Four weeks later and we are still in Germany. We have seen some beautiful countryside, architecture, castles, palaces, gardens and cities. We have walked, cycled and climbed. All in all our trip is going along very nicely.
Today was a very slow start, our legs were a tad tired from yesterday’s mammoth excursion. We finally got going at lunchtime, as we had totally exhausted our food supplies DB had some tic tacs and I had 2 rice cakes for breakfast. We headed in to Lindau for a little explore and some lunch. We walked through the old town and saw the Town Hall, a church, a spotted roof and some lovely cobble stone streets. We then ventured out to the harbour with its Bavarian Lion and lighthouse marking its entrance.
After this 2.5 hour walk, we started on our drive to Fusson. Our accommodation was yet to be confirmed but we knew that was where we were to be tonight. It was a lovely scenic drive and the mountains/alps were picturesque and enormous as we approached Fusson.
We arrive at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles at 5pm. The traffic going out as we went in was banked back for a couple of kilometres. Apparently they receive 6,000 visitors daily in the summer, 1.4 million a year. It was very much a majority of Asian tourists which we haven’t seen a lot. It was still very busy when we arrived but the car park was quite empty. We started the climb up to the largest and most impressive castle we have seen so far the Neuschwanstein Schloss. It was a formidable sight. You really can’t fathom its size from the pictures. Apparently the tour inside is also amazing which we may do at some stage whilst we are here. We then walked to the bridge which was a fantastic viewpoint. After many photos and watching the sun set a little we headed back down, on the way seeing the smaller castle Hohenschwangau from a distance. When we got to the car about 6.45pm our accommodation still wasn’t confirmed so we went about booking something else. We found a nice little apartment on the lake about 15 mins away. Will let you know what the view is like tomorrow as it was dark when we arrived.
A bit of a quiet day but still managed to see some amazing things. At least our cycle legs have had a chance to rest a little even though we walked for over 5 hours.
A little information for the history buffs.
Neuschwanstein Castle was built between 1869 and 1886 under King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was built on the ruins of “Vorder- und Hinterhohenschwangau” in the style of a medieval castle.
Hohenschwangau Castle was mentioned the first time in records of the 12th century and was one of the summer residences for the bavarian royal family. From 1832 until 1836 Crown prince Maximilian of Bavaria let the ruin of Schwanstein Castle be rebuilt in neo-gothic style.