Not impressed by Nymphenburg Palace, Munich

The Nymphenburg Palace is one of the things to do in Munich. A summer court was held there throughout the days of Bavarian Monarchy since it was first built in the late 1600s. Now it’s a museum that’s open to the public.

We arrived on the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus and, with an hour to go before the next departure, set off to look around. The facade and man-made canal made for a great first impression, and we followed some other visitors through the rain to the ticket office.

There were several price brackets depending on how much of the palace complex you’d like to see. We opted for a €6 entrance to the main palace building which included Ludwig I’s collection of portraits of ladies – the so-called Gallery of Beauties; the price dropped to €5 each thanks to our Munich City Card.

Without a ticket you can enter the high-quality gift shop and watch a multimedia presentation on the development of the palace. With a ticket, you can head upstairs.

The first room was jaw-dropping: a baroque confection in stucco and paint. From there, two wings displayed paintings and furnishings from the palace collection. But all in all, I found it quite unsatisfying. There was no stand-out attraction, no point where I thought this was more interesting than dozens of other similar buildings. The curation of pieces was strange with different styles, fonts and elements being used, sometimes side by side – or just not existing at all.

It’s certainly not a child-friendly place inside the palace. We saw dour guards telling under-tens off for walking too loudly, or for ducking through curtains to look out the window (the latter requiring a run across the room!). I’d avoid bringing children into the galleries altogether, and leave one adult with them in the large gardens which are freely available to visit.

In short, the gardens might be nice on a warmer day, and I’d pop into the visitor centre to see the video about the grounds’ development too; but unless you’re interested in specific art inside or have never seen the inside of a central European palace, I’d save your money for another beer.

[box]The Nymphenburg Palace is a short bus ride from central Munich. Entry prices range depending on what areas you enter, but the main galleries are €8 or €5 with the Munich Card.[/box]