Neuschwanstein Castle

On Thursday afternoon we hopped in the car and hit the road for Munich. Our first stop along the route, Neuschwanstein Castle. The Neuschwanstein Castle was the model for the Disney Castle, so it might look familiar to you! Here's a shot of the Castle from the parking lot below:

After we parked below the Castle, we started the 30 minute walk up to the Castle. It was a steep climb along a forested path, but it felt good to get some exercise after sitting in the car for a little while.

Once we reached the Castle we had about 30 minutes before our tour started so we explored the grounds and enjoyed some of the awesome views.



We finally made our way into the courtyard of the Castle to have a look around. The coolest view from there was of this awesome bridge across the valley:



Even at that distance we were able to see teeny tiny specks of people on the bridge. We think that bridge led to the other castle, Hohenschwangau Castle.

Side-note: As you can tell from the pictures, the weather was NOT cooperating for us (mid-June no less), so because of the fog and clouds we didn't get to see some of the breathtaking views of the Alps that we had hoped for.

Not only was the view from the courtyard gorgeous, but the views of the courtyard were pretty regal as well:



I also managed to snap a picture of my very own handsome knight!



Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside of the Castle, but what we saw was magnificent. King Ludwig II commissioned the Castle in the late 1800's. He met an untimely and mysterious death (might have been murder, might have been suicide) prior to the Castle's completion and therefore a large portion of the Castle remains unfinished. The tour consisted of the finished rooms: his bedroom, the music hall, the kitchen, the dressing room, the throne room, and the living room. We also learned that King Ludwig was rather good friends with the composer Wagner and depictions from Wagner's operas were illustrated on murals throughout the Castle. The tour only lasted about 35 minutes, but we felt as though we absorbed a lot of interesting information. After the tour we meandered through the gift shop and Brian found his very own knight:



After grabbing a quick dinner in town, we hit the road.
Our next stop...Munich to see our friend Nate!

If you'd like to view all of our photos from the Neuschwanstein Castle, please click on this link:
Neuschwanstein Castle Photos