Day 6 : Castles of Fussen

I had good weather so far on my trip, but was woken up this morning by the sound of rain.  “Oh no!  There goes my fantasy castle visit” I thought to myself. 

I had read earlier that if was raining or foggy, it isn’t best to visit Neuschwanstein and I had both that morning!  So I thought of options which we could do and sounded them off Frank, and which went like this – drive to Linderhof Castle (about 45 mins), Wieskirche (another 45 mins), boat trip on Forggensee (recommended by Tourist information, about 30 mins from Wieskirche), and if we still had time and weather doesn’t clear, then trip to Thermal Pools. 

So off we went!  The route towards Linderhof required driving out of Germany, into Austria and back into Germany again, and it just dawned on me that this route wouldn’t had been so easy without borderless EU – having to go through custom checks one after another just to get to a castle back before the EU and Schengen treaty was in place, would had been a real pain in the arse!

Lake Plansee

On route to Linderhof, we passed through Lake Plansee, a really clear lake with a slight green hue on the Austrian border.  The backdrop of the mountains enhanced the beauty of the lake, and there were also a few low lying clouds which added a really cool effect.

By the time we got to Linderhof Palace, the rain had completely stopped and we had great sunny weather.  I reckoned that it may just be the area around Linderhof, as the skies were still looking rather grey behind us.

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof Palace is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and the only one which he lived to see completed.  We didn’t enter to see Linderhof, however the gardens surrounding Linderhof was very charming and enhanced the beauty of Linderhof Palace.

 

Wieskirche

Next stop, Wieskirche (Wies Church).  Located in a secluded spot in Bavaria, I wondered what made this church special.  While researching, the term “rococo” came up a few times.  I later found out that “rococo” is also known as “late Baroque”, and is an 18th-century artistic movement and style.  Still vague, and being also intrigued that this church was marked as a UNESCO World Heritage site, it became on the list of items to see around Fussen.

From exterior, the church looked very simple.  The moment we stepped in, we were in for a very pleasant surprise.  Beautifully painted ceilings and walls with gold elements and grand elaborations filled the interiors of the church.  Apparently this church took 9 years to build!

Forggensee

Getting to Forggensee, meant we would had made an entire round circuit today, as this lake is close to our hotel and also close to the site of Neuschwanstein.  As we drove towards Forggensee, there were still a number of low lying clouds in the area, so we decided to get lunch by the lake and decide next steps from there. 

A boat was preparing to depart when we got to the cafe next to the waters and realised that it was filled with mostly old folks, so we scrapped the idea of the boat trip.  The lake also seemed just average, compared to the rest that we had seen thus far.

Good thing was by the time we finished our lunch, the weather got much better, and so we proceeded to head to Neuschwanstein…. YIPPEE!

Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau

When we got to the parking area of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, it was about 2.30pm.  There was no cost for viewing the exterior of the castles, but I was keen on seeing the inside of Neuschwanstein. 

All entries had to be done via a guided tour, with no possibilities of free roaming on our own.  A snaking queue had formed, waiting to buy tickets to enter one or both castles, with Neuschwanstein being the most popular, and the next available slot will only be at 4.10pm.

Needing to kill some time, we visited the exteriors of Hohenschwangau, the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. 

We then made our way towards Neuschwanstein, which can be done via 3 approaches – 30min trek up the slopes, horse carriage ride or short bus ride.  We chose to take the bus ride up, that brought us close to the entrance of Neuschwanstein and headed towards Marienbrucke, the famous bridge where one can get a good view of the majestic Neuschwanstein,.  The bridge was completely filled with people, and I wondered on the weight loading the bridge could hold. 

What most people didn’t seem to know, was that if one was to walk across the bridge and take a short trek up the dirt path, a better view with completely no crowds is possible for a better photo taking option. 

At that higher ground, the view was mesmerising as one can see miles of land and the river in the backdrop of the castle.  Neuschwanstein had also been used for a number of Disney productions, and renowned as the castle of all castles.

When it came to our turn of the Neuschwanstein tour, I estimated there were about 50 people in our tour group, and they ran a tour almost every 15 mins.  The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds, and was intended as a personal refuge and contained state of the art technology for that period. 

Unfortunately, the king passed on before the palace was finished.  Had it been completed, the palace would have had more than 200 interior rooms, including premises for guests and servants, as well as for service and logistics. Ultimately, no more than about 15 rooms and halls were finished.

The tour took us through a selection of the (almost) completed rooms, mainly the Throne Room, Study Room, his Bedroom, Hall of the Singers, Servants Room and Kitchen, and lasted for approximately 30 mins, which went by much faster than expected.  

Very happy on how the day turned out, despite a slight setback on weather in the morning, which became really warm and sunny by early afternoon, and allowed us to cover most attractions in the Fussen region.