looking, and you can take one, two or all three (the tariff, and the two combinations).
The narration is included. Nine languages, no charge, for the museum and the Treasury. That is the fact that most changes what a visit here costs, and the guided listings at this address add live guiding on top (what is waiting at the door).
You can hear it as well as look at it. Five listings sell music inside this building, in three named halls, and 658 of the 908 written reviews on the eleven Residenz listings in our catalogue sit on those five — nearly three quarters. Whatever else this palace is, it is a working set of concert rooms, and one of them is a rococo theatre (which hall, which calendar).
Where Nymphenburg wins, and how to have both
Three, plainly. It is a city palace, so what you get is interiors and a court garden rather than an estate. It is three tickets and more than one door, which the guided visit handles for you. And on a weekday morning for most of the year one of those three opens at 2 pm, which is the single most common way a day here goes wrong (both timetables).
If the day you want is one where you walk a long way out of doors, that day is Nymphenburg — and the two palaces fit into the same stay: the Residenz on the afternoon you are in the centre, Nymphenburg on the day you want a park. The either-or tour below lets you make that call on the morning.
The listing that refuses to choose for you
One guided tour in our catalogue is sold as Nymphenburg Palace or the Residenz, with the choice made on the day. It is the cheapest guided option here, it carries 4.5 from 36 written reviews, and its reviewers split between the two buildings, which makes it the only listing on this site where you can read about both.
Martin, who took the Residenz version, describes a guide in costume: “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.”
Ursula, who took the Nymphenburg version, wrote a practical note about the other palace: “+ 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.” Four stars. The listing’s inclusions name tickets and entrance fees; confirm what is covered at the meeting point on the Nymphenburg day.
| Munich: Nymphenburg Palace or Residenz Guided Tour | This palace, all three partsMunich: Residenz Palace and Hofgarten Skip-the-Line Tour | Munich: Residenz Palace, Museum and Treasury Private Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | €21 per person | €65 per person | €225 per person |
| Which palace | Either, you choose on the day | The Residenz | The Residenz |
| Rating | 4.5 from 36 reviews | 4.8 from 190 reviews | 4.9 from 16 reviews |
| What its own page includes | A guided tour of the palace you pick | Guided tour of the museum, a licensed official Munich guide, skip-the-line tickets, and tickets to the Treasury and the Cuvilliés Theatre | Skip-the-line tickets to the palace, museum and Treasury, with the theatre on the longer options |
| How long | Flexible duration | 2.5 hours | 2–3 hours |
| Group | Shared | Shared | Your party only |
| Best for | Deciding on the day | One visit that opens all three parts of this address | A small party that would rather not share |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Or the other palaceMunich: Nymphenburg Palace or Residenz Guided Tour
The guided oneMunich: Residenz Palace and Hofgarten Skip-the-Line Tour
Private, all three partsMunich: Residenz Palace, Museum and Treasury Private Tour
Deciding on this side: whether this palace is worth the afternoon, how long it takes, what is on the route, and the choice-of-palace tour, reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
Should I visit the Munich Residenz or Nymphenburg Palace?
Take the Residenz if you have an afternoon in the city centre and want interiors: it is three ticketed parts at one old-town address, with an audio guide in nine languages included and a court garden behind it, open every day but five. Take Nymphenburg if you want a journey out to a palace with a park — one combination ticket, a 200-hectare park that is free to walk, and guided listings that supply the live guiding. Most visitors with two days do both.
How do the two palaces’ tickets compare?
The Residenz is three ticketed parts at about ten, ten and five euros, or about twenty for all three, with the audio guide included. Nymphenburg is one combination ticket at about twenty euros in summer and less in winter, covering the palace, the carriage museum with the porcelain collection and, from April to mid-October, the four park palaces, with an audio guide for a few euros extra and no regular guided tours — which is why its guided listings exist. Both are the same administration’s figures, and both move with the season. The Residenz tariff.
Is there a tour that covers both Munich palaces?
There is one listing sold as Nymphenburg Palace or the Residenz, where you choose which on the day — not both on one ticket. It is the cheapest guided option in our catalogue and carries 4.5 from 36 written reviews, split between the two buildings. What its reviewers say.
What does the Munich Residenz have that other palaces do not?
Three things at one address: a treasury of ten rooms holding the crowns of the Kings and Queens of Bavaria, a rococo court theatre where Mozart’s Idomeneo was first performed in 1781, and the Antiquarium — 66 metres, and by the operator’s own description the largest and most lavish Renaissance hall north of the Alps. The route through them.
Which palace is easier to reach in Munich?
This one is in the old town at Residenzstraße 1, with U-Bahn and S-Bahn at Marienplatz and Odeonsplatz and a tram at Nationaltheater, so it needs no journey out of the centre. Nymphenburg is a tram ride to the western edge of the city, which is a journey to build a half-day around. Getting to this block.