Finally visited the beautiful Neuschwanstein Castle!
Don’t we all girls ever dreamed of being a princess at some point in our earlier lives? And be swept away by handsome prince charming on a white horse, a Knight in shining armour, and we live happily ever after in a stunning white castle?
I have seen so many castles and palaces in my lifetime already and because of this I am now quite picky but the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria has been on my mind for a long time. I am partly to blame as I have kept procrastinating this trip, until last month when I told myself, it’s now or never.
Things to know
The drive from Baierbrunn (south of Munich) where I stayed would have been perfect if the weather cooperated. Unfortunately it drizzled the whole day. This area of Bavaria is one of the most scenic places of Germany. Munich to Schwangau is about an hour’s drive. There are bus tours from Munich as well. Do take note that because of the remoteness of the place it is not handy to come here by public transport, so either you do a DIY car drive or take one of those bus tours.
Tickets are bought at the ticket service centre in the village. You cannot buy tickets at the castle. Try to come in the morning so you have more time to explore the village and the other castle as well.
It was a holiday when I was there so it was crowded than usual. I overheard an older American woman who came with family complaining, ‘Honey, this wasn’t like this 20 years ago right?’ She meant the long queue to the ticket centre. It took me approximately an hour to stand in line to get a ticket! An hour ladies and gentlemen!
There are 2 castles in the area:
1) Neuschwanstein Castle, the destination of 90% of the visitors
2) Hohenschwangau Castle, the less popular sister.
Website: Neuschwanstein Castle
All tours are guided tours and have a schedule (printed on the ticket) so do take into consideration the time to go up to the castle. If you miss your schedule, you have a problem.
Rain and a loooong queue. *sigh*
To go up to Neuschwanstein Castle, there are 3 options: (a) hike for about 45 minutes (b) take the bus that runs every 20 minutes (c) take the horse-drawn carriage. Whichever option, visitors will still hike a small part of the trail to the castle because the bus and horse-carriage rides will only bring passengers to the drop off station.
This excursion is not advisable for the mobility challenged.
The actual tour to Schloss Neuschwanstein
Tours to the castle go every 5 minutes or so. We were assigned to a tour guide who was as thin and light as a paper cardboard that if I blow wind to his direction he might just fall back. Seriously. And every time he opens his mouth I thought there was a mouse squeaking. I am not making this up, okay? He really looked like a ghost. He also spoke with very thick German squeaky accent so half the time I was trying to figure out what he was actually saying.
To say that he was the most interesting tour guide I have ever had was an understatement.
Taking pictures were not allowed inside, so being an obedient visitor I hid my camera. I however noticed some naughty Japanese tourists who couldn’t stop sneaking shots. It was very tempting to intrude and remind them of the rules but I just laid the thought to rest.
So while we are following and listening to paper thin tour guide, we were also entertained by a crying and screaming little Indian kid. It’s annoying I have to admit, and although I am not a mother and I do not have a lot of patience, I can pretty much understand children. What I find interesting though is the Indian family who spoke to each other only in English. It’s very obvious that they were native Indians because their English have a very heavy Indian twang.
So someone help me on this please. Why did this family kept on speaking English in very thick Indian accent to each other when they could just have spoken in their local language or dialect? Is this just a special Indian thing?
Anyway, I did learn something from this visit. The castle is far from completion, and the current structure was finished in 1892. The castle was never finished because King Ludwig II died.
Highlights for me were the King’s Bed that has a canopy resembling like that of the spires of a Gothic church, the beautiful Throne Hall, and the Singer’s hall which is the biggest room in the castle. All throughout the castle the swan is used as a motif and decor. The animal is King Ludwig II’s favourite as it is the heraldic animal of the Counts of Swangau and is a symbol of purity in the Christian religion.
After the tour I went to check out the multimedia room where I learned about King Ludwig’s dream castle that was never built. Then I had coffee at the café and managed to sight beautiful views of Schwangau plains from the big windows.
Afterwhich I sighted this hanging bridge from the castle souvenir shop’s window. I wondered what the bridge was all about? Upon closer look, there were people standing on it. The curious cat’s interest has been piqued!
Panoramic View
So this is my tip: From the bus station in the mountain (not in the village) there is a trail that goes up to the other side of the mountain. If you follow this it will lead you to the wooden hanging bridge (it squeaks) where you can take panoramic shots of Schloss Neuschwanstein such as below...
Trivia: They say that the design of Disneyland castle was inspired from Schloss Neuschwanstein?
In addition, it has also been said that Walt Disney got his inspiration to build Disneyland after visiting the Efteling Park in the Netherlands, which is the original and oldest children’s fairy-tale entertainment theme park in the world. I was here in 2005, see entry here: Efteling Adventure
Travel Period: May 2013
Destination: Schwangau (Bavaria), Germany
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
