We celebrated the final day of our fantastic Crosby fam vacation by venturing outside of the city to visit Neuschwanstein castle. The nearly two-hour drive from Munich is well worth it to take in not only the castle but the glorious countryside and mountains surrounding it.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria commissioned the cliffside castle in 1868, but never saw it completed. The reclusive, “mad” king died in 1886 and the final towers were completed in 1892. His death was ruled a suicide, but it was believed by many that he was murdered by a relative in order to inherit the throne from the king, who never married nor bore children.
It’s also believed that the inspiration for both Cinderella’s castle at Magic Kingdom and Snow White’s castle at Disneyland were both modeled after Neuschwanstein. You can definitely see the resemblance!
Before making our way to the castle itself, we first hiked up to Marienbrücke, a suspension bridge that hangs precariously between two cliffs and over a beautiful waterfall. This is where you get the iconic views of the castle! I have developed a crazy fear of heights as I’ve aged, and the movement of those wooden boards, as you walk across the bridge, was NOT exciting or amusing!
As you make your way up to the castle, you have magnificent views of the neighboring town Hohenschwangau and the Schloss Hohenschwangau – King Ludwig II’s childhood home, built in the early 1800s by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria.
The actual tour of the castle itself was short but lovely. However, they don’t allow any interior photos – a huge disappointment! The throne room was particularly ornate with paintings on every wall, a massive center chandelier under a painted cupola, and an intricate mosaic floor.
On our way back to Munich, we stopped in nearby Füssen for lunch – a charming little town worth visiting. For a change, we decided on Döner kebabs – the most popular fast food in Germany. Great decision! After walking through the town center (and seeing an Elvis impersonator – odd), we headed back to our driver for the final leg back to Munich.
We hit one final stop at Plansee lake, actually in Austria, for a quick photo opp and I’m so glad we did. I wanted to soak up as much of this scenery as we could before our departure tomorrow.
Once back in Munich, we quickly repacked and then headed to Spatenhaus at Max-Joseph-Platz 2 for a farewell dinner with Jeff, our Delta pilot friend who scheduled his second layover to coincide with our final evening in Munich. Great company, great laughs, and a great meal with a great friend!
As I end this final post of the Crosby Fam Switzerland Adventure, I can truly say this has been a trip of a lifetime with our adult kids. Who knows if or when we ever get this opportunity again – at least for the five of us – to travel abroad together. We laughed, we argued, we laughed some more, and we logged more than 47.6 miles of walking! Most of all, we created memories that will last forever.
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