Herrenchiemsee Castle

Rick Steves fails to mention hundreds of really excellent destinations in Germany - Herrenchiemsee is one of them - but ask him why he omits them all - I have no idea.

It's a gorgeous palace in a unique island setting with extraordinary scenery.

Herrenchiemsee
Unlike Neuschwanstein, manageable crowds and an enjoyable experience. What's not to like? Beats me. What is it you want to know? Take the train to Prien (which has lockers) and get a ticket for the shuttle train + boat to the island.

Near Prien also are Aschau and the gondola lift to the Kampenwand peaks; RS is mute again:
LIFT
Kampenwand

RS makes editorial choices based on... well, who knows except the man himself and his staff.

But if you've already been there and enjoyed it... who cares what RS thinks about Herrenchiemsee?

"RS makes a point of not mentioning it."

No, he simply doesn't include it. He does indeed make a point of "dissing" Heidelberg, but for destinations he omits, there could be many reasons, including but not limited to:

1) He's not aware of it. Particularly since he has a lot of books on a lot of places now, he spends a lot of time keeping them updated, making videos about them, etc, and doesn't get a lot of time to go to new ones.

2) He doesn't think it's worthwhile.

3) He feels other places are a better use of limited vacation time (not the same as not liking a place).

4) He feels it's not of particular interest to Americans on a first trip (his target audience).

5) It doesn't "flow" with the rest of his recommended itinerary.

6) He has no space to include it in his book (Laura of his staff, who posts on this board, said that was an issue for the Italy book; the publisher has specifically forbade him from adding any more pages, which means no more destinations, no matter how much he wants to include them).

Any of these (and others) could account for why he doesn't mention Herrenchiemsee Castle. For all we know, he loves it (he often talks about how his favorite place to visit is India, but since his business is Europe, he doesn't have an India travel guide). On the other hand, his Germany guide omits huge swaths of the country, so it's more likely it's just not on his radar.

I've been to Heidelberg (1 x), Rothenburg (2 x), Neuschwanstein (3 x), and Herrenchiemsee (1 x). If I were to take a friend back to Germany I would include Rothenburg and Neuschwanstein, but not Heidelberg or Herrenchiemsee.

I expected Heidelberg to look like a castle; it's only a palace, and not a very impressive one at that. Rothenburg is authentic, built in the 13th century by people who wanted to stay alive. It's fortifications are impressive. Walk the wall. Neuschwanstein might not be a real castle, but neither are the Reichsburg, Stahleck, Schönburg, or Hohenzollernburg. Neuschwanstein was built in the style of castles, with defensive walls and a Keep. Herrenchiemsee is only a duplicate of part of Versailles, nothing impressive inside and not easy to get to.

I concur with Rick.

But I don't always agree with Rick. I love Berchtesgaden, which he pans, and I found Reutte to be a big disappointment, shabby and run down. Pfronten, just up the rail line in Germany, is a much nicer town. He never mentions Oberstdorf and the Kleinwalsertal, which in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful places in German (well, it's actually in Austria, but you can only get to it from Germany).

Rick does a lot of good stuff but he does not cover everything. The places he covers he covers well but there is only so much he can put in one book so there are lots of gaps. I have been to Herrenchiensee and Linderhof and liked them both very much. Neuschwanstein is the one that all of my German relatives dismiss as "theater". I have not been able to fit it but I think one of the greatest experiences one could have is to be at Herrenchiemsee during the concert season and hear Mozart played in the hall of mirrors by the light of 10,000 candles. By all means go again.

Another big RS gap is in France. If you are ever traveling by car in the Dordogne near Beynac don't miss the Chateau de Milandes, the tour is something you won't forget. It's also has a nice outdoor restaurant that serves a nice meal at a reasonable price.

Rothenburg is as authentic a German village as you could expect after being soundly wrecked by allied bombs. It once was a wealthy and important textile town where German was the primary language, but English and Japanese are heavy contenders for that title now; it's less a real city and more an amusement park gussied up to attract and sell stuff to the 2.5 million tourists that sweep through its streets every year.

Rothenburg, 1945
R'burg street food, in English too
street scene
more visitors

For the record, since I've been called a "Rothenburg" hater... I don't hate the town, and I think it is very attractive. But...

1) It simply isn't as unique as the tourist literature claims. There's well-preserved towns like Rothenburg all over Germany. Maybe fewer with a nearly complete defensive wall, though. If you've traveled more than an hour out of your way to see it, you've probably passsed at least two viable alternatives.

2) Don't give me "But... Tilman Riemenschneider!" Many old German churches are filled with amazing art. Be honest, if RS never mentioned Riemenschneider, would you have ever heard of him? Most of us, probably not.

3). It exists, as Russ mentioned, in it's present form chiefly to attract tourists and sell them trinkets. Anyone wishing to learn how modern Germany coexists with it's early modern and medieval past... go to Heppenheim, Büdingen, Idstein, Nördlingen, Fritzlar, Michelstadt, Bad Wimpfen, Quedlinburg, Wetzlar, Marburg, etc. Rothenburg will show you how Germany's past can be prettied up for tourists' consumption. Which is just fine, if that's what you want. Just don't fool yourself into thinking it's anything else.

I will submit that few towns offer a Nightwatchman's Tour (some do, though).

Just to comment on the Rothenburg photo's. We visited in mid October a few years back and our experience looked nothing like these photos. There were some people during the day, not crowds, and after about 5pm we felt pretty much alone. Even the Nightwatchman Tour, which we loved, had less than 20 people. After the tour ended at 9pm the streets were completely empty.

Paul