Flashback February: Schloss Neuschwanstein

It's Flashback February!  One of my favorite places is the southern Germany, western Austria area.  The food, the people, and the history are all so appealing to me.  Back in 2004 my friend Pam and I went and visited the Neuschwanstein castle as a tour out of Munich.  I love Munich and it is such a great jump off point for so many places that I need to do a blog on that in the future.  I digress...

Neuschwanstein is the castle which inspired Disney's castle.  Interestingly, we American's are so ignorant that if you do a google search on "Disney's Castle in Germany" it links right to the official Neuschwanstein page!  Aren't those German's nice to us? That or they cater to us so they can get our money.  <g>

While visiting the Neuschwanstein castle we looked out a window of the castle across a beautiful lake.  I commented how someday I wanted to see the castle from across the water and I wanted to see the beautiful land on the other side.  This is the view I was referring to:

View from the castle across the valley

Little did I know that indeed I would make it back not once, but three more times and I would be able to stop and see the castle from across the water as well as go back to the castle a couple of more times! 

As far as location, Neuschwanstein is south of Munich 90 minutes or 30 minutes north of Reutte, Austria.  It's an easy drive and spectacular views of the Bavarian mountains and Austrian Alps along the way.  One could totally rent a car. 

Once at the village of Hohenschwangau, which is really where Neuschwanstein is located, you can either walk up or take a horse drawn carriage up to the top of the hill.  The hill will definitely get your heart pumping but it is on a roadway the whole way up.  One major and important factor is to remember to BUY YOUR TICKET AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL.  Yes, that's in all bold.  I can't tell you the number of people I saw get to the top and not have a ticket and either just skip going inside or walk all the way back down again.  And no, I surprisingly wasn't one of those people.

Something else to check on is renovation.  I can't tell you the number of times I've gone someplace and ended up seeing a picture of it on fabric attached to scaffolding instead of the building itself.  Certainly most people have many things they want to see on a trip so they won't rearrange for this but it does set expectations.  And, if this truly is the main attraction of your trip then by all means check the website (http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm). 

Once at the top, the view of the castle is magnificent, I liked it even better in the snow (picture from 2012)!  There's a little shop to get a drink or a treat for an arm or a leg but any substantial food is at the bottom of the hill.  In fact, I recommend driving the 5 minutes to Fussen which is an actual town with some great restaurant options.

I would have shown you the other side as well but sadly, scaffolding was up.

Of course, the view across the valley isn't so appealing in the winter!

 

While there, check to see if the bridge over the Pollat gorge is open.  This bridge is called "Marienbrucke" and was build as a birthday present for Maximillian II.  It has incredible views back towards the castle and over to the valley.  It isn't open all the time (snow season especially), but when it is open it is definitely worth the short side trip. In my opinion it is the best vista of the castle in all its glory:

And finally, if you ever get so lucky to see the castle from overhead, as I was blessed to do, take it.  The Austrian Alps and surrounding areas are breathtaking!