Schloss Nymphenburg Palace and Park Walk

By Vicky · Published Jul. 20th, 2022 · Updated Mar. 23rd, 2023

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The park grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg are a lovely place to walk in the suburbs of Munich. See the main palace, the park pavilions, great views and the museums within the grounds.

Get the route by downloading the .gpx or .kml file below. For navigation with Maps.me on your mobile phone, simply download the .kml file and open to add it to the Maps.me bookmarks.

Location

This walk through the park grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg starts at Schloss Nymphenburg tram stop. Take brown Tram Line 17 to reach here. It’s about 15 minutes from Munich Hauptbahnhof (the Main Train Station). If you’re arriving in Munich via train, the grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg can be reached from Munich-Pasing train station with a pleasant 2.5 km stroll along a wooded stream. Alternatively, you can buy a 1- or 2-day ticket for a hop-on hop-off bus* that stops just outside Nymphenburg palace.

Munich-Pasing train Station to Schloss Nymphenburg

Schloss Nymphenburg Walking Route

From the Tram Stop head along Nymphenburger Canal towards the palace. There are nice views if you cross over the water in the middle. The hop-on hop-off buses of Munich* stop right here. Continue to the schloss and head up the grand stairs on the outside for more views. Head down and around the other side of the building to enter the palace.

Visiting Schloss Nymphenburg Palace

Once you’ve chosen your ticket type, you’ll also have to decide whether to rent an audio guide. We rented one and I think it was worth it, but there are also signs in each room explaining some of the history and decorations. The audio guide went into quite some detail, but didn’t really explain simply the history of the schloss, and assumed some previous knowledge of important families such as the Wittelsbachs. The audio guide tour latest almost an hour, though if you listen to the extra bits it takes 90 minutes.

A brief history of Schloss Nymphenburg

The Palace was commissioned in 1664 by Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria (Elector was a title given to a handful of important male nobles who elected the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire). Over the next several decades his descendants extended the palace and used it as their summer residence.

Inside the Palace

In Schloss Nymphenburg Park Grounds

After visiting the inside of the palace, head out into the gardens to visit the four park pavilions. Stroll through the formal gardens and head slightly right to cross over a moat into the informal section of the gardens. If you’re hungry or thirsty, before crossing the bridge head right to visit the delightful Schlosscafé im Palmenhaus (Website, Tripadvisor Reviews*).

After crossing the bridge, head left a short distance to some trees and turn around for a great view back to the palace. Then return to the bridge and continue onwards and right to the first of the park pavilions.

Magdalenenklause

At first sight this church looks like an old ruin, but it was actually designed to look ruined in the first place so has always been this way. The idea was to give it a romantic feel. The inside is meant to look like a grotto. There’s a chapel inside with its walls covered by seashells and in contrast some fairly plain rooms.

After the church, head onwards towards the Pagodenburger See (Pagoda Lake).

Pagodenburg Pavilion

This small, round pavilion has two very differently-styled floors. The ground floor is covered by blue and white Dutch tiles, while above the two small rooms are designed in a Chinese style.

Continue walking onwards to the far end of the gardens by the canal and fountain, with a view back down to the palace. Cross to the other side and head onwards towards a bridge over a stream. Keep to the edge of the water, and you’ll see the little islands in the lake. They look natural, but the entire gardens are actually manmade. Further around the lake you’ll have views across to a small Apollo Temple and then soon reach the Badenburg Pavillion.

Badenburg

The most surprising thing about this pleasure pavilion is the extremely large bathtub. It’s actually more of a swimming pool, but apparently the bathers would walk about in it rather than swim. Note the very large gold taps on one side. I can’t imagine how long it took to fill up.

Continue on the right-hand side of a small canal back towards the castle. Turn a corner to the left and you’ll see an obvious pink building.

Amalienburg

This large pavilion was a hunting lodge and has some very ornate rooms inside. It also has an interesting kitchen area covered with Dutch tiles.

Head out of the park now to the main courtyard in front of the palace. On the right are the museums, one above the other.

Marstallmuseum & Nymphenburg Porcelain Museum

The Marstallmuseum is housed in the former riding stables and contains many fantastically decorated carriages and sleighs. The Nymphenburg Porcelain Museum is less interesting unless you’re into porcelain, but there are some nice views from the windows.

This brings us to the end of the Schloss Nymphenburg Walk. Head out of the museums and right to reach either the bus stop or a little further and right on the main street to Schloss Nymphenburg Tram Stop for the 15-minute ride back into town.

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If you enjoyed this walk, why not explore grand Augsburg, check out historic Nuremberg, or discover other walks in Germany.

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