After visiting Hohenschwangau Castle in Bavaria, our next visit was to Neuschwanstein Castle on the hillside opposite. Neuschwanstein Castle is probably the most beautiful castle in the world and is said to have inspired the fairy-tale or Disney-style of castle. With a little bit of snow covering the ground, it was not hard to see that this is an attractive castle, and after our guided tour of Hohenschwangau, we could not wait to get inside. The castle was built by King Ludwig of Bavaria, who grew up in Hohenschwangau Castle.
On our arrival to the castle earlier in the morning, we got a good view of it and the mountains in the background. These are the fringe of the Alps.
Because there was snow on the ground, the shuttle bus to the castle was not running. We opted to wait for a horse and carriage, and we had to wait a little while because everyone else had the same idea.
Once up part of the way, we had to walk up the rest of the way. There was a stop-off point for photographs before we came to the castle entrance to wait for our guided tour. We saw great views over the valley.
Tours to the castle are guided only, but you can walk around the grounds without a ticket. You also need to be on time for your time slot as there are ticket machines, and if you miss your tour, you are not refunded. The tour of the castle showed us the different rooms and furnishings in the rooms. The Throne Room was an impression room with high celings, marble staircase/floors, and ceiling paintings. The most unusual room was off King Ludwig's bedroom, and this was a grotto (cave) inside the castle with a conservatory. On the way out, we could look in the kitchens of the castle and the gift shops.
I saw views of Hohenschwangau Castle after exiting, and it was already lit up. After the tour of the castle, which ended in the mid-afternoon, I wanted to walk to St. Mary's Bridge to get photographs. They close this in bad weather, and it was also growing dark.
I managed to find my way to the bridge over the deep canyon to take some photographs. I wish that I could have gone a little quicker.
After the visit, we had to walk down the castle as the horses and carriages were not running and it was closing time. Overall, this is an amazing castle, but it was too bad that we could not get there earlier so that we had more time there and less time spent in the queue/line for tickets.
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