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The Neuschwanstein Castle is famously known as the Walt Disney Castle. Ever watched the start of a Disney movie? Well.. the castle you see at the start sequence of Disney movies, is the Neuschwanstein Castle. The Neuschwanstein Castle is arguably the most famous castle in the world.
The Walt Disney castle does exist in real life and it is the Neuschwanstein Castle, located in the South of Germany in the province of Bavaria and close to a town called called Füssen, and in located the little town of Schwangau.
The castle is located high up on a mountain of Tegelberg. At the bottom of the mountain, one finds the ticket office, the queue at times is very long and might take hours if you do not buy your ticket beforehand, online. The best way is to buy the ticket online before going to the castle, the ticket office verifies the information and the online ticket counter takes less than a minute.
From the ticket office at the bottom of the mountain, there are three ways to reach the Neuschwanstein Castle, namely: by bus, by horse or by foot. The bus up the hill is 2€, while the horse costs slightly more and is 8€ up the hill and 4€ down the hill. One can also turn the whole trip into a hiking experience , and walk 30-40 minutes from the ticket office.
The walking trail offers an amazing opportunity to be one with nature and have a feel of the german forest. There are amazing water falls and its refreshing, since it gets cooler as one ascends.
While hiking up the mountain one is able to see the bridge on which one can stand on to get a view of the castle. Whether one takes a bus ride or a horse ride, the rides stop just before the bridge. And then a 15 minutes’ walk to the bridge and to the castle.
The castle, as mentioned above is surrounded by beautiful nature and a beautiful village that has preserved the environment. The castle was built in a very strategic position surrounded by mountains and rivers, and its high altitude made it a fortress. A beautiful sight to behold.
Important Fact
Once inside the castle, the tickets bought at the bottom of the mountain, give you access to a castle tour. No tickets are sold or verified at the castle’s entrance; you have to pass by the ticket office at the bottom. I emphasize on this because many people had hiked up or rode up the mountain only to be disappointed the tickets are only sold and verified at the ticket office at the bottom of the mountain.
History has it that the castle belonged to Kind Ludwig II: He had a great vision for the castle and took his time to design and furnish the castle. He even had a cave room, literal translation, a room that looked like a cave in the castle.
Once inside the castle, one is able to also enjoy different views of the surrounding area and becomes in awe of how magnificent the castle was majorly due to the work that was done in it and what is around it.
The castle was a fortress, surrounded by rivers, mountains and placed upon a hill making it safe from attacks.King Ludwig the II went to great lengths to make his castle to be habitable and mentionable. The paintaings and art work across the Castle show you that the king had both class and taste as every little detail in the construction was done to perfection.
The King was very visionary but was unable to have an heir to his throne and after his death nobody was able to lay claim to the castle. It was alleged that the King was first declared mad and unable to rule the kingdom and later he was allegedly murdered. At least that is what the tour guide told us.
The castle is amazing inside and outside.Some say it is the most beautiful castle in Germany… you have to visist and see it for yourself.
Fun Fact
Kind Ludwig II financed the building of the Neu Schwanstein castle out of pocket. He used his own money to build the castle which explains why construction took so long.
A horse ride up the mountain seems like fun. Added on my bucketlist