Pilgrimage Church of Wies and The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria:
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
80 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 23
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Steingaden it runs 80 km to Steingaden; allow about 1 h 23 of riding. It goes by way of Linderhof Castle, The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: and back through Linderhof Castle. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Romantic Road
18 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it — speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
Length
18 km
Named road
Romantic Road
Pass
Ammersattel
Romantische Strasse
The ride follows Romantische Strasse for 22 km.
Chapter facts
Length
22 km
Named road
Romantische Strasse
Pass
Ammersattel
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pilgrimage Church of Wies
In a meadow at the foot of the Ammergau Alps, surrounded by fields, cows and a few farmhouses, stands one of the most extraordinary churches in Europe. From the outside, the Wieskirche looks fairly plain, a white building with a modest tower. Step inside and you are hit by a wave of light, colour and movement: white and gold stucco, pastel frescoes, columns and galleries that seem to float, and a ceiling painting of Christ's return that opens the roof into heaven. It is the masterpiece of the Bavarian Rococo, built between 1745 and 1754 by Dominikus Zimmermann, with frescoes by his brother Johann Baptist, and it was listed by UNESCO in 1983.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Church of Wies is where the day begins. Next is Linderhof Castle.
2. Linderhof Castle
Of all the palaces King Ludwig II of Bavaria dreamed up, Linderhof is the only one he saw finished, and it is the one he actually lived in for long periods. Hidden in the Graswang valley in the Ammergau Alps, it is a small, extravagant rococo villa inspired by Versailles, with gilded rooms, a hall of mirrors and a dining table that rose from the kitchen below so that the shy king could eat without seeing servants. The park around it is full of follies: a Moorish kiosk, a Moroccan house and, most famous of all, the Venus Grotto, an artificial cave with a lake, a shell-shaped boat and coloured lighting, built so Ludwig could imagine himself in a Wagner opera. Linderhof belongs to the group of Ludwig's palaces recently listed by UNESCO.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Linderhof Castle comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria:.
3. The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria:
Neuschwanstein is the castle that everybody has seen before they arrive, and it is almost impossible to see it freshly. Ludwig II, the king of Bavaria, had it built from 1869 as a private retreat in the style of a medieval knight's castle, with towers, turrets and rooms painted with scenes from the operas of Wagner, whom he adored. It stands on a rocky spur above the Pöllat gorge, with the Alpsee lake and the plain below. Ludwig lived in it only a few months before he was declared unfit to rule and died in mysterious circumstances in Lake Starnberg in June 1886, at the age of forty. The castle was opened to the public within weeks.