Visiting Castle Neuschwanstein

We had a friend from college visit this past weekend and one of sights he wanted to see was Castle Neuschwanstein. It was on our list as well, so we decided we'd make the trip out to see it on Saturday. We lucked out, because the weather was gorgeous, albeit a bit colder in the mountains than maybe we anticipated. Rookie mistakes!

Castle Neuschwanstein is located in the pre-alps, very close to the Austrian border. Back in the day, King Ludwig II had an obsession with building castles. He built Neuschwanstein (1869-1886), Linderhof (1874-1878), and Herrenchiemsee (1878-1886) as his "southern" homes. Castle Neuschwanstein is located just up the mountain from Castle Hohenschwangau, which was the home he built for his mother.

Neuschwanstein is famous for inspiring the Disney Cinderella castle, and for being one of the largest and most lavish castles in Germany. They give "tours" which are of about only 5 rooms in the castle. You can walk around the castle grounds for free, but it is very crowded. We went on a cold day in the off season and we still couldn't get a tour earlier than 2 hours after we arrived, because there were so many people!

It's a beautiful sight to behold as you arrive by bus to the town, and even more beautiful a sight as you hike the 40 minute hike to the castle, or take the extra 20 minutes to walk to Maria's Bridge behind the castle, and take in the view from there. Here are a few of the best views, and here is the link to the Google album with all the pictures!

The view from the train as you arrive

Arriving in town, this is the first sight of the castle 

The next thing you'll see as you hike up the hill toward the castle is the other castle!
This is Castle Hohenschwangau, the "in law suite" as we called it. 

As you keep hiking you come across this view and know you're about halfway there.

After you get to the castle, you can take an extra walk to the Marienbrucken, Maria's Bridge, and this is a sight you'll see as you take that walk. There is Hohenschwangau, nestled in between two gorgeous lakes and a few town buildings. 

The same view, just zoomed out. You can see more of the pre-Alps and more of Bavaria.

Looking down from Maria's Bridge. There's a beautiful pool with a waterfall, and on
the other side of the bridge is another pool with a smaller waterfall.

The best view of Neuschwanstein is from Maria's Bridge.
And due to the weird sunlight that day, the best view was also in black and white! 

Joe doing "the point" (but it also looks like he is trying to touch the top of the castle) 

A courtyard are in the Castle grounds.