This past weekend was devoted to castles and palaces in Bavaria. We road-tripped it to Füssen, which took 4 hours since we ran into summer traffic. The drive was really pretty though, taking us through cute little lakeside towns and mountains. We were even in Austria for a bit. Our first stop was Schwangau on the "Romantic Road", home to the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Unfortunately, the weather turned a bit rainy with thunderstorms in the afternoon for a bit. The region was experiencing its hottest stretch in over a decade so the cooler temperature was a nice reprieve (gray skies are not so great for photos though)!
Hohenschwangau (High Swan County Palace) is where "Mad King Ludwig" grew up. It was built as a summer residence, with a bright and airy interior and amazing views of the lakes. His mother was very outdoorsy and stayed here until her death in 1889. Neither castle allowed photographs inside.
In contrast to Hohenschwangau, the fairytale-like Neuschwanstein has a darker interior, with intricate wood carvings and rich velvet curtains. Most of the castle is actually unfinished and King Ludwig lived here for only 6 months or so, before he was arrested (and then found dead 2 days later under "mysterious" circumstances).
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| The original Disneyland! |
We stayed overnight in Füssen, a short drive from the castles. The town is very charming, and boasts its own castle as well. We explored the old town while looking for a place to eat - given the warm summer evening and peak travel season, most of the outdoor tables were unsurprisingly full. We eventually found an Indian restaurant with available outdoor seating - and we were glad we found it, it was some of the best Indian we have had in a very long time! As such, we ate a little too much and walked around town and down to the river after dinner to work off the last few bites.
On Sunday we went further into the Bavarian Alps to the Linderhof palace, a Versailles-inspired palace King Ludwig built prior to beginning construction of Neuschwanstein. The drive required us to loop through Austria on what was essentially a one lane road that wound through the hills and along an alpine lake. The palace itself is set on beautifully manicured grounds, complete with fountains and flower beds. In yet a different interior style, this one was covered in gold. I kept thinking we'd run into Liberace around the next corner!
The final destination was kloster Ettal, an active Benedictine monastery.
On the way home we decided to stop along the alpine lake (along with everyone else in the region) for a quick photo op and admire the clear lake. Easier said than done given all the free space along the road was already full of cars!
Just before entering back into Switzerland we stopped in Bergenz, Germany for lunch. The city is situated on lake Constance, central Europe's third largest lake. It was nice to break up the drive and enjoy lounging by the lake in the (relatively) cool shade.
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