Wednesday 24th August - Schloss Neuschwanstein, Germany

We set off at 07:30 for Schloss Neuschwanstein.  This is the most visited attraction in Germany with some 1.4 million people visiting annually.  You can only enter the Schloss as part of a timed guided group and our trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Western Europe, our constant companion throughout the trip so far, advised that we needed to buy a ticket early in the morning to have any hope of getting in that same day.  This turned out to be excellent advice. We arrived just after 9am and joined an already long queue for tickets but having waited an hour to be served managed to get tickets for a 10:45 tour.  Arriving early also meant we could leave earlier and avoid the heaving crowds.

The Schloss was the passion of mad King Ludwig II who was obsessed with the medieval period, to the extent that he wished he was living in it, so he built his own medieval castle.  Rather than using an architect he used a stage designer to design the building.  He was also obsessed with Wagner and medieval knights.  Consequently, many of the frescos depict scenes of Germanic mythology as retold through Wagners’ music.  Ludwig was a great patron of Wagner and wanted to honour his work.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to film inside, but we both thought that the frescos were naive and didn’t match the splendour of the amazing views from every window.

 

Our first view of Schloss Neuschwanstein as we walked up the mountain

 

         

View of Schloss Neuschwanstein taken from Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge) a 15 minute walk away

 

 

Tourists on the bridge taking pictures of the Schloss

 

 

A selfie from inside the Schloss

 

         

Views from Schloss Neuschwanstein including Schloss Hohenschwangau where Ludwig grew up

 

 

         

                                                                   On Marienbrucke

 

There was quite a long and steep walk up to the Schloss from the car park, on the way passing the usual souvenir, snack and ice cream vendors.  We wondered at the bottom why we couldn’t see the Schloss at all.  If only we had turned around we would have had the view below.

 

The only disappointing part of the visit was that we didn’t even get a glimpse of Mickey!!!