On a prior trip to Germany, we enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful castles along the Rhine River. We didn’t have time to explore further, so we had hoped to come back to visit Munich and also to see some of the famous Ludwig II’s castles in Bavaria. And while in the area, why not cross over into Austria to get a closer look at the Alps?
What started much of our planning was my husband’s desire to see King Ludwig II’s famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria which is said to have inspired Disney’s Castle. The setting of this magnificent hilltop castle is like something straight out of a fairytale.
Bavarian road trip plan
Our plan was simple. We would arrive in Munich, rent a car, and drive straight to see Ludwig II’s two most famous castles: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. We would spend three nights in Schwangau next to the Alpsee Lake, a crystal-clear alpine lake.
We would then continue to Austria to see some of the Alps and some more of Ludwig’s castles in Bavaria including the splendid Herrenchiemsee Royal Palace. Designed to look like the Palace of Versailles, this castle was built on an island. Staying one night in the area would make it easier to organize the ferry ride onto the island.
We’d then spend three nights in Salzburg, Austria, exploring more castles and the surrounding lakes and mountains before circling back to Munich where we would ditch the car and finish up with three days in the city.
How we got there
We had snagged a deal on a direct flight to Madrid and connected that with a local flight on Iberia to get in and out of Munich. While we thought it was a good choice saving us money, it did turn into more of a problem.
First, our international outbound flight was rescheduled so we had to swap it to an earlier day and spend one night in Madrid. Then coming back, we had delays which added stress about possibly missing our international flight home.
At the time, Madrid was also experiencing wildfires and all of Europe was in a drought and heatwave. But who could have known!
Suffice it to say that we prefer direct flights and if we need to connect, when possible, we opt for a train connection instead. Despite some added stress we did make it to Munich on time and while having a short night on the return did make it back to Madrid to catch our international flight back home.
Our first stop was only about an hour’s drive from Munich International Airport.
Schwangau, Germany
The quiet town of Schwangau is located next to the picturesque Alpsee Lake in the Bavarian Alps. By staying in town, we could easily walk to the two most famous of Ludwig II’s castles: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. These two iconic castles were at the top of our list.
Where we stayed
We booked three nights in Schwangau at the AMERON Neuschwanstein Alpsee Resort & Spa. This proved to be an excellent choice. The rooms here have air conditioning! After having been caught in more than one heatwave in Europe previously, we had made this a prerequisite. And guess what, it was literally 100 degrees (36°C) every day and we really appreciated the A/C.
The proximity to the castles was perfect with both within easy walking distance (ok, up a steep hill but ultimately no driving necessary). And while we had not really given it much thought when booking, the AMERON’s proximity to the alpine lake was ideal to go for a dip after a long hot day of sightseeing too.
Arriving in the small town of Schwangau was fun. When we first glimpsed at the Schloss Neuschwanstein on the hill we just had to pull over and take photos. We knew we would see it closer the following day, but the picturesque castle is like a photo magnet. We could not help ourselves. It really is a beautiful sight that literally takes your breath away.
We then saw the lake with the crystal-clear turquoise water surrounded by mountains reflecting in the mirror-like surface. We could understand why Ludwig II would want to build his castle here.
We booked three nights as we were not sure if we could do both castles in one day, but you really can without much problem. Both castle interiors are visited only with guided tours, and the tours don’t last more than 30-45 minutes.
If you count climbing the hill and stopping at the various scenic viewpoints you can still do it easily in one day. So, two nights would have been enough. That said we did make the most of our third night with visiting the environs but one could easily stay off the main strip to do this and save on the hotel or get closer to your next stop.
Since we had the castle tours queued up for the following day, we spent our first afternoon exploring the small village of Schwangau. We also bought a beautiful glass-blown Christmas ornament for our collection.
There was a small boat launch where we rented a rowboat and took a tour of the Alpsee Lake getting a water level perspective of the two castles which was wonderful. The scenery was really picturesque.
