Practical
Munich Practical: Opening Hours, Closing Days and a Date Calculator
Five operators, three different switch-over dates for the winter timetable, and a calculator that tells you what is open on your date.
Prices and opening times last checked
This page pulls together what is scattered across the individual pages of this guide: when places are closed, when the winter hours start, what costs nothing and where a fixed entry time is printed on the ticket. Laid side by side, one thing stands out that nobody notices page by page.
Five operators, 3 different switch-over dates for the winter timetable. Plan a weekend in mid-October and you are planning against two calendars at once.
One date
What is open on a particular day?
Whether a house is open on a given date is not stated anywhere by its operator. It follows from four rules that belong to different bodies: the season boundary, the weekly closing day and its exceptions, the fixed closing dates, and whether the place opens at all in the winter season. Worked out for one date, it looks like this: 23 sights, 3 combined tickets.
23 sights
| Sight | Place | Admission | In winter | Closing day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augustiner-ChorherrenstiftApr–24. Oct 9:00–18:00, last admission 17:00 | Chiemsee | 6 € · reduced 5 € | shorter hours | – |
| Führung im Inseldomguided tours only | Chiemsee | 6 € · reduced 5 € | shorter hours | – |
| König-Ludwig-II.-MuseumApr–24. Oct 9:00–18:00, last admission 17:00 | Chiemsee | 6 € · reduced 5 € | shorter hours | – |
| Neues Schloss HerrenchiemseeApr–24. Oct 9:00–18:00, last tour approx. 17:00 | Chiemsee | combined ticket only | shorter hours | – |
| KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachaudaily 9:00–17:00 | Dachau | free | unchanged | – |
| Schloss Dachau9 to 18 (April to September) | Dachau | 3 € · reduced 2 € | shorter hours | Monday |
| Marienbrückefreely accessible | Königsschlösser | free | closed in ice and snow | – |
| Museum der bayerischen Königeadmission 9:00–16:30 | Königsschlösser | 14.50 € · reduced 13.50 € | unchanged | – |
| Schloss Hohenschwangau9:00–16:30 | Königsschlösser | 23.50 € · reduced 19.50 € | shorter hours | – |
| Schloss Neuschwanstein9:00–18:00 | Königsschlösser | 21 € · reduced 20 € | shorter hours | – |
| Schlosshof und Schlossgarten Hohenschwangaufreely accessible | Königsschlösser | free | unchanged | – |
| Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburgoutdoor grounds 9:00–18:00, glasshouses 9:00–17:30 (29.03.–24.10.) | Nymphenburg | 5.50 € · reduced 4 € | shorter hours | – |
| Marstallmuseum mit Museum „Nymphenburger Porzellan“daily 9:00–18:00 | Nymphenburg | 8 € · reduced 7 € | shorter hours | – |
| Museum Mensch und NaturTue–Fri 9:00–17:00, Sat/Sun/holidays 10:00–18:00 | Nymphenburg | 3.50 € · reduced 2.50 € · on Sundays 1 € | unchanged | Monday |
| Parkburgen: Amalienburg, Badenburg, Pagodenburg, Magdalenenklausedaily 9:00–18:00 | Nymphenburg | 6 € · reduced 5 € | closed | – |
| Schloss Nymphenburgdaily 9:00–18:00 | Nymphenburg | 10 € · reduced 9 € | shorter hours | – |
| Schlosspark Nymphenburgmain gate May–Sep 6:00–21:30, Apr + Oct 6:00–20:00 | Nymphenburg | free | shorter hours | – |
| Sckell-Ausstellung im Geranienhausdaily 9:00–18:00 (April to mid-October) | Nymphenburg | free | closed | – |
| Altes Schloss SchleißheimApr–Sep 9:00–18:00 | Schleißheim | 4 € · reduced 3 € | shorter hours | Monday |
| Flugwerft Schleißheimdaily 9:00–17:00 | Schleißheim | separate ticket | unchanged | – |
| Neues Schloss SchleißheimApr–Sep 9:00–18:00 | Schleißheim | 7 € · reduced 6 € | shorter hours | Monday |
| Schloss LustheimApr–Sep 9:00–18:00 | Schleißheim | 5 € · reduced 4 € | shorter hours | Monday |
| Schöner Stall und RenatuskapelleApr–Sep 9:00–18:00 | Schleißheim | free | closed | Monday |
Two cases come up again and again. Shrove Tuesday is a closing day for the palace administration, and it falls on a different date every year. And on Mondays the choice is smaller but not small: the four big palaces have no closing day at all.
