Any visit to Würzburg must include several hours devoted to the Residenz, built between 1720 and 1744 and now a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site owned by the Bavarian government. The center entryway is big enough for a stagecoach to turn around and leads to a massive grand staircase.

Half-way up the stairs, eyes are drawn upward and overhead to "The Four Continents" (only Europe, America, Asia and Africa were known at the time), reputedly the world's largest fresco. The brilliantly colored painting fills a vast, unsupported vaulted ceiling, which critics of the time said would surely collapse. Not only did it outlast the critics (and the prince-bishops for that matter), but it was the only part of the Residenz left standing after the 1945 bombing.

Tours show off just a fraction of the more than 300 Baroque and Rococo rooms (many of them are still under restoration). The Weißer Saal, immediately off the staircase, has plain white stucco, all the more to amaze and startle guests when they enter the next chamber, the opulent Kaisersaal. With its marble floors, shimmering chandeliers, gold leaf detail, and detailed frescos, it's almost too much for the eyes to absorb.

Painter and architect toiled together so that stucco, frescoes and architecture blend so seamlessly that it's hard to tell where one stops and the other starts. Behind the Residenz, the terraced Hofgarten features English- and French-styled gardens, carefully manicured and filled with whimsical Rococo sculptures (mostly plaster copies).