Our hotel had a spa as well and we checked out the indoor pool for a bit before basically getting ready for dinner. It was a lovely first day in Bavaria.
Visiting Ludwig II’s Castles: Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein
We needed to get timed tickets for each of the castles and in what we would learn was common at German historical sights, there was a scanner at the entrance that would read the barcodes and let you in through a turnstile at exactly the time shown on the ticket. Not a minute sooner!
Here a large clock counted down and a restless crowd waited. There was a near rebellion when the big clock showed 9:30am and the barcodes still didn’t work. Turned out that the clock in the turnstile was not synchronized with the clock above. It was running 15 seconds slower. It reminded us of a t-shirt we had seen depicting four paper clips with one upside down, the caption read ‘Chaos in Germany’!
Hohenschwangau Castle
To access the tour, you must climb up the steep slope where you can get some great views from the terraces and gardens. Be sure to check out the castle façade and of course the views of the Alpsee Lake, of Schwangau, and the Neuschwanstein Castle.
The location was discovered by King Maximilian II (father of King Ludwig II) while hiking. He fell in love with the view and we can certainly understand why. Shortly after he bought the castle ruins and had it rebuilt.
It became the summer and hunting residence of the Bavarian royal family. His wife, Marie of Prussia, was fond of climbing mountains. At the time this was not considered a womanly pastime. But hey, she was the Queen!
While no pictures are allowed inside the castle we remember some memorable highlights:
- We loved the super-sized billiard table, which we were told had solid ivory billiard balls
- Many of the original mural paintings were covered by resin and they are still all original and remarkably preserved
- An elaborate chamber for changing with holes through the ceiling and prisms placed into the holes to depict a starry sky
Interesting fact: Our guide pointed out that the romantic artists at the time could not depict blood in their paintings. The fallen soldiers are shown as if they are sleeping. There were never any open wounds shown or any blood.
We walked down from the castle a different way to get some other viewpoints. This took us directly to the Museum of the Bavarian Kings. With our first tour at 9:30am and second castle tour at 1pm, we had plenty of time to visit the small museum in between and learn more about the Kingdom of Bavaria.
Neuschwanstein Castle
To get up to the second castle you can take a horsedrawn carriage, a bus, or you can walk. With our fixed time tour booked, we looked at the line for the horsedrawn carriages and thought we’d better go on foot to ensure we’d make it on time. While the slope is quite steep, the path was well paved, and we had a sense of accomplishment after reaching the top.
King Ludwig II started building Neuschwanstein in 1869 and it took 17 years to build. He died before it was completed after which funds ran dry and many aspects of the castle were never finished.
For example, there is no throne in the Throne Hall. After the King died, they stopped investing in the castle. Even without a throne, the room was spectacular (here too no pictures allowed inside). We were told there were over 2 million mosaics on the floor under the massive chandelier.
The King’s Bedroom had intricate wood carvings with the canopy of the bed looking like a myriad of church spires.
As you exit the short tour, be sure to step out onto the terrace of the coffee shop for some spectacular views. We also bought a t-shirt at ‘the original shop’ where we met the third-generation owner who took over the shop in 1994.
Suspended Bridge with castle views
There were mixed messages online about how to access this scenic bridge with views of the castle. We can assure you that you can in fact access it once you are up at the Neuschwanstein Castle site and you don’t have to go all the way back down and climb up again!
The bridge hangs almost 300ft over a ravine and is a little shaky.
There was a long line to actually gain access to the bridge that was controlled and limited by a guard. We almost turned back but were glad we didn’t as this really is the best place for a view of Neuschwanstein Castle.
It took maybe 30 minutes of waiting for the line to move up. We all waited patiently but had to laugh as some self-entitled folks tried to push their way past the line to butt in. Pretending not to see the line or the dirty looks, they expected us to understand that they must be in a rush. One lady pretended to be on the phone and ignored everyone. We couldn’t tell if anyone let them in or not, but we sure didn’t.
