Germany - Neuschwanstein Castle 🇩🇪

We headed out early to the Neuschwanstein Castle. As the most recognizable castle in the world we expected big crowds and wanted to get there as early as possible. We were fortunate to get tickets as they were sold out for weeks before and a month after we booked. The castle was about 90 minutes from our place in Mittenwald but given the availability constraints we didn’t have much of a choice. Fortunately, the drive was beautiful, with the route winding through tight alpine valleys and through numerous German and Austrian villages. We arrived without incident and parked at the very small village at the base of the town mentally preparing ourselves for the walk up. Even from the parking lot the castle is impressive. After a quick coffee, we decided that we would hike to Marienbrücke, a pedestrian bridge with views of the castle. We figured from there it would be an easy hike down.

The hike up was a work out but mostly in the shade. Fortunately, when we got to the top we arrived during a low period in the tourist horde with a couple dozen people on the bridge. We quickly made our way out to get our pics. We were only there about 10 minutes and then the place got overcrowded with people. Most would walk only 20 ft onto the bridge, stop and block the bridge and then pose (forever). We finally decided to push through and get out of there as fast as possible. We got some great pictures on the way down of the surrounding area and the other castle that was Ludwig’s childhood home (the yellowish castle below).

We had some time to kill before our entrance time so we checked out a patio with views of the surrounding region. It was a great place to people watch as they posed for pictures. Work it, work it!

No surprise that there’s no love for drones here (a good thing), and lots of love for paragliders. I imagine this would be a spectacular place to paraglide.

Finally it was our time to queue up to go inside. We were permitted access to the internal courtyard while we waited for our entrance time.

The interior the the castle was spectacular. It was beautiful and tasteful. By far, this was our favorite castle in terms of design and beauty. This site probably has some of the best pictures of the interior without completely inundating you with advertising. Hopefully, if you are interested, you’ll get a chance to see it for yourself.

Quick notes of things that stood out.

• The throne room. A beautiful blend of motifs from nature and biblical paintings. Ludwig viewed himself a king appointed by God.
• Ludwig’s bed chamber. While somewhat small it showed the things that were important to Ludwig, including dedicated place for reading (for knowledge and official business) and a private chapel.
• The hall of singers. The largest room in the castle it was designed for musical performances. Ludwig was heavily influenced by the music of Richard Wagner. Unfortunately, no performances were held there while the king was alive, the first was in 1933, 50 years after Richard Wagner’s death.
• The kitchen. It was amazing. Huge but also super well laid out. If you were feeding the entire castle, this is the kind of kitchen you would want.

Not only was the castle beautiful it was full of amazing technology for the time, including an electronic bell system, hot running water and flush toilets.

I’ll spare you the entire story of Ludwig II and his passion for this project. By the time of his death, only 15 of the rooms had been finished and he only spent 11 nights in the castle. His story is a bit tragic and I’m sure that I can’t give it the justice it deserves. Check out the Wikipedia article on him if you are interested. Regardless, you can tell that he had an artistic eye and a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve and the results are amazing.

It was time to leave and make the walk down from the castle to the car. Even form a distance the castle look impressive. We were very glad that we made the trip and would highly recommend it if you are in the area.

Oberammergau - A short break along the way

As we were driving back we saw this interesting geological feature and thought it might be fun to try to get some drone footage.

Ettal Abbey

Also on our drive we passed by the Ettal Abbey. The abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal. Established in 1308 has had a long and storied past. The monastery runs a brewery, a distillery, a bookstore, an art publishing house, a hotel, a cheese factory joint venture, and several smaller companies. The distillery produces Ettaler Kloster Liqueur. Unfortunately we didn’t try any.

It’s pretty hard to picture the beauty of this place but this video makes an attempt.

Overall, great day in Bavaria.