The entire journey from Munich to Füssen took almost 2 hours with one change at Buchloe. The journey was long but entertaining mainly because we were sat with a group of American tourists and their American tourist guide. They were heading to the same place as us. I suspect almost everyone in the train were heading towards Schloss Neuschwanstein.
Breathtaking scenery with the Bavarian Alps in the background
I did some research about the history and background of Schloss Neuschwanstein before coming to this trip. However my information were incomplete as I'm better at understanding something after visualizing it. Anyway, this American tourist guide gave a very good history about Schloss Neuschwanstein built by King Ludwig II in the 19th century. I felt bad for not leaving him a tip. lol!
Schloss Neuschwanstein viewed from Hohenschwangau
Once we arrived at Füssen, there were buses waiting outside the train station taking tourists to Hohenschwangau, which is approx. 6 minutes away. We didn't have to pay for the journey as it was included in the Bayern ticket.
The town of Hohenschwangau
As soon as we arrived at Hohenschwangau, we proceeded to Ticketcenter to purchase entrance ticket to get into the Schloss above the hill. Note: the entrance ticket to Schloss Neuschwanstein can only be bought here and not at the entrance of the Schloss! It was 12.30pm when we arrived at the Ticketcenter and our ticket to go into the Schloss wasn't until 3.20pm! Maybe pre-booking your tickets might be a good idea. On the bright side, the trip was quite relaxing as we didn't have to rush around due to the 3-hour allowance and had a good time taking breathtaking snapshots.
Forggensee, the 5th largest lake in Bavaria
Picture perfect: Schloss Neuschwanstein, photo taken from Marienbrücke
Once we had enough of Hohenschwangau, we took a bus from outside Schlosshotel Lisl to Marienbrücke which took 5 minutes. If you prefer walking up the steep hill, then it will take 30 minutes. Going to Marienbrücke is a MUST during this trip as it gives you a good view of the Schloss. The bridge crosses a large gorge, with steep cliffs on both sides and is 148 ft above a waterfall that runs from the surrounding mountains down into the valley.
To go up to Marienbrücke, we made a 5-minute hike up the hill. I suspect it wouldn't be a good idea to do the hike when the ground is icy as it was quite steep.
After spending quite sometime at Marienbrücke, we made our journey downhill to the Schloss. On our way there, we had a good view of the Hohenschwangau village below it with Forggensee in the background. The yellow castle perched above the hill was Schloss Hohenschwangau, the childhood residence of King Ludwig II.
The ticket into Schloss Neuschwanstein costs €12 per person. There were only guided tours in the castle, hence the long waiting time. The guide we had was quite fluent in English and was very informative.The tour lasted approx. 15 - 20 minutes if I remembered correctly. During the tour, we were shown parts of the castle including the throne room and also the history of the castle. The name of the castle is literally translated to "New Swan Stone". The interior of the castle was decorated with scenes from Wagner's operas and also swan motifs to reflect King Ludwig II's fascination with swans. In my opinion, the interior was alright but not as grand as the Versailles in France.
Overall I'm very happy that I have finally made it to Schloss Neuschwanstein after so many years of admiration towards it. As for now, each time when I look at a swan motif, I can't help but think about the beautiful castle.
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