All the Fairy Tale Castles

Get ready for all the pictures - on Friday, September 9th we journeyed to the region of Schwangau to see not one but two fairy tale castles: Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein! I was probably anticipating this more than anything because Schloss Neuschwanstein is such a well-known German sight and so, it was at the forefront of my mind.

 

The castle(s) were only about a twenty-five minute drive from Garmisch, which made it perfect for a day trip! The drive was nice and there was a town or two that I would have loved to go back and peruse! The drive even took us into Austria and back into Germany before we arrived in the Schwangau region of Germany - with Hohenschwangau on the hills to the right and Neuschwanstein situated in the rock outcrops on the left!

Hohenschwangau is in the records as early as the 1200's but the castle was ruins when King Maximillian II came into the house (if you want to call it a house). He renovated and restored the castle to it's former glory and let me tell you - you can't take pictures inside the castle (inside either castle) but it is absolutely stunning!

The castle was the long time Summer home and hunting lodge for the Bavarian royal family and they usually spent weeks a year in the home. Just weeks y'all - weeks. *sigh* It is so stunning and has such incredible views and they spent weeks there... because I'm sure they had other lovely homes! King Maximillian and his Queen Marie raised their two sons to love the Bavarian mountainside home and when Ludwig became King - he used the nearby peaks to construct another stunning home! 

The castle is filled with tapestries and paintings that tell the stories of courtly love, knights and damsels and it's also filled to the brim with silver, gold and jewel-studded trinkets gifted to the King(s) of Bavaria as wedding gifts, gifts for their children's births, etc... The views from the balconies are spectacular, especially with Lake Alpsee and it's stunning turquoise waters stretching in the distance from numerous viewpoints! There was also a very interesting grotto-style hot tub (we think) hidden in an outside alcove of the castle... intriguing to be sure.

 

The town of Schwangau has several gift shops and restaurants, along with some hotels and we chose one of the restaurant/hotel options for our lunch! The restaurant served goulash - which quickly became my favorite thing on the trip, where dining options were concerned! I'm already planning to try and recreate it here at home - wish me luck! We had our lunch and then the rains arrived and so we all ended up buying umbrellas so we could race between shops without getting wet! 

 

We also chose to pay the 5 Euro to ride a horse-drawn carriage up to the castle; it's perched quite high up on the hillside (mountainside...) and the road twists and turns right up the hillside. So we hopped in the carriage and headed up the hill in the rain, and we were delighted to discover when we arrived that the café was having a special: for just 5 Euro (yes, you heard that right) you could get a souvenir mug that featured the castle (there were three to choose from) filled with hot cocoa or coffee and a cookie! Sign me up! 

We sipped our hot drinks and munched on our cookies under a covered seating area while it rained and then, once it slacked off, we decided to make the hike to the Marianbrucke - the cantilever bridge that spans a waterfall, with stunning views of Neuschwanstein. And ya'll - it was an uphill climb the whole way - no kidding. But I decided that you never know if you'll be able to return to a place, so I sucked it up, took a deep breath and made the climb - and I'm so glad I did. This is the spot to get truly glorious pictures of the castle and it did not disappoint at all! 

 

 

Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig - who was eventually declared insane - and killed under suspicious circumstances and was meant to be the perfect medieval castle, because Ludwig was obsessed with the olden days, knights and damsels and the medieval lifestyle. It's important to note that when Ludwig began building this castle, he technically wasn't a "king" anymore as the Bavarian kings had been overthrown by Prussia and so this castle was also his very own "kingdom".

The castle was not completed before Ludwig's mysterious death - but let me tell you that what was completed, it's mind-blowing. The master bedroom walls are lined with tapestries depicting the story of Tristan & Isolde (from Wagner) and the throne room is Moorish in style, there is a Singer's Hall that is insanely large - and Ludwig built it all with the intent that it was not for others to see - it was HIS kingdom. Maybe you're seeing why he was eventually declared insane? He literally lived in his own little fairytale - but man, it was a stunning fairytale, to be sure.

 

The tour itself (both tours) was surprisingly quick for such a large castle (again - unfinished) but I think even viewing the castle from the exterior would have left an impression. And in case you weren't aware of this little fun fact: Walt Disney visited Germany and was so struck by Neuschwanstein that it served as inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland - although to me it looks more like Cinderella Castle. *shrugs* Both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein are both stunningly palatial homes (duh - they're palaces) but I have to say that seeing Neuschwanstein in person was such a high point for me!

We headed back to Garmisch and my Mom snapped some stunning pictures of the clouds pouring over the mountains - the Bavarian Alps are so incredibly beautiful and are a sight I am so blessed to say I've seen! We all agreed that after a full week, we'd had quite enough of German food and Lindsey discovered an Italian restaurant in Garmisch called Colosseo - and it was some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten. *sigh* We headed back to the resort stuffed and stuffed our suitcases for the trip to Munich on Saturday!

Where we went Today

Hohenschwangua Castle - https://www.hohenschwangau.de/en

Neuschwanstein Castle - https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/ 

Colosseo Restaurant - https://colosseo-garmisch.de/