Four Schlosses in Two Tags
Friday 4th July 2014
I stare in dismay at the weather outlook for the weekend. I had been hoping to go away to the mountains but a lot of Switzerland is predicted to be under a deluge. “Shall we just have a movie and popcorn weekend then?” I ask myself. That doesn’t tempt me at all! Recalling my interest in a list of must-see castles of Germany, I search for the ones closest to the Swiss border. I make up my mind quickly, call my husband to come home early, book hotels and pack my overnight bag. I even make sandwiches for dinner as there will not be time to dine. I am ready and waiting at the door by the time my husband comes home. We drive 4 hrs that evening and settle comfortably into our hotel which is in a small town on our route.
Saturday 5th July 2014
Out first castle, Hohenzollern, is about 70 kms from our hotel. Our drive there is truly picturesque. We pass by the Swabian Jura (Schwäbische Alb), a green, forested area with rolling hills and beautiful pastures. We breeze through small farming communities with their quaint farmhouses and steep roofs. It is very charming and I tell myself that we should come back and explore the natural aspects of this area another time. But this trip is about castles and we arrive at ours very soon.
The first sight of the castle on a hill is very impressive.
A zoomed-in picture for a better view of the castle. At the bottom of the hill we get tickets for the English tour at 11:30. There are only limited tours in English; I had looked up the time online to be sure. It starts raining just about then so instead of walking up the hill as we planned, we take the bus.
We are well ahead of time. We hang around the courtyard, checking out the Catholic and Protestant chapels while we wait. The interior of the castle can be viewed only as part of a guided visit.
We wait by the ramparts, enjoying the magnificent views of the countryside.
Photography is not permitted within the castle; you can check out the pictures at the castle website. It is a well-maintained and furnished castle. The family tree at the entrance hall is fascinating; our guide is excellent. I am happy to have come here.
It is past lunch time by the time we get back to the car and we are hungry. We set off towards Tübingen for lunch.
This is a busy little town this Saturday. We quickly find a nice pizzeria and have a very nice lunch. The old town is very attractive and beautifully preserved. We have time for only a quick stroll; it deserves more than that. But I have one more castle to visit this afternoon and that takes precedence.
The Lichtenstein castle is a tiny little one on the top of another hill. We park quite close to the entrance. There are no English tours but one can visit the castle with a German tour and use the provided pamphlet for a translation.
The castle enjoys an enviable location! Very fairy-tale like, isn’t it?
There is small garden area where we wait for our tour. The views are quite outstanding. It is well worth a visit just for the views. My husband and I sit for a while on the bench above, taking it all in.
No photography is allowed inside however you can find some good photos in their site. It is a very small castle yet interesting enough. It is a pity that there are no English tours; it is not half as much fun reading things off a pamphlet.
We have a 200 km drive to our hotel tonight at Füssen. We pass through some stunning scenery and I keep asking my husband to stop so that I can take some pictures. We finally reach the hotel at 7:30pm. It is spotless and quiet. We have dinner at the local restaurant opposite our hotel and call it an an early night.
Sunday 6th July 2014
We don’t hurry this morning; it is past 10 by the time we check out and head out I had booked online for the two castles that we plan to visit, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Both of these can only be visited as part of a tour. The tour-times they gave me online were for the 12:55 & 16:55. Given that we have to drive back 450 kms tonight, I am anxious to see if we can get the times changed to earlier ones.
The queue at the ticket counter is very long; there are at least 150 people there. Thankfully there is a separate line for reserved tickets and I am second in line. This alone is worth the extra euros I paid for the reservation! The young lady at the counter manages to find earlier times for our tours so I am very happy.
There are stairs to climb up the hill, or you can take a longer gradually rising road. The stairs take us about 10 mins. I click pictures while we wait for our tour to start. Again, there were no photos allowed inside the castle. This castle is not very big, more like a large manor house. The tour takes about 30 mins and is quite good. There is some info about both the castles at their site.
The walk back is very pleasant, with lovely views of the lake below. I regret not having the time to explore the area a bit more. I would have loved a walk by the lake. Just look at its colour – a brilliant sapphire!
One can walk up to the Neuschwanstein castle, take a horse-carriage or take a bus to the Marienbrücke (above). This bridge is suspended precariously over a deep gorge and has a magnificent view of the castle. A great place for photography.
View of the castle from Marienbrücke.
It is a pleasant 10 min walk downhill from the bridge to the castle with lovely views all the way. At the entry of the castle there seem to be hundreds of tourists. There are tours every 5 mins and we queue up when our tour number is announced on the board. The interior is extravagantly done, extremely theatrical. Quite over the top, but in a nice way. The tour however is very short; we hardly have time to pause and look as the next lot of people are at our heels. Many rooms are just skipped as there is not enough time. Again, as there is no photography allowed inside, I cannot show you any pictures. I buy myself a souvenir book to remind myself of the interior.
We walk down the hill towards our car; it is a very easy and pleasant walk. On the way there is a restaurant and we stop for lunch. The service is terrible and the food mediocre. Its nearly 4pm by the time we get to our car and head back home. The drive is long and tedious, but we are both happy to have had a nice weekend away.
Where the path leads 
Hi I stumbled on to your blog while searching for the difference between Asmani and aasmani. Read a couple of your blogs on Music and this one on travel. Very well written. Thanks for introducing us to new places.
Thank you for your kind comment! There are so many interesting places in the world and so little time to see it all! So its nice to share our experiences with each other, isn’t it!
Cheers. Suja