Neuschwanstein castle is arguably the most famous and definitely one of the most impressive of all the castles in Germany and our trip to Bavaria just wouldn’t be complete without visiting.
The first thing I wanted to do when we arrived there was find the best view point to take it all in but here’s a little spoiler, there’s no ‘bad view’ of Neuschwanstein castle (except for maybe the one right down the road from the back as it’s a bit too close but, to be honest, even that is pretty impressive).
We stopped off in the nearby fields and I’ve gotta admit, I was kinda overwhelmed (in a very good way) when we first saw Neuschwanstein castle!
I’d wanted to visit Neuschwanstein castle for so long and it totally lived up to the hype!
I then proceeded to take 1 million photos… y’know, just in case any of the photos missed out on any detail! 🙄😆
It was when we left this spot though that I started to realise that there was really no bad view of Neuschwanstein castle.
We drove off to look for somewhere to park and almost every minute, as we turned down each corner, I had to stop to take it all in again from a different angle.
Anyway, car parked, we went to pick up our pre-reserved tickets for the castle tour.
By the way, Neuschwanstein castle is pretty popular so pre-reserve any and everything you can before you get here to avoid disappointment!
There are several ways you can go up to the castle, none of which involve being able to drive up there. You can either take a bus (one specific to the castle), which drops you off at the Marienbrücke (Queen Mary’s Bridge), or you can take a horse and carriage ride up or, if you’re really feeling up to it, you can walk up!
Uphill walking is not generally something I enjoy and I had no interest in spending the precious time we had here walking through the woods so we took the fastest option – the bus!
If we had time though, I’d have loved to have taken the horse and carriage ride up but the queues for that were pretty long.
To be honest, asides for the walking option, you’ll have to queue anyway, the journey up is just a bit longer with the horse and carriage.
You can go up and down with the bus or the horse and carriage, by the way, it doesn’t just drop you at the top and leave you to find your way back down.
Up at the top, the view from the Marienbrücke is also pretty spectacular as you get to see Neuschwanstein castle, set against the surrounding Bavarian countryside!
It’s absolutely stunning!
We carried on past the bridge and hiked up a little bit into the mountains nearby where the views are also pretty amazing!
Thankfully, Marienbrücke is higher up than the castle so the walk to the castle from this point is downhill – with a balcony/belvedere offering pretty spectacular views of Hohenschwangau castle, the childhood home of King Ludwig II who built Neuschwanstein castle.
If we had more time, I’d loved to have visited Hohenschwangau castle but we’d have to leave for the airport immediately after our visit to Neuschwanstein castle to catch our flight back home to London.
Now, for the inside part of the castle, you’re not allowed to take any photos so there’s not much I can show you from that.
It’s actually unfinished inside but there’s enough of it finished to impress you when you visit. It is definitely worth visiting the inside of Neuschwanstein castle but if you don’t have enough time to pop in, take a walk in the area around the castle and definitely head up to Marienbrücke to see it in all its glory.
And with that, (after a small stop to check out the view of the Bavarian countryside from the castle’s balcony), we bade Bavaria farewell and headed back to Munich to catch our flight back to London.
I’d thoroughly fallen in love with Bavaria over the past few days we’d spent in this part of Germany and although I’m not usually one for playing favourites, this has got to be one of my favourite places in Germany (and indeed, one of its most beautiful).
I’m already hatching grand plans with friends to return in winter for Christmas markets and some ski fun! 😀
Read more: Best places in Bavaria to visit
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