First Trip to Chiemsee

A girlfriend of mine had a visitor from home and invited me to visit Chiemsee with them.  After purchasing the Bavaria ticket, which is 20 euros and up to five people can travel on it, we boarded our train to Chiemsee.  An hour and a half later we arrived in Chiemsee and after a 25 minute walk (the Walt Disney looking train is not running today) to the water, we purchased our tickets for the ferry and boarded the boat to the islands. 

Map of Chiemsee

We decided to first visit Frauenchiemsee, which is the smaller of the two major islands on the Chiemsee and houses a Benedictine nunnery (built in 782) as well as a small village. The nuns here are famous for making a liquor called Klosterlikör (cloister liquor) and Marzipan (almond paste).  After a quick walk around, we picked a restaurant over looking the water for lunch and were not disappointed. We enjoyed a couple of Weiss biers and I enjoyed smoked white river fish, which is a popular local dish. It took a little more effort on my part to eat, but was absolutely delicious. 

View of the Frauenchiemsee

After lunch, we caught the ferry to the Herrenchiemsee Island, which is where King Ludwig's unfinished New Palace or Herrenchiemsee Palace is located. This palace was designed and built from 1863 to 1885 and ended up costing Bavaria well over 16 million marks, which equates to over $125,000,000. Unlike the medieval design of Neuschwanstein Castle, the new Palace is a Neo-Baroque monument to Ludwig's admiration of King Louis XIV of France. It was to have been an equivalent to the Palace of Versailles, but only the central portion was built before the king died in 1886, whereafter construction was discontinued leaving 50 of the 70 rooms incomplete. However, like Versaille, the Famous Hall of Mirrors, which is much larger than the original was completed and before his mysteries death Ludwig did spend a few days here in September of 1885.   

The front view of Herrenchiemsee Palace

Since photos are not allowed during the tour, here are some from the official website. Enjoy!

Hall of Mirrors

Central Staircase, officially named "The State Staircase"

The Council Chamber Room

The Porcelain Room - My Favorite

After the tour, we walk through the forest and a short ferry ride we were back on the main island heading for the train station. It was a very pleasant day and I sure I will be bring our visitors here this summer.