Schwangau is about 120km from Augsburg and the journey took about two hours mostly through beautiful country roads. Schwangau is the village where the famous fairy tale castle, Neuschwanstein, is located. This castle is said to have inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle of Disneyland.
Neuschwanstein (which literally means the New Swan Castle) was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria between 1869-1886. There is another castle in Schwangau, the Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig II spent 17 years of his childhood and youth.
I visited Schwangau during my backpack tour of Europe in April 1992, after seeing postcards of it in Munich. It was a bit of disappointment then as it was snowing and I took the shorter but less picturesque route up the castle. As you shall see from the photos below, this time both the weather and views were great.
1. This quaint little chuch greeted us as we drove into the road leading the Schwangau. After I returned home, I realized that I have a jigsaw puzzle of it for many years! (will upload a photo of it later)
2. The Hohenschwangau
3 to 6. The Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau from Alpseestr. The bus station for buses between Schwangau and Fussen (the nearest train station), as well as the carparks are all located at the start of Alpine Strabe. After a short climb up Alpseestr is the ticket center for entrace to the two castles. According to the information leaflet, entrance into the two castle is only allowed for guided tour and if you miss the tour you will have to buy a new ticket. Duration of the tour is 35 minutes for each castle. Well, if one has already visited many European palaces, it probably suffice to just visit the courtyard, which is free!
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7 to 8. Not to be missed! The view of the Neuschwanstein from the Marienbrucke. Most postcards and promotional materials of Neuschwanstein shows the front view of the castle, which can only been seen from a helicopter, or probably on the hills opposite the castle. So the view here is probably the best an ordinary tourist can get. To get to the bridge, one can take a affordable bus ride from the Schlosshotel Lisl at the end of Alpseestr, or take a steep 1hr walk up.
9 to 10. From the Marienbrucke, it is all downslope to Neuschwanstein. Enroute, once can get a bird's eye view of Hohenschwangau. On the left of Hohenschwangau is the Alpsee (Alp Lake) and on the right is the Schwansee (Swan Lake).
11 to 13. Views of the Neuschwanstein along the way from Marienbrucke.
14. Plan of the Neuschwanstein.
15 to 18. Views of Neuschwanstein from the castle courtyard.
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