With the long daylight hours and having finished the tours and seen the bridge, we headed back down to our spa hotel, grabbed some towels and went for a swim in the pool. We had time to go again with the rowboat on the lake, and I even took a dip in the refreshingly cold water.
Some other highlights
- Watch where you step as there were these cute tiny brown frogs on the path near the lake
- Take the rowboat over the pedalos as it’s much quieter and somehow made the boat ride more relaxing
- Yes, the water is cold but do take a dip in the lake. It actually made our muscles feel more relaxed and our pores close up. A Nordic spa treatment!
Tips: You really do have to book these popular castle tours in advance. We saw many people being turned away at the gate. Others were trying to buy last minute tickets online, but there was no availability for days. Seeing the exterior is nice but coming all the way out here merits the preparation and the pre-booking which we were glad to have done.
A little history lesson about King Ludwig II
King Ludwig II was the most famous ruler of Bavaria. Born on August 25, 1845, in Nymphenburg Palace, he became King of Bavaria on May 10, 1864, at only 18 when his father, King Maximilian II, passed away from a severe illness.
He lived through a difficult period with the founding of the German Empire in 1871 and the subsequent loss of independence for Bavaria. While a popular king with the people he struggled with his role in the constitutional monarchy where his power was limited unlike his idol Louis XIV King of France.
Rumors of homosexuality and public criticism grew of his governing and his moral conduct. He withdrew and isolated devoting time to his art projects. An uprising in 1884 caused large conflicts as he was spending lavishly on his projects and unwilling to abdicate. His ministers declared him to be mentally ill and unfit to govern. He was then forcibly removed from Neuschwanstein and brought to Berg Castle for therapy on June 13, 1886.
The next day, alongside his psychiatrist, he was found drowned in Lake Starnberg under unexplained circumstances. There remains speculation and much of the circumstances surrounding his death are still a mystery. Just like he would have wanted according to his quote: “I want to remain an eternal mystery to myself and others.”
Exploring the Schwangau area
As we now had a free day, we opted to head off to explore some of the environs with the car. Our first stop was the nearby cable car.
Tegelbergbahn Cable car
We parked in the huge lot below the cable car amongst hikers and skydivers and headed to the lift.
There was no line really and we were whisked up to about 1,730 meters high (that’s about 1 mile!). We grabbed a small pizza up there as we enjoyed the view. Paragliders were jumping off one after the other and we’d watch them catch the wind and sail down. Looked like fun!
On the way up we had a great view of the Neuschwanstein Castle but couldn’t see it from the top. Maybe if you hiked to a lower elevation. I’m sure the paragliders had amazing views.
Summer toboggan
As we descended with the cable car, we saw toboggans being pulled along and let go onto what looked like a stainless steel track. Like what you might see in a water park. Well young at heart we had to try it, and it was a blast!
Then, we went to Füssen to visit another castle and the historic center.
Hohes Schloss, Füssen
We parked outside the city in a big lot and walked up the hill (what else is new!) to the castle. There was an art gallery inside and the outside walls had some interesting paintings that made some alcoves look three dimensional. An illusion of sorts that is supposed to be more apparent in the setting sun.
Next to the Schloss was a beautiful cathedral with an amazing ceiling filled with what looked like dragon motifs.
We also loved the Town Square and while we thought it might have been nice to overnight there, we would not suggest it for visiting Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles as driving to Schwangau and parking would be a pain.
Next, we headed into the Austrian mountains for some bird’s-eye views. (Be sure to read our post about vignettes if you intend to drive from Germany to Austria.)
Highline179
We crossed over to Austria for a little more excitement at the Highline179 suspension bridge.
This bridge is suspended 114 meters over a gorge and is 406 meters long. Basically a crazy long and high suspended bridge that shakes, wobbles, and sways as you walk across it. Below, seeing cars and trucks pass on the highway was indeed something to get the adrenaline going! Not for the faint of heart and it took some doing to get my husband to stop and look or even let go of the side! Well, we were almost across by then!
