Celebrating the New Year at Neuschwanstein

We didn’t waste any time in 2015 before heading out to do something new. We set out for Schloss Neuschwanstein with our guests on January 2^nd – and this time actually went inside!  We had visited the castle in the fall of 2013 but we weren’t in the mood to fight the crowds to take a tour.  Instead we had opted for the more relaxed (in terms of crowds) Hohenschwangau Castle tour across the way. Aunt Ellen and Uncle Rüdiger were more than disappointed in our decision and have made fun of our cultural blindness for the better part of a year.   How could anyone visit the world’s most famous castle and not go inside!?  Well in 2015 we redeemed ourselves! 

Julie’s uncanny planning skills came in handy on January 2^nd.  She motivated us to get out of the house by 7am so we could beat the crowds and the forecasted bad weather.  Upon arriving we found a front row parking spot and already the parking attendant warned us to hurry to the ticket office and secure our castle tour.  They were expecting double the number of visitors because Neuschwanstein is closed New Year’s Eve and Day, and there were plenty of tourists visiting Munich/Bavaria for the holidays (including our 3 guests). 

The drive in wasn't too shabby

After securing tickets for a 12:45 tour and making the 15 minute ‘hike’ up the hill to Neuschwanstein’s entrance, we were initially disappointed to see the trail to the Marienbrücke (Mary’s bridge) was blocked off due to the snow.  This bridge is where you can get photos of the castle in its entirety – and the main reason Julie wanted to come that day (to photograph the castle in snow).  After about 5 minutes of deliberating if we should ignore the fence, we saw a couple come through the barricade from the bridge’s direction.  When they said the path was just fine, we made the decision to duck through the railings and make our way down the trail. 

It ended up being an easy walk to the bridge, even in the snow, and we were able to capture some really great shots of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in the winter elements.  And we were not the only ones that had ignored the warning signs/gone around the fences – there were a handful of other people with their cameras enjoying the views. 

The castles weren’t the only things looking beautiful under a blanket of snow – the Bavarian countryside wasn’t too shabby either. 

After an early lunch it was time to take the castle tour.  The tour itself was quick and dirty and involved too many people to really absorb much information.  However we were all stunned by how amazingly beautiful the castle was on the inside.  We had expected that because it was technically not finished that the interior would not be very lavish.  Instead the level of detail in all of the architectural elements is incredible and there are some wildly unique decorations including a rainbow, some vibrant blue tiles, and the most detailed woodcarvings I have ever seen.  I guess you will have to see it for yourself because you are not allowed to take photos inside. 

Ok, we took a selfie in the gift shop as proof we went inside.  I think this photo is ok - the only 'artwork' we put at risk were those plastic placemats behind us.

At the end of the tour, we passed by some windows facing the valley.  As we looked out in the distance we were all shocked to see the incredibly long line of cars sitting in traffic all headed to where we were. 

And they weren't even close to the parking areas.

Upon exiting the castle we observed the trend of jumping the fence to go to the bridge had only increased 10 fold.   The crowds were so thick and intense it was quite entertaining to watch people pushing their way forward and essentially falling through to the other side of the fencing.  And when we saw the Marienbrücke from the castle, we could see it was packed full of people. 

The weather had turned cold and rainy (as forecasted) while we were taking the tour, which meant it was time to leave the massive crowds at the castle and make our way down the trail.  We finished up by taking some photos at the lake and then piled into the car for road trip cupcakes and our journey back to the apartment. 

So now we are proud (and relieved) to be able to visit with our aunt and uncle without feeling shame that we have been to Neuschwanstein but haven’t gone in.  This time we took the tour and can honestly say we were thoroughly impressed!  So what is the secret to having nice weather and minimal crowds when visiting Germany’s biggest tourist destinations?  Make sure you have Julie in your group to make the plans. 

Visiting Neuschwanstein…finally

The most famous tourist destination in Bavaria (outside of Oktoberfest) would have to be Neuschwanstein Castle.  They not only receive millions of visitors from around the world each year, but they also win the award for most obnoxious souvenirs which you can find in just about every tourist shop in Munich.  Therefore, we never had a sense of urgency to make a visit to see the overcrowded and over-commercialized site.  After all we live the local life here in Munich: you know, commuting to work, running errands, and all that fun “local” stuff [insert judgmental tone towards tourists here].

Instead, we have been strategically plotting for about 2 years now on the best time to make a visit there.  We waited to avoid the scaffolding that was up through 2012, avoided visiting in the bad weather earlier in the year, and then definitely avoided the tourist surge over the summer.  And so we capitalized on the perfect fall scenery/weather 2 weeks ago to visit the Schloss while our two Allisons were visiting us.  We timed it perfectly - combining the perfect fall weather with the beautiful fall colors into the best visit ever to Bavaria’s most popular tourist destination.  This just may be too much awesome for you to handle! 

After a beautiful two-hour drive along the “Romantic Road” (an arbitrary marketing designation for what is simply a highway), we arrived at the parking lots.  From there we took an amazing 30-minute hike up the hill to reach the fairy tale castle.  Ok, Julie and I did the hike – the Allisons waited in the long line for a carriage ride up.  The one thing not going for us that day was the fact that the buses weren't running.  But this was fine for me - most of the castle’s beauty is best enjoyed from the outside and from a far distance.  So when we reached the castle gates, we instead kept on walking away from it to get to more amazing views from the side and behind. 

As we reached the ‘Marienbrücke’ bridge behind the castle we heard a helicopter approaching, getting closer and closer.   Since helicopter rides and touristy places tend to go hand and hand, I did not think much of the hovering helicopter at first.  But then I yelled at Julie to start taking photos as I realized we were witnessing a full on helicopter rescue of two people at the bottom of the canyon.  In a matter of a 2 minutes a rescuer repelled out of the helicopter, secured the person, and flew out of there completely James Bond style.  They were back 15 minutes later for the next victim/bystander.  By the way, it wasn't obvious to us why they needed to be rescued, so I hope they are ok.  But it’s a rare moment when you can take a photo looking down on a helicopter. 

After enjoying the views, we wandered back to the main gates to meet our two Allisons, who enjoyed their more expensive but more romantic horse carriage ride up to the top.  We got a quick look at Neuschwanstein up close, had a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then made our way down for part 2 of the castle tour.  And yes, we skipped going inside for the Neuschwanstein tour, which we usually hear is overcrowded, expensive, and underwhelming since it’s only partially completed (we hear this from both tourists and locals alike). 

However, as Allison B wanted to view a German Castle from the inside (she did travel all this way), we decided to take the tour of the neighboring Hochenschwangau castle about 1 mile away.  It was a bit disappointing to see our English language guided tour be falsely advertised as it turned out to be simply an “audio guide” tour in English.  This wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that they combined our tour with the German language guided tour behind us, so the tour guide spoke loudly in German while we were straining to hear our audio guides.  So basically we could not really hear anything in either language!  But I can’t complain too much since historical facts don’t really stick in my brain anyhow.  The castle was very nice, unexpectedly small, and nothing in comparison to our own Nymphenburg. ;)  

I think the rest of our trip can be summed up in a small sample of the 400 photos we took.  Can you tell we were excited to experience fall with colorful trees and falling leaves?  We even made a game out of trying to snatch falling leaves out of the air which was frustratingly difficult and pretty much sums up the fact we spent too many years in the desert.