Herrenchiemsee

Also known as Neues Schloss Herrenchiemsee

Ludwig II built a replica of Versailles on an island in Bavaria's largest lake, made the Hall of Mirrors longer than the original, and then spent exactly 10 days there before dying under mysterious circumstances in 1886. The palace was never finished; the north wing exists only as a roofed shell.

Herrenchiemsee on the Herreninsel island in Bavaria’s largest lake is Ludwig II’s unfinished replica of Versailles, built from 1878 with a Hall of Mirrors 30 meters longer than the original. Ludwig spent exactly 10 days in the completed south wing before his death in 1886; the north wing remains an unfinished shell. Palace tours run daily (EUR 10 plus ferry); the ferry from Prien am Chiemsee takes 15 minutes. From Munich by train to Prien (1 hour) then ferry; from Salzburg by car to Prien (45 minutes) then ferry. The Ludwig II Museum inside the palace holds period documentation and personal objects. Combine with the Fraueninsel Benedictine convent on the same ferry route.