The Highline facility also had two funiculars that bring you up to a lookout point where there are the remnants of a castle.
Here we had gliders zipping by us and waving which was fun to see. Watching them dive down and then catch the thermals and ride back up soaring past us seemed to defy the laws of gravity. They all looked like they were having fun.
Even up in the mountains we were really hot and everyone kept telling us it was unusual. We had pictured ourselves wearing raincoats and sweaters and had packed accordingly. In reality we were sweating through our t-shirts and hats and glad to have our shorts. Even at 1,200 meters and 2,400 meters it was hot!
Back to Schwangau
It turned out to be a great day and heading back we were really glad to be at the spa hotel near the lake for a third night to be able to cool off in the alpine lake. A refreshing dip in the cool lake felt great even with the water temperature being only 62 degrees!
A few tips about the AMERON Neuschwanstein Alpsee Resort & Spa:
- Great place to stay within walking distance of the castles
- Nice rooms with castle views
- One of the few hotels in the area with air conditioning and with the heatwave we were grateful for it. Get a room in the new section if you want air conditioning. There are some historic buildings with large suites, but these did not have A/C
- Large spa with indoor pool and sauna, but this was pretty crowded. What we loved was taking the towels and waking to the lake
- Very good Wi-Fi with good coverage. We even stayed connected at the restaurant across the street
- Not to be missed, the make-your-own-waffles with homemade cherry preserves. We had some every day
- Pass on the 4-course meal option which was really a limited buffet with the main meal being brought to the table. They switched us to the Biergarten restaurant instead where we ate hearty local dishes and that was great but with the large portions, we got by easily sharing a dessert and appetizer, so we overpaid with the meal package. Just order à-la-carte instead
- Take the hotel parking which reserves you a spot. Parking in town fills up fast during the summer (high season)
If you decide to stay further from town, be sure to arrive early (8am) before the parking lots near the castles fill up. Because they do.
Linderhof Palace
The next stop on our Bavarian road trip was King Ludwig II ‘s favorite castle, the Linderhof Palace. This was about an hour’s drive from Schwangau, and we drove along nice winding roads with lots of scenic views.
Give yourself extra time to get to the Royal Palace as here too all the tickets are timed entries, and access is controlled with the very German scan-the-barcode-at-exactly-the-right-time system. We were lucky to get parking near the entrance as the lot is huge and even for us it was a good 20-minute walk to the main castle. The Venus Grotto is another 15-20 minutes from there and you definitely want to visit both (they are on separate tickets).
As you walk along the path the first thing that comes into view is the beautiful Flora Fountain in front of the palace. While much smaller than we expected it was utterly beautiful. It reminded us of the many small French châteaux we had visited in the Loire Valley.
The grounds were wonderful, filled with gardens, water basins, and statues. Do climb up the Terrace Gardens where you get a spectacular view of the overall layout of Lindorf Palace and Park. See the waterworks. Behind the palace there is the Neptune Fountain, the end point of the long cascade. The view of the palace and grounds from the top of the Cascade is well worth the effort.
It took nine years to build Linderhof Palace. King Ludwig II would spend two weeks of every month here as he found München too crowded. We could understand why one would want to stay!
Linderhof Palace tour
Again, there are no pictures allowed inside the Linderhof Palace, but it really does take your breath away.
Somewhat of a peculiar fellow we learned that Ludwig II was inspired by Louis XIV who was known as the Sun King. Ludwig aspired to be the Moon King and frequently went for nightly strolls around the palace grounds.
Lavishly decorated like a French château, Linderhof is filled with sculptures, tapestries, gilded decorations, and ornate ceilings. It is estimated that 5kg of gold was used to do all the gilding inside with thin layers throughout the palace. Akin to Versailles, there is a Mirror Hall where you get an illusion of infinity. And the walls were filled with a collection of 94 tiny porcelain vases (a fashion at the time). One was a gift from Emperor Napoleon III. Other walls had swan figurines.
