Visit the Neuschwanstein Castle

“I stood in line and waited with the pushy crowd until I finally managed to get at ticket for the next available entry in to Neuschwanstein Castle - which wasn’t for another three and a half hours! Disappointed in myself and society