Germany - April 2001 - Castle (Schloss) Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau

Photo - Mercedes at Neuschwanstein in the morning

After I reached the twin castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, I was content just to check into any available B&B and rest the night. I had driven all the way from Konstantz to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, traveled the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, and hit as many back roads as I could throughout the region.

The rain had subsided now but the cold front still felt like it was ever present. I was rewarded in the morning by a serious coating of snow on my car when I came down. The whole town was blanketed in 2-3 inches of snow which completed a very picturesque setting. The ticket office for the castles was modern and large. The parking lot was organized for large buses and the velvet ropes were out.

I knew that if I didn't get a ticket and get into the castles soon that even out-of-season I would be stuck here all day.


Photo - center of town

In the center you can see the horse carriages popular with tourists.

The basic drill was that each castle tour had a specific time and you had to be at each castle entrance by your allotted start time or else your ticket and entrance was forfeit They said to allow 1 hour to climb up to Neuschwanstein and 30 minutes to Hohenschwangau. Neuschwanstein  is the grander of the two and was commissioned by the eccentric Bavarian king Ludwig (the number I don't know) while Hohenschwangau was the family residence and a hunting retreat for the royal family from Munich.

I chose to see Hohenschwangau first then to walk up to Neuschwanstein (I wanted the exercise and didn't want to wait for the bus which cost extra anyways).

Photo - Hohenschwangau from below

The walk up to this castle was a short 10 minutes

Photo - Fountain with snowball


Since I grew up in Buffalo NY I love snow but haven't been around lots of it for a while.
I took a perverse pleasure from making snowballs and decorating the statues or bombing the empty
parking lot below from the castle walls.

Photo - DHP at fountain

Okay, here I am at the outside of Hogenschwangau. Brrrr. it was cold!

Once the starting time for the tour came we spent about 30 minutes inside the castle going through a variety of rooms from dressing to dining to games. Part of the castle is not accessible due to age but overall this compact tour gave a good overview of what the period and people were like. The walk up to Neuschwanstein only took about 22 minutes if you walked it briskly - however it was steep and slippery at times. If you're going to visit here and aren't in good shape you might consider taking the bus up to the top.

Photo - outside of Neuschwanstein

Video - Schloss Neuschwanstein - exterior 1    Real    MPEG

Video - Schloss Neuschwanstein - exterior 2    Real    MPEG

Photo - looking up the wall

Whenever I'm in ancient places I try to imagine what things looked like and
felt like for people living at the time. This is a picture from the base of the outside
wall of Neuschwanstein. Anybody want to raid the castle?

Photo - courtyard, Neuschwanstein

By walking up in less than the 1hour they estimate I had to wait in
the freezing open courtyard for an hour until my group went.

Once inside of Neuschwanstein you wait in a courtyard area that was cold and freezing this day because of the weather. It started to snow and rain so everybody took refuge in the coat check room. I tried to switch my ticket to a Spanish and/or French group that was going earlier to be able to see the castle and not wait the 1 hour for my English group. Some people traveling by group decided to sing hymns in the alcove. I guess that they either were from a singing group or just were really happy. Since I wasn't in the mood to join in I took some video for you all to enjoy.

Video - French singers - Real    MPEG

From the far end of the courtyard you can see a flying bridge called the Queen Mary bridge. It was another hike from the castle one that I didn't have time to make but I was told that you get the best view of Neuschwanstein from there as well as good view of a waterfall that it bridges. Since I was only mildly interested in absorbing the tourist information here I opted not to go to the bridge but did get a good look at it from the castle.

Photo - Queen Mary Bridge

Look in the center and you can see the span.

Video -Queen Mary Bridge -   Real  MPEG

After the whole tour was over (and it was fairly extensive and impressive), I was pleasantly suprised to find a great aerial view of the medieval town of Füssen from the modern bathroom near the exit to the Neuschwanstein tour. As strange as it seems taking a picture from an ancient portico located above a urinal, perhaps you can also see the reason why I did below.

Photo - Füssen

Sometimes the best photos pop up in the strangest places.

After my very full morning and early afternoon of castle touring, I dropped into Füssen to fuel the car and myself before heading up to Munich. Next stop was a quick overnight in Munich before meeting the next morning with Bertie Hauser, BMW's racing chief about their plans for next years Paris-Dakar - then I was on to Hechlingen for my first training session of the year.


Closing comments

Overall, I enjoyed my quick trip through Bavaria and the German Alps. I've ommited lots of stops and sights here as the point is for you to get out and explore to find your own adventure. After taking a few days to cruise through this area I found myself getting into a good rhythm, with my thinking opening up and my mind feeling at ease. That's why I do these trips, call it work, call it whatever, but I prefer it when the office has many windows.


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