Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

[Disney Castle]

This castle was built in the late 1800's by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Although it took 17 years to build (but was never completed), the King only lived in his castle for 172 days before he was disposed of as king and passed away mysteriously, only days later.

Look familiar? This was the inspiration for the castle seen at the beginning of every Disney movie you've ever watched.

 

 Since the only English tour wasn't scheduled for another 3 hours, we took the time to explore the town, grab some lunch and pick out souvenirs, before heading up the hill on a horse drawn carriage.

The tour lasted about 30 minutes and I regret to report that no photography was allowed inside the castle. You'll just have to take my word for it- the architecture, art and furnishings were immaculate and ornate.

This is the view from one of the windows on the servants' floor. As you can see, we climbed pretty high up to get to the castle- all together on the tour, there were 165 stairs to climb and 181 to descend.

 This is the view from one of the terraces. On the left is the Alpsee Lake. Hohenschwangau Castle [which happened to be the childhood home of King Ludwig II.] sits above the lake and the town, in the middle of the photo.

 NOTE: No matter how hard to you try to look cute and coordinate outfits so that your photos turn out perfectly, you should always, always, ALWAYS plan for rain while in Germany. It's almost inevitable.