This morning we drove south onto the famous Romantic Road through the heart of Bavarian farm land to visit the famous King's castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein.
Hohenschwangau is the smaller castle where "Mad" King Ludwig grew up as a boy. This castle is still owned by the Bavarian royal family.
Neuschwanstein is the larger castle sitting in the mountains above Hohenschwangau and was built by "Mad" King Ludwig over 20 years while he was King. It was not finished in his lifetime and work stopped on it after his death. This castle is famous for being the inspiration for the Disney castle and infamous for being one of the major places where the Nazis stashed stolen art during WWII.
The castles are amazing and we're glad we saw them but the experience itself is not fun. The tickets for the tours have a timestamp on them. You have a 5 min window at that timestamp to start the tour. If you miss the window then you miss the tour. No exceptions. This leads to quite a lot of wasted time as you wait by the gate so you won't miss the window. The tours are 30 minutes each but we were at the castle site for 5 hours with all the ticket buying, walking the grounds and waiting around for the tours.
Here are some tips for anyone planning to visit the castles:
Hohenschwangau is the smaller castle where "Mad" King Ludwig grew up as a boy. This castle is still owned by the Bavarian royal family.
Neuschwanstein is the larger castle sitting in the mountains above Hohenschwangau and was built by "Mad" King Ludwig over 20 years while he was King. It was not finished in his lifetime and work stopped on it after his death. This castle is famous for being the inspiration for the Disney castle and infamous for being one of the major places where the Nazis stashed stolen art during WWII.
The castles are amazing and we're glad we saw them but the experience itself is not fun. The tickets for the tours have a timestamp on them. You have a 5 min window at that timestamp to start the tour. If you miss the window then you miss the tour. No exceptions. This leads to quite a lot of wasted time as you wait by the gate so you won't miss the window. The tours are 30 minutes each but we were at the castle site for 5 hours with all the ticket buying, walking the grounds and waiting around for the tours.
Here are some tips for anyone planning to visit the castles:
- Buy your tickets in advance online. You have to do this at least 2 days before you want to visit.
- Park in Lot #4. It's past the tourist village
- Walk up to the lower castle. It's about a 10 minute walk.
- Take the bus up to the upper castle. The bus stop is above the castle so you have to walk down the hill about 10 mins to start the tour.
- After the tour of the upper castle, walk back down using the road that the horse carriages use. Don't take the path since it ends near the other parking lots
- Don't plan on eating there. The food is horrible.
- Bring 0.50 Euros for the toilets by the ticket office. The toilets at the castles are free and cleaner.
The drive through the Bavarian countryside is beautiful. We were surprised by the lack of windmills until the return trip when we noticed that almost every single barn roof is covered in solar panels.
The Romantic Road has a wonderful bike path running along side of it.
Tomorrow, we drive from Munich to Vienna for the last part of our trip. I was planning to stop in Salzburg on the way but I think that city needs more than a few hours to visit. We have to figure out how to get a toll sticker for the car before entering Austria. We are told these can be purchased at a gas station as we leave Munich.
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