Neuschwanstein Castle

After a few weeks of putting off our trip to Neuschwanstein Castle because of Nick's injured leg, we were finally able to go last weekend. NEUSCHWANSTEIN. Whew, that's a mouthful. The Germans pronounce it like this: NEW- SHVON- STINE (phonetic spelling, not official spelling obviously; see above haha). Can you pronounce it? It took me a while to pronounce it correctly. Those German words can be quite tricky sometimes!

Neuschwanstein is nestled in the Bavarian Alps, close to the Austrian border and housed King Ludwig II of Bavaria for a short while before his mysterious death in 1886. King Ludwig was known to be a bit of a recluse but also an eccentric fellow. He spent much of the kingdoms money on building multiple castles, including Neuschwanstein, and borrowing money from lines of credit which upset the members of his cabinet. Rumor has it, he even threatened suicide if he wasn't able to finish building Neuschwanstein. Because of his abnormal and sometimes even defiant behavior, King Ludwig was declared insane and ultimately dethroned. A few days after he was dethroned, he was found in a lake nearby dead but the cause of death is still questioned to this day.

In order to get to Neuschwanstein, you need to park down below in the town of Hohenschwangau and  hike up a hill to reach the castle. There is a bus and horse carriage you can take up the hill for a small fee but we chose to get our exercise and walk up the hill instead. It was definitely a workout and my booty was sore the next day but it was well worth the view. The views of the Bavarian countryside are absolutely stunning.

Inside the castle there are paintings of the famous German composer Richard Wagner's operas throughout many rooms. There are also intricate and ornate wood carvings of swans in Ludwig's bedroom and ceramic art pieces of swans throughout the castle. In fact Neuschwanstein means "New Swanstone" in German so you can understand why there are so many swans inside; King Ludwig loved his swans. Because of Ludwig's untimely death, the interior was never officially completed so there are only a few select rooms that are entirely finished. Unfortunately, photos aren't allowed inside the castle but I did take photos outside the castle and some photos of the town (and other castle) below.

FUN FACT: Walt Disney was inspired to build the castle at Disneyland after seeing Neuschwanstein Castle. Cool, huh?!

Hohenschwangau Castle in the town below Neuschwanstein

The hike up the hill