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Spring has definitely sprung here in Bavaria! And with that, I was due for a bit of spring cleaning. Not the spring cleaning of my apartment, per se, but a sort of mental spring cleaning. It’s always been my dream to live in a city and I would not consider myself a nature girly by any means, but even in these couple of weeks living in Munich, I’ve found myself with a thirst to see some nature and escape the city for a little.
However, despite my wish for a relaxing respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, I still could not escape my innate desire to make the most of my time traveling. I am a recently cardholder of the Bavarian Schlossverwältung Annual Pass which gives me free admission to any of Bavaria’s over 40 castles. So I figured it would help me narrow down my hiking destination choices to pick a place I could pair with a nearby castle tour.
After some research, I settled on Chiemsee. Chiemsee is a lake nestled in Alpine foothills and contains two inner islands; Herreninsel and Fraueninsel (which is pretty much German for Mr. Island and Mrs. Island). One of King Ludwig II of Bavaria’s famous palaces calls Herreninsel home while Fraueninsel is home to a cloister of nuns.
It was sure to be a busy day, so I made sure to start early. However, I guess I was not good enough at fulfilling my own request for a relaxing time in nature, so the universe had to slow my plans down for me. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I did miss the first train from Munich to Chiemsee. Luckily these regional trains run every hour, so I had an hour of extra time to kill where I got a coffee and people and pigeon watched in Munich’s central station. Once I got on the right train, it. was a quick hour journey to the tiny waterside town of Chiemsee am Prien.
From the Chiemsee train station I walked to the boat station where I hopped on the local ferry which runs a route from the mainland to each of Chiemsee’s inner islands. The ferry is incredibly convenient and perfect for carrying the crowds of tourist to each of the lake’s inner islands.
The day was perfect, a light breeze off of the water complimented the early warmth, enticing crowds of tourist to enjoy the first taste of spring. The morning fog was just beginning to burn off the lake, revealing the silhouettes of the surrounding Alpine mountains. When I disembarked at Herreninsel, I enjoyed a sandwich in the sun before my palace tour. It was a 20 minute walk from the dock to the castle through a small wooded trail with views of a luscious green field. Flowers were just beginning to bud off to the side of the trail and the only sound was the chirping of birds above. All of a sudden, I turned a corner and the green vegetation gave way to reveal the beautiful castle.
Schloss Herrenchiemsee was built in imitation of the Palace of Versailles in Paris. King Ludwig II had an obsession with King Louis XIV and both Schloss Linderhof and Schloss Herrenchiemsee were inspired by Versailles (he also built Neuschwanstein, aka the Sleeping Beauty castle). When my family visited Linderhof in 2022, I liked it better than Versailles but Herrenchiemsee is more like an exact replica of Versailles. The guided tour through the palace was very informative and the palace itself is incredibly impressive, although photos were unfortunately not allowed. The rooms were decorated with incredible gold and porcelain ornaments which represented the immense wealth of King Louis XIV, but unfortunately not of King Ludwig II as he ran out of funds before the palace was completed.
After the palace tour, I made my way back to the dock, stopping at the Augustinian monastery on the island. The monastery has been on the island for 900 years and was the location of the Old Palace before Herrenchiemsee was built.
I hopped back on the ferry which took me to the nearby Fraueninsel. The abbey is visible on the island from across the waters and since this island is much smaller than Herreninsel, that was my first stop. After exploring what I could of the abbey grounds (nuns still live here so most of it is closed off, although you can stay with the nuns in their hotel here), I found a patch of grass near the water where I laid down and listened to the sound of the water and felt the sun on my skin. While I didn’t get as much time solely in nature as intended, this certainly was relaxing. Before catching the last ferry back to the mainland, I stopped to enjoy some of the marzipan the nuns here are known for.
Once back on dry land, I headed back to the Chiemsee train station bound for Munich. It wasn’t quite the hike I was planning, but there are still plenty of opportunities for those over the summer here in Bavaria. Regardless of how I spent the day, it was still a relaxing time to be with myself and escape the chaos of life in Munich. I think I spent the whole day not speaking one word of English, imagine that!
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