Hi friends, welcome back to my Germany and Austria series 🙂 After visiting Neuschwanstein Castle, we had about three hours until our tour of Hohenschwangau Castle, so we hiked down and walked around the little town for a bit. I was a little late to the game buying tickets, so if you’re early one or two hours between tours would be ideal. It only took about five minutes to get up to Hohenschwangau Castle, so we had a snack in the beautiful garden and waited for our tour. While we were sitting in the courtyard it started downpouring so we took cover in the gift shop.
Hohenschwangau was originally built in the 12th century, but destroyed by Napoleon. King Maximilian II, Mad King Ludwig II’s dad, had it rebuilt from 1833-1837 according to the original design plans. This castle served as the summer home and hunting lodge for the rulers and was where Ludwig II grew up. Queen Marie, Ludwig II’s mother, loved hiking in the mountains surrounding the castle, an unusual activity for a lady back in the day.
The Wittelsbach family foundation still owns the castle and prohibits indoor photography. The interior is complete and in great shape because the family used the main castle as a hunting lodge until 1912 and the present-day gift shop up until 1970. This castle didn’t give off the homey/cozy vibe, but you could tell that it was actually used. One of the rooms had a telescope pointing at Neuschwanstein Castle, so Mad King Louis could track the progress of his fairytale castle.
I’d highly recommend spending a day touring both of the castles, they’re more than worth the price of admission! I liked the tour and interior of Hohenschwangau and exterior of Neuschwanstein best, but Jon’s favorite was Neuschwanstein.
The weather cleared up after our tour so we headed to Alpsee and I loved this lake too. The colors of the water were so magical. There is an easy 3.2 mile trail that runs along the lake that is very idyllic and peaceful.
I loved the view of the lake with the two castles in the background, it felt like being inside a painting it was so beautiful!
I was in heaven taking pictures of this incredible lake!
Jon and I walked about a third of the way around the lake and then had to head back to our hotel for our dinner reservation. We ran out of time, but while you’re in this area of Germany you can also check out a charming town called Fussen that’s a few miles away from the castles. Also, make sure you stop at this beautiful little church for a photo.
I took pictures of our dinner this evening because we had a more secluded table and it wasn’t so busy. I got a fancy mai tai to start off the night 🙂 The dinner was included with our stay and we got to pick an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. I was so impressed by the presentation of each dish, and everything tasted spectacular! It was nice having dinner scheduled each night of our stay to avoid the hanger when we can’t decide where to eat.
Stay tuned for day four of our trip ascending to the top of Zugspitze Mountain!
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Posts in my Germany & Austria series:
Germany
- Munich – New Town Hall & St. Peters
- Munich – The Residenz & German Food
- Bavaria – Lake Starnberg & Eibsee
- Bavaria – Neuschwanstein CastleÂ
