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Published: August 8th 2009
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I knew this day would be long. Early wake up under the rain in Dornbirn, Austria, near the border with Swtizerland and Germany, only few miles north of Liechtenstein. We first had a serious breakfast at 7am before heading back on the road up north, than east in the direction of Fussen. No highways here, but rolling german roads bordering Austria. Nearly two hours later...and going closer to the sun...passing the little village of Fussen, we made it to the castles. Excuse me if we did not stop in Fussen itself, but our journey would not stop in Fussen today.
I've been warned to arrive early...we may not have arrived early enough I guess. By 10am, the ticket queue was already a 20 minutes waiting affair....guess by 1pm it reached at least an hour....just to buy the tickets.
Neuschwantein castles and Hohenschwangau castles are next to each other, both used by King Ludwig II from Bavaria. It seems that most tourists would only visit Neuschwanstein. It doesn't make any sense for me to visit only one castle if you've driven all the way to here...as nothing is really very close from Fussen. One castle entry is 9 euros, and
you get the two castles for 17euros...but great news, kids go for free! Finally a great deal!
You cannot take pictures into the castles, and each visit is rushed in less than 30 minutes to give space for the 10,000 people who visit every day. You basically have one group who departs every 5 minutes...and you'de better be on the schedule shown on your ticket. That was my mistake, I didn't expect the waiting time. We had to wait 30 minutes for our first visit in Hohenschwangau, and than you only visit 2 hours later Neuschwantsein...as the visit last 30 minutes, the walk between the two...even with the steep climb to Neuschwanstein, it does not take more than 40 minutes...this leave you with another wait of a good 45 minutes for Neuschwanstein! And don't forget, I had 530km waiting for me after this to reach Vienna...we made it in Vienna just on time for a fast dinner...and to put Leslie and Tiffany in bed at a reasonnable hour....nice thing that the hotel had a bottle of wine waiting for me in the room!
But let's come back to the visit. First Hohenschwangau, the small "yellowish" castle. There are
3 floors, you don't visit the last floor, but the two main ones are really nice. All the walls are painted with huge paintings directly painted on the walls. The castle date back to around 1850 (don't remember the exact date). It was electrified, with running water...so even if technologically advanced, we do speak of a modern castle. This is a smaller castle than Neuschwanstein, and it look like a gorgeous "holiday" home, but a rather royal holiday home.
Our next stop was Neuschwanstein, the castle was built in 1869. Construction lasted 17 years, and it was stopped when King Ludwig II died. What is very interesting is that if the outside of the castle look completed, the interior was not, with few floors of the palace remaining actually unfinished. This means that as of today, they can put a full "tourist supermarket" selling which ever souvenirs on the second floor! King Ludwig II only leaved here for a total of less than 180 days...and the castle opened for the public to visit only 6 weeks after his death. Basically...a beautiful construction... which main purpose has been...tourism...due to the early death of the King.
This castle is also
the inspiration for the Disneyland Castle in the different theme parks. Not only the castle is an amazing construction, but what make it more amazing, is the setting of it on the top of a hill. We did walk to reach the top...Leslie well trained for this kind of walk...Tiffany...less. Just have a look at some of the pictures to understand what I mean. We may need to be a little more patient with here to start any kind of trekking!
So no pics from the inside, but an inside which is truly worth the visit. Some of the rooms are really insane. There is a cavern, or grotto, fully man made. The chapel room in Neuschwanstein is unfinished, but nonetheless a jewel of paintings, and size! And the concert hall on the top floor of the palace is another masterpiece. I asked the guide if they do private functions here. The answer was yes, 2 weeks of Wagner concerts with perfect accoustic each year...wish I was there! Wouldn't mind to move here...you can even see the ski slopes from the castles, and next door you've got amazing nature with few gorgeous lakes.
We left a little later
than I expected, but without any regret. I do understand why this is one of the most visited castle in the world. If you do come that far, just make sure you visit both castles...it's a waste to do only Neuschwanstein.
So on the road again...and I must admit Tiffany and Leslie were so nice for these few hours. Leslie had to admit later on that spending few hours in a car is a lot less fun than spending few hours on a plane! We had first to start by 140km without any highway...but than, hit the german highway...you know, the one without the speed limit! We made it safely to Vienna. You already know what is our next entry...and this time Ma'ri is joining us!
With love from all of us! See you soon!
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Rob_n_Lorenza
Rob & Lorenza B
great photos!