Day 6 – Neuschwanstein Castle (near Munich, Germany)

After an average nights sleep, we were up early for our day tour.  Our first stop was the famous castle of Neuschwanstein, a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace located above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany.  The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.

The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886.  More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer.  The palace has appeared prominently in several movies such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Great Escape and serves as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

On the drive out it had snowed and the countryside gave the impression of a Christmas snow globe.

Before we got to the Castle we stopped at a small church to take some more photos.

You will notice we are well rugged up! I think it was about -1 degree.

This picturesque setting is truly one from story books.  The snow sits in clumps on Pine tree fronds.  A small snowman with coins for eyes appears on the roadside.  The cold wind blows through the pine needles and whistles a tune for us.  Next we hear the clopping of a horse drawn carriage as it takes priority over the road and all pedestrians scoot to the sides. If you blocked everyone else out you could imagine you have stepped back in time.

Looking out from the bridge you can see the suspended water fall frozen in time plunging into a black abyss as if the winter queen from Narnia had a spell over the land.  Here time has really been suspended and has not lost any of its splendor.

Mad King Ludwig the 2nd who spent all his family’s hard saved money on a fantasy world of opera themed rooms, private grotto and story book castles who would have slept in a bed carved out of a solid tree trunk themed in his favorite story, never got the chance to stay there as this tall royal had somehow mysteriously drowned in a knee high lake despite being a good swimmer.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos or video inside the castle, so you just have to visit yourself (I can say it was impressive, but short, with only a few rooms on display).

This is a photo taken from Marie’s Bridge, or Pöllatbrücke which was closed due to slippery ice on path, but our guide suggested it wasn’t that bad and I’m glad we listened to him (thanks Güner for hosting an excellent tour)