Off the beaten track, the undulating plateau of Swiss Franconia (southwest of Bayreuth), is gashed by deep valleys. It forms the northern extremity of the Jura and its porous limestone shelf has resulted in many caves. The Devil's caves (Teufelshöle) are among the largest, adorned with impressive stalactites and stalagmites, in particular the "Cathedral of Barbarossa". The cave's exit, through a labyrinth of massive, chaotically heaped rocks, is picturesque.

After the completion of the Hermitage in Bayreuth, Margravine Wilhelmina and Margrave Friedrich acquired an old hunting estate which they transformed into a rock garden and called it «Sanspareil» (Without equal). At the edge of the grove stood the Oriental building, fitted out in the Bayreuth Rococo style making it an example of Franconian court art. Further architectonic features of this 17ha/42 acre park include caves, grottoes and ruined theatres.

This used to be the Margraves' Bayreuth residence. The old Castle was built in 1715 and converted by Wilhelmina in 1736. She wrote her memoirs in the Chinese Mirror Cabinet. In the grounds, note the grotto, and the artificial ruins of a theatre built in 1743. The New Castle , designed on a semicircular plan, was rebuilt after 1945. In the middle, the Temple of the Sun is decorated with scenes from mythology.