Beautiful and elaborate Meissen porcelain flowers and cherubs decorated the palace just like we saw in Valencia at the Porcelain Museum. A life-size porcelain peacock (one of Ludwig’s favorite animals) had been imported from Paris. There were also pictures and porcelain figures of pineapples. At the time a pineapple could cost as much as a horse-drawn carriage, and it was a huge honor to be served pineapple.
Also of note, a special ivory chandelier which is considered the most valuable piece in the castle and had taken over four years to carve. There was also the bedchamber’s half-ton crystal chandelier with 108 candles that was never lit (as we were told during the tour).
There was a mechanical table that went up and down where they would place Ludwig II’s dinner setting (often as many as 12 dishes). And rumor has it that he would have them set the table for four, but he always ate alone. He’d have conversations with his imaginary guests (such as Louis XIV King of France) to whom he would speak in French.
However, no portraits or busts of the Ludwig family were included in the castle. Only French Royals. This was done to make it look like an authentic French château.
While the tour was short and the palace smaller than the others, it was the one that my husband loved the most.
After the palace tour, we had our Venus Grotto tour scheduled for the afternoon, so we had time to explore the grounds. It’s really worth planning your visit with enough time so you can visit the small chapel, the Moorish Kiosk (reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada but much smaller of course), and the other structures and pathways on the wonderful grounds.
Venus Grotto tour
Really not to be missed, this completely man-made realistic looking grotto was pretty incredible. It was huge and Ludwig II had it built by a grotto master creator (how is that for a title!).
There was a lighted crystal throne overlooking a small lake which had a backdrop of wonderful frescoes. Crystal lilies were illuminated in the water and a small but beautiful wooden boat with elaborate carvings was moored to the side.
Ludwig would have the lake water heated to 95 degrees for swimming. For the lighting, the grotto was one of the first structures to be electrified in 1873 using a steam house and light carbon lamps. It was actually the first electric lighting in Bavaria. And there is more!
Ludwig had a small machine made that would create ripples in the lake to make it more lifelike, He even had a refraction system that projected a rainbow behind the running waterfall. Like a fantasy brought to life with no expense spared. Well, he was the King of Bavaria after all!
We really loved visiting Linderhof Palace and would highly recommend it. We actually enjoyed touring it more than the most famous castles. It was so beautiful and elegant. Be sure to include it if you are visiting the area.
Next, we were off to see another of Ludwig II’s palaces, the Herrenchiemsee Royal Palace
Prien am Chiemsee, Germany
Because Herrenchiemsee Palace was built on an island, to visit you must take a ferry from Prien am Chiemsee. We opted to spend the night in nearby Aschau im Chiemgau to be closer to the island castle.
We stayed at the Residenz Heinz Winkler, another historic hotel, and it also had air conditioning (a must when visiting during a heatwave!). The hotel was a bit quirky, but we fell in love with it. It used to be a historic 15th century inn.
They have an amazing Roman bath in the basement that we were just in time to try out and we’re happy we did. The pool had a wave machine that would create current that you could swim against. It worked remarkably well allowing you to swim quite vigorously in the small pool.
They upgraded us to a two-floor room which had a terrace on the ground floor and a nice little garden area full of statues. We didn’t have the heart to tell them we preferred to have the single floor balcony room, so we took it and it proved to be just fine.
Dinner was great and the son of the owner of the hotel was mingling with the guests and came over to talk to us in French which was nice. There was an interesting local garlic soup that we really enjoyed. And their homemade Opera cake was delicious.
The next morning after a big breakfast we were off to visit Herrenchiemsee.
Visiting Herrenchiemsee Palace
This amazing palace located in the middle of an island is another of King Ludwig II’s creations. His idea was to build a replica of the Palace of Versailles.
