I want to give another shout out to our hotel in Munich, the Platzl. They have had little chocolate Santas at each place setting for breakfast yesterday and today (some were vegan chocolate but others were Lindt, so today I swapped vegan ones for the Lindt ones!). But it’s not just the chocolate Santas, the staff at the front desk are just so friendly and knowledgeable. I really like the atmosphere here.
Anyhow, on to Neuschanstein Castle. I had booked the day trip through an amalgamator who used Gray Line, but we weren’t on a Gray Line bus, so maybe they sub-contracted to someone else. Don’t know, didn’t ask. We were told to be there 20 mins early and got there about 25 mins early. We were in the last 1/3 of the ones to board the bus. The last 2 people to board arrived at 8:12am and weren’t able to sit together (every seat was occupied).
First stop was Linderhof Castle, the castle that Ludwig II used as his private residence. It was quite small (relative to his other castles) and he lived there only 2 weeks a month. He modeled a lot of the gardens and some of the interior after Versailles (obv we couldn’t see the gardens). There was a light snow when we were there and it was very pretty (no pics because the star of this trip was Neuschwanstein).
On to Oberammergau. This stop was beautiful; we arrived around 11:40am for 40mins, but it wasn’t a lunch stop. It was time to walk around and enjoy the town. We passed the houses with frescoes on the way in and as luck would have it I was on the right side of the bus, so had fantastic views of 2 of the 3 houses. Ds had a cappucino in a cafe and I walked around and took some pics. I wasn’t really interested in shopping, but managed to buy my BIL and nice fleece jacket for Christmas for 20Euros and 2 pewter ornaments from the Kathe Wolfhart store (the store in Nuremberg was extremely crowded when I went in yesterday). That was my only shopping for today because the shops in Schwangau were way too touristy for me.
Onwards to the star of the day, Neuschwanstein, and it did not disappoint. We had time for a lovely lunch at the Alpenstuben Hotel restaurant (thank you for the recommendation — sorry can’t recall who mentioned it). The guide on the bus recommended the Mueller Hotel but there was a long line; the Alpenstuben didn’t have a line and seated us right away. The food was delicious. Ds and I then wandered around town, but I was only going in the shops to briefly warm up. I then climbed the steps up to the yellow castle (privately owned) for the views of Neuschwanstein (SO worth it). Then back down for the walk up to the star of the day (about 15 mins at a slow pace, but they tell you 30 mins). Two of the people in our group were stopped at the top and offered cash for their tickets to the castle because some people thought that they could buy tickets at the castle lol (you need to have them in advance, but they were included with our bus trip, thank goodness).
I found everything about the castle fascinating. The story of Ludwig II is intriguing and surrounded in mystery. The fact that a castle could be built up there must’ve been an architectural and engineering feat. Then the inside (no pics allowed inside), breathtaking. He did not build it to entertain or show off, it was just for his enjoyment (though he never got to live there). He was obsessed with Wagner and there are tributes to Wagner in almost every room. The song room, WOW, just WOW. Also the cave room was so real, even the backs of the doors were made to look like a cave when they were closed — the details were so intricate. I wish the tour was longer and was more in depth. Thank goodness for the internet because I read as much as I could about Ludwig II. He was going to build a 4th castle not far from Neuschwanstein, but was removed from power before he got the chance. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone visiting Munich. I am glad that we took the bus trip for a few reasons: a) I didn’t have to plan any of the logistics b) the scenery along the route was stunning and c) I enjoyed seeing Linderhof and Oberammergau. The pics don’t do any justice to how beautiful it is and the scale of the castle makes it impossible to get decent shots without a 35mm camera with a very good wide angle lens (I didn’t bring my fancy cameras on this trip), but I will share a few….
view from the castle
Hansel and Gretel house in Oberammergau
Hotel in Oberammergau
