Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castle

Hohenschwangau Castle

Weißenbach am Lech, Austria

     After visiting Zurich, Switzerland and Vaduz, Liechtenstein, my parents and I headed back into Germany to see the world’s most famous castle, Neuschwanstein. To get to Neuschwanstein from Liechtenstein we had to drive all the way through Austria. I absolutely love Austria and how beautiful the country is, especially the Alps. On our way we drove through the town Lech (Weißenbach am Lech), Austria which was beautiful! It was the most perfect looking Alpine village so we made sure to stop just to take pictures! I’m already planning a trip back to this area for some hiking next year (when the hubby returns).
      After stopping for some sigh seeing we drove to the gasthofwe stayed at for the night. This was actually in Höfen, Austria. It was much cheaper staying about 20 minutes away from the castle than it was to stay in a place that was close. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to visit the castle or spend some time in the Alps hiking or skiing. The owner is a chef and they have their own restaurant. We did not eat there but we did find one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. The 3 meals we ordered, butter schnitzel, grilled pork with melted mozzarella and garlic butter, and fried pumpkin with pumpkin pasta were all amazing! My parents both said it’s one of the best places they’ve ever eaten!!! I can’t wait to go back to this amazing place! It’s a little on the pricy side but 100% worth every penny.

     Okay, enough about food. We spent the night is Höfen then got up Saturday morning to head into Hohenschwangau which is the town where the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles are located. With it being the world’s most famous castle there is plenty of parking! There were guys directing cars into spots and I believe we paid 5 euro to park. Once you’ve parked it’s a short walk to the ticket office. The ticket office is the ONLY place to get tickets; they are not available at the castle itself. You can buy tickets individually for each castle if you only want to see one or you can buy the Königsticket (Kings Ticket) for 23 euro to see both castles in the same day. From the ticket office it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk to the Hohenschwangau Castle and about 20-25 minutes to walk to the Neuschwanstein Castle. Both walks are uphill so be prepared for that. They do have horse drawn carriages that will take you to the top, obviously for an extra fee. 

   You can tour the inside of both castles with English tour guides but like most historical sites photography inside is not allowed. Touring both castles was definitely worth it but also felt a little empty. I felt that our tour guide (for Neuschwanstein) was rushed and wasn’t a very good story teller. Both tours for both castles take 30 minutes. Neuschwanstein is a huge castle but only 1/3 of the interior was actually completed so you don’t get to see many rooms. Once King Ludwig died all construction was halted.   

     I was surprised that I didn’t see directional signs in English. That wasn’t a problem for us but if you don’t know a few works you may miss out on something such as the bridge that gives you a great view of Neuschwanstein. The German word for bridge is brücke, so look for signs with Marienbrücke on it and it will lead you to a great view point! 

     As cliche as it may sound, Neuschwanstein is a beautiful castle. It’s a very touristy thing to do but I definitely reccomned going to check it out. Not only is the castle beautiful, the Alps and scenery around it is amazing too! Also, check out some of the souvener shops, usually I wouldn’t reccomend that but we found a few things that were actually decent prices. I ended up with a puzzle, ha!