Road Trip, Day 3, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein

After an overdose of three medieval villages, we drove from Nordlingen, through Augsburg, to the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, which is the end of the Romantic Road (Wed., 29 May). We spent the next two nights at this lovely, rustic pension, the Steig Muhle, which is on the shores of the Weissensee. From here, we explored Schloss Hohenschwangau and Schloss Neuschwanstein, plus the Tegelberg via a gondola. 

The Steig Muhle. We had dinner in the restaurant, seen on the right below; fabulous mountain trout and deer ragout.

View of the Wissensee, as well as the Bavarian Alps,  from our balcony at the Steig Muhle.  

Here we are at the foot of the lake,which is the base for traveling to both the castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. We checked in at the ticket office, and got tickets for timed entry at both of the "Royal Castles." Lots of tourists here, especially the bus loads of Japanese, all of whom had a camera and appeared to not really care about the view, just getting the "best" picture. 

Schloss Hohenschwangau was the childhood home of Ludwig II, the mad king responsible for the construction of Neuschwanstein. This schloss was acquired by his parents, King Maximillian and Queen Marie. 

The structure here at Hohenschwangau dates from the 12th century and was built by the knights of Schwangau (swan). The castle was destroyed by Napoleon, then acquired by Maximillian in 1832 and completely restored.  

King Maximillian and his wife Marie had two songs, Ludwig and Otto. This was their summer retreat.

After his father died, Ludwig inherited the throne and continued to live in Hohenschwangau while he built the Schloss Neuschwanstein. You are not able to take pictures of the interiors of either castle, but it was interesting to see a telescope in Ludwig's bedroom, through which he could watch the construction of his castle. 

After hiking 20" up to the Hohenschwangau (and back down), we chose to take the horse-drawn carriage half-way up to Neuschwanstein. It was still another 20" walk from here. (Ruthie--I love this wrap!! Thank you...kept me warm and looked great.)

The Neuschwanstein is King Ludwig's crazed masterpiece, which was started in 1869, but never finished. (It is the model for the castle at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World in Orlando.)

Construction of the castle lasted 17 years, and the king lived here for only 6 months. When he died, all construction stopped, so many of the rooms are unfinished. What you can see on the tour are the king's bedroom, study, chapel, throne room and a magnificent Minstrel's Hall, where Ludwig wanted to hear Wagner play his operas (some of which were written in Hohenschwangau). Part of the castle towers are being refurbished, which is why you can see scaffolding in the left side of the picture and on the highest tower. 

Looking out from the schloss, here is the Marienbrucke bridge; it looks like a thin line in the middle of this picture. We walked to this bridge (~30") and took the picture of the castle that appears just above this shot. Had to take the picture quickly as there were two busloads of Japanese tourists pushing and shoving their way onto this very narrow suspension bridge.

After visiting the castles, we took the Telebergbahn to the top of the Teleberg (1710 m). It was a fabulous ride on the gondola; much quicker than the four hour walk from Hohenschwangau. 

Here is a video of the Bavarian Alps. If it does not work, the picture below it captures a poor version of the grandeur of these Alps.

The Bavarian Alps, seen from the summit of the Tegelberg.

From the Tegelberg, looking out over the Forgensee. Many hang-gliders launch from the summit of the Tegelberg; here is one of them. The ride to the bottom lasts ~30 minutes. 

This restaurant is the second highest in the Bavarian Alps. Note the gondola in the left hand side of the picture, as it approaches the summit station. The gondola ride takes ~15 minutes. 

One last shot of the Bavarian Alps, before we descend to the Weissensee and another night at the Steig Muhle.