It was our final full day in Füssen and we planned to make it a big one. We gathered ourselves in the morning and headed out to get the bus to Schloss Neuschwanstein (Neuschwanstein Castle). The castle itself has been made famous in Germany as being the inspiration behind the Disney castle and having already seen it from a distance during our time in Füssen we were excited to head over and visit. The short bus ride took us from the center of Füssen out into the wild and soon we had our first glimpses of the castle itself. Perched on a small hill at the foot of the alps the stunning scene unfolded before our eyes. We were immensely lucky that weather was perfect conditions as other family members had traveled the day before and seen just a misty view. We on the other hand were blessed with a stunning panoramic of the whole area and couldn’t wait to arrive. My father had decided to walk there and back but the wife, my mother and I had opted to bus there, I would walk back and they would bus back.
Neuschwanstein Castle, although called castle, is in fact a palace built in the 19th century by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Though he had the Munich Residenz he felt the need to have a countryside escape and thus the palace was built as an Alps retreat for him, but also in honor of Wagner the composer who he was a huge admirer of. With roughly 1.5 million annual visitors the castle, or palace is one of the places to visit in Germany and I certainly would recommend anyone in the area to make a visit if possible. If you want to learn more about the castle follow the link below
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Neuschwanstein-Castle
Soon we arrived at our stop and hopped off very excited to see the area. Heading up a short hill with cafes, restaurants and shops we arrived at the area where the horse and carts stopped to pick up passengers. I was resolved to walk to the castle though the wife thought it would be nicer to take a horse and cart up to the hill. After a short time of arm twisting I caved and we elected to head up together on a horse and cart. Being the first there we sat eagerly awaiting our trip. Some time passed and others joined us and just before we headed up the wife and I were promoted to the front seat with the driver as we had arrived first! This was a fantastic treat as it gave us without doubt the best views heading up the hill. It also gave us chance to speak to the driver of the cart who was lovely and very knowledgeable about the area and castle site. Soon we were off and chatting away under a cool sun. The ride itself lasted around 15 minutes and dropped us a 5 minute walk away from the top. We thanked the driver and set on our way.
Soon we had reached the top and having agreed not to enter the castle but rather view it from the outside we took the views of Füssen in first before turning around and wondering on the majestic castle before us. Walking right up to the entrance of the castle to realise its fantastic scale against the backdrop of the amazing Alps. We then wandered round to Marienbrücke, a bridge the driver had told us about to get another perspective of the castle from behind looking out towards Germany. Though it turns out Marienbrücke was well known to others we were extremely grateful to the driver of the cart as we had no idea of its existence and it truly did set up for the most perfect and serine views of the castle.
Content with out visit we began to wander down the hill using a footpath through the woods that brought us out at Alpsee Lake which truly was a magnificent site. On the way down we also had fantastic views of Hohenschwangau Castle which was at the foot of the hill. We resolved to take in the views and then head to a cafe for some food as we waited for my father to finish his walk towards us. My mother having seen the castle before on a previous trip had opted to go to a royalty museum which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Soon we were all together again sharing our experiences over a coffee and some food. We agreed to begin heading back to Füssen and dropped my mother and the wife off at the bus stop before my father and I headed on our walk back. Wandering up the road eventually finding the path that would lead us around Schwansee Lake, otherwise known as Swan Lake, the very lake that gave inspiration that birthed the famous ballet by Tchaikovsky. The views were stunning all around and it was a lovely time to catch up with my father. We chatted lots, put the world to rights and enjoyed every second of our walk around. There was only one problem, no swans!
We rounded the lake and made our way around the Kalvarienberg, past Lechfall and the Reptile Zoo back into Füssen. After we arrived back we agreed a time to meet for food in the evening and rested until then. Food with the family in the evening was lovely and of course, being in Germany, we had Vietnamese! Content with our trip we said some farewells and headed to bed. The next day the family left for Munich to catch their earlier flight back to London, as the wife and I wandered Füssen one last time. Soon we too were on our way to Munich and having some time to spare we hopped off the train in the center of the city for some food and one last look around. Then it was time to head to the airport and back home.
195wanderer.com 