We had stressed needlessly about getting to the island because it was difficult to figure out how to get the ferry and whether to buy tickets in advance and so on. It really turned out to be not a problem at all. There was a huge parking lot next to the ferry dock.
The ferry boats go every 30 minutes, and you just buy the ticket on arrival. Get a return ticket for Prien/Stock (the pier) to Herreninsel (the island). If you have extra time, you can also add the 1-hour tour of the lake, but we opted to skip that so we could get a head start on our drive to Salzburg after the day.
Our overthinking about visiting the palace got us onto the island early for our tour so we explored the other highlights first.
Augustinian Monastery (Old Palace) Museum
Near the old monastery there is an ancient church amongst tall trees that you can peek inside. The former Parish Church of St Mary dates to the mid-1400s and is nice to see.
Inside the old monastery there is also a museum that shows various historical displays. The present complex dates to the 17th century. And under King Ludwig II it served as his temporary accommodations during the construction of the new Palace of Herrenchiemsee.
Aside from Ludwig II’s living quarters this is where they also formulated the constitution after WW2. On display there were various artifacts from this time providing reflection on how Germany could rejoin the world after all that had happened.
In the numerous galleries there were lots of paintings from local artists. Be sure to go upstairs and look for the decorated State Rooms. We almost missed them but asked at the front desk only because we had seen the pictures in the brochure. Here pictures were allowed unlike inside the palace.
To get to the Herrenchiemsee Palace we decided to ride in style and took the horse-drawn buggy. We could tell that these horses were well fed and well cared for. They also call it quits at 1pm when the temperature gets too hot. It was a great way to arrive at the palace.
Herrenchiemsee Palace tour
We had booked an English tour, but the group size seemed enormous. We asked the custodian if we could switch to the smaller French group and they accommodated us. Nice.
Herrenchiemsee was Ludwig II’s third château. Ludwick had visited the Palace of Versailles twice. And while Versailles was the château of the Roi Soleil (Sun King), he modeled this copy of the French palace and referred to himself as the Moon King (Roi Lune). He was known as the Fairy Tale King because he built many palaces, but at times he was also referred to as the Mad King.
Unlike at Versailles, there is no city built up around the palace because King Ludwig II of Bavaria didn’t have an entourage. Just like in his other castles there were no pictures or busts of him or his family. Only French figures, to make the castles seem authentic.
The façade is almost identical to how we remember Versailles. But it was made a bit larger. Competition, I guess! Beautiful fountains and sculptures decorate the vast parterre.
Sadly, Ludwig II only got to spend 10 nights at Herrenchiemsee before he died at the age of 40 under mysterious circumstances. Of the 70 rooms, 50 were left unfinished. They now host art exhibitions in the unfinished rooms.
Again, there were no pictures allowed inside the palace, but I can tell you that the interior was more lavish than the State Rooms at the Monastery Museum. Here are some highlights:
- As you enter there is a beautiful marble staircase
- We admired the ceilings depicting Greek scenes
- There was an incredible French-style armoire made in Munich
- A furnace with heated air would warm the huge palace through ornate porcelain heating systems
- Amazing gold gilding was done throughout the finished rooms
- The bedroom is just incredible. It was said that 150 people would watch the King go to bed or watch him wake up (It was considered a huge honor to be invited.)
- Ludwig made his Hall of Mirrors 25 meters longer than the original one in Versailles. The 35 chandeliers and 40 candelabras were made of bohemian crystal, and it would take 30 minutes to light the 2,200 candles using a special setup
- There was an incredible mechanical clock showing time, date, moon phases, as well as the planetary alignment in a large globe
- A hanging Meisen porcelain (German) chandelier with amazingly detailed flower bouquets was very impressive
King Ludwig II Museum
Our tickets also included admission into King Ludwig’s Museum where we learned more about his life. Many artifacts were on display but we really liked all the castle models.