Season
The season boundaries do not fall on the same day
Almost every house in Upper Bavaria switches to shorter winter hours in autumn. They just do not do it together: there are 3 different switch-over dates: 1 October, 16 October and 25 October. Plan a trip across a weekend in mid-October and you are working with two different timetables at once.
| Operator | Summer hours | Winter starts | Winter ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palace Administration, SchleißheimOld and New Palace, Lustheim Palace | until 30 September | from 1 October | until 31 March |
| Palace Administration, NymphenburgPalace, Marstallmuseum, park pavilions, Geranienhaus | until 15 October | from 16 October | until 31 March |
| Palace Administration, NeuschwansteinNeuschwanstein Castle, Ticket Center Hohenschwangau | until 15 October | from 16 October | until 27 March |
| Palace Administration, HerrenchiemseeNew Palace, museums on the Herreninsel | until 24 October | from 25 October | until 31 March |
| Botanical Garden Munich-Nymphenburgoutdoor grounds and glasshouses | until 24 October | from 25 October | until 27 March |
The difference is not half an hour. At the palaces it is two full hours of opening time per day. On 20 October Nymphenburg is already on winter hours while Herrenchiemsee is not, and Schleissheim has been for three weeks. There is no single date in Bavaria for „the low season starts here“.
Closing days: Monday is the most commonly wasted journey
3 of the 9 houses in this guide have a weekly closing day, and it is always Monday. The big palaces do not have one: Nymphenburg, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Herrenchiemsee are open daily all year. So if you are travelling on a Monday, go to the big palaces and not to Schleissheim.
That gives a simple weekday rule. On Mondays Nymphenburg Palace, the royal castles and Herrenchiemsee are worth it, as is the Dachau memorial. Schleissheim and Dachau Palace belong on another day. The beer gardens are unaffected by all of it; they follow the weather, not the calendar.
Public holidays and fixed closing days
Every site of the Bavarian Palace Administration (Nymphenburg, Schleissheim, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Herrenchiemsee and Dachau) is closed on 1 January, Shrove Tuesday, and 24, 25 and 31 December. Shrove Tuesday is the one almost nobody has on their list, and it moves every year.
Three houses differ: the Dachau memorial is open every day except 24 December; the Museum Mensch und Natur and the Museum of the Bavarian Kings close on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January but not on Shrove Tuesday; the Botanical Garden closes only on 24 and 31 December.
What closes for the whole winter
Beyond the shorter hours, some things disappear entirely: the four park pavilions in Nymphenburg, the Sckell exhibition in the Geranienhaus, the historic pumping stations in the park, the Marienbrücke near Neuschwanstein whenever there is ice or snow, and the carriage service to Hohenschwangau.
The reverse is true as well, though: parks, gardens and courtyards are open all year and nearly empty in winter. A winter day in the Nymphenburg park is not a worse day, it is a different one.
What costs nothing
A surprising amount, once you list it: the Nymphenburg palace park all year, the Schleissheim court garden, the outdoor grounds of the Botanical Garden in the winter season, the courtyard and garden of Hohenschwangau, the Marienbrücke, the court garden of Dachau Palace, the Dachau memorial, and the Sckell exhibition in summer. Children and young people under 18 pay nothing at every site of the palace administration, the Museum Mensch und Natur and the Botanical Garden.
Where a fixed entry time is printed on the ticket
Most houses you simply walk into. Four you do not: Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle can only be entered at a booked time, Nymphenburg Palace only with a timed-entry ticket, and the New Palace on the Herreninsel only on a guided tour at a fixed time. For those four, being late means the tour goes ahead without you.
At the palace administration the last admission is generally 30 minutes before the stated closing time. In the winter season, when houses close at 16:00, that means 15:30, earlier than most people plan for. With a two-hour journey to the royal castles, a late morning start can already be too late.
Common questions
Common questions
When do the winter opening hours start in Bavaria?
It depends on the house. There are 3 different dates: 1 October, 16 October and 25 October. Nymphenburg and Neuschwanstein switch on 16 October, Herrenchiemsee and the Botanical Garden on 25 October, Schleissheim as early as 1 October.
Which palaces are open on Mondays?
Nymphenburg, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Herrenchiemsee; none of them has a closing day. Closed on Mondays are the palaces at Schleissheim, Dachau Palace and the Museum Mensch und Natur.
On which holidays is everything closed?
At the palace administration on 1 January, Shrove Tuesday, and 24, 25 and 31 December. The Dachau memorial is open on all days except 24 December, and the Botanical Garden closes only on 24 and 31 December.
What needs a timed ticket?
Neuschwanstein Castle, Hohenschwangau Castle, Nymphenburg Palace and the New Palace on the Herreninsel. Everything else in this guide can be entered without a booked time.
All figures come from the operators themselves and are sourced individually on the topic pages. As of August 2026; times and prices change.