Linderhof Palace, Bavaria, Germany

Linderhof is the smallest of the three fairy-tale palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and the only one finished in his lifetime — the retreat where the reclusive “fairy-tale king” actually chose to live. Tucked into a wooded Alpine valley near Ettal and Oberammergau, it was built between 1872 and 1878 as a lavish royal villa in a highly ornate Neo-Rococo style, inspired by Ludwig’s idol Louis XIV of France and by his dreams of a vanished age of absolute monarchy. Small enough to feel like a private world, its gilded rooms open onto elaborate formal gardens and a park scattered with some of the most extraordinary garden buildings in Germany, from an artificial dripstone grotto to an exotic Moorish pavilion.

What to See

The palace interior, seen on a short guided tour, is a riot of gold, mirrors and carving: the glittering Hall of Mirrors, the royal bedchamber, and the famous dining room with its “little table, lay yourself” — a table that could be lowered through the floor and raised again fully laid, so the solitary king need never see a servant. Even more theatrical are the park’s set-pieces. The Venus Grotto is a vast artificial cave built for Ludwig alone, complete with an underground lake, a golden shell boat and coloured electric lighting, inspired by a scene from Wagner’s Tannhäuser and among the technical marvels of its day. Nearby stands the gilded Moorish Kiosk with its peacock throne, bought from the Paris World’s Fair, along with a Moroccan house and rustic huts drawn from Wagner’s operas. Around the palace itself, terraced Baroque gardens step down to fountains — the great gilded jet before the palace shoots high into the air — while beyond them stretches a romantic English landscape park.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Linderhof lies in the Graswang valley near Ettal, in the Bavarian Alps south of Oberammergau and roughly 100 kilometres south-west of Munich. There is no railway station nearby: most visitors come by car, or by a combination of train to Oberammergau (or Garmisch-Partenkirchen) and then a regional bus to the palace, so it pays to check bus times in advance. Admission to the park is free, while the palace is visited on a timed guided tour and is ticketed, with a combined ticket also covering the Venus Grotto; the palace is open daily year-round, though some of the park buildings, including the grotto, close over winter and have at times been shut for major restoration. Allow a couple of hours to combine the palace with a walk through the gardens and out to the grotto and kiosk, and note that the uphill paths in the park can be steep.