Prien am Chiemsee to Salzburg
After visiting Herrenchiemsee and the boat tour we headed off to Saltzburg for three nights. Saltzburg itself merits its own post and we’ve wrote it up including a few of the ‘further afield’ places that one might do even if only passing through.
See our post: Salzburg, Austria: A Beautiful City at the Foot of the Alps
Saltzburg to Munich
On our way from Saltzburg back to Munich, we visited one final castle that merits being added to our Bavarian road trip post. The longest castle in the world: Burghausen Castle in Bavaria.
Burghausen Castle
The medieval town of Burghausen below the castle is also pretty cool to see and it retains much of its historic charm. The castle itself with a length of over a kilometer (1,051 meters to be exact) stretches along a ridge above the Salzach River.
Burghausen Castle is actually in the Guinness Book of World Records. It was used for guarding Bavaria’s southeastern border and being a royal residence. It was constructed around 1025 and continued to expand and grow up to 1503.
We found plenty of free parking in the historic center of Burghausen and of course the castle access was again a strenuous hike uphill in the sun. Fortunately, we had bought ourselves some good sun UV protection umbrellas that we were now carrying everywhere.
The Burghausen Castle is made up of six courtyards, and it has been used as a royal residence, a barracks, a treasury, a school, and even a jail.
There were multiple museums to visit up there but the most spectacular was the view from the top. The turquoise lake used as a swimming area on the opposite side of the castle from the city looked really inviting. With some better planning we would have been sure to jump into that refreshing lake!
Before heading off again, we stopped to enjoy a meal in the town below at the Hacker Pschorr restaurant (part of a hotel). It was a great meal and while my husband ordered the lake trout, he got a wiener schnitzel. Always a joker he told the waitress ‘big fish’, and she realized her mistake but was witty enough to say ‘with hooves’ in German and we all laughed. The schnitzel was good as was my salad and we could not resist the apple strudel. Delicious!
Back on the road to our final stop
And with that we headed off to Munich where we would return our rental car and spend the last few days exploring Munich on foot from the centrally located ‘oldest hotel in Munich’.
More on that in our separate post on Munich: Munich, Germany: Capital of Bavaria
Overall impressions of our road trip in Bavaria
It was nice to tie the trip together with Ludwig II’s castles and visit many of them.
We enjoyed having the car although we could have done without it in Saltzburg. With more planning one might be able to take the train or rent a car for a day at various spots. This is of course a matter of choice and budget vs convenience. While we paid for parking, we did avoid the need to check in and pickup and drop off the car which can also be time consuming.
Driving along the scenic roads looking at the hills was also enjoyable. We’d see green grassy fields on the steep slopes and breakout with: “The hills are alivvvve… with the sound of muuuuusiiiiic”. Both laughing!
We were also impressed with the steep slopes and the tenacity of the 100-foot-tall pine trees clinging to the sides. It looked like a Christmas display and must be beautiful in the snow.
It was also quite something driving on the autobahn at 150 km/h and having Porsches pass us like we were standing still. Even with no speed limit we felt safer than we do at home where you get people distracted on their phones or just simply bad drivers. We did have one fellow shake his fist at us for going too slow, but we just laughed it off as he must have been in a rush!
Some tips
- The phone can be used for almost all payments
- Attraction entries are all automated. A QR code from your ticket opens the gate at exactly the time of your tour (not a minute earlier)
- All tickets or just about were timed-entry tickets that we prebought. Many that just showed up were turned away because tours were fully booked
It was truly a beautiful area and while we happened to be here during a heatwave which made climbing the steep hills to visit castles more difficult, we managed and just stopped for more drinks and ice creams.
We very much recommend coming to the Bavarian area of Germany and including Salzburg in Austria as well. Perhaps a more comfortable time would be March -April or September.
We plan to return on a Christmas cruise one day and can’t wait to see the scenery with a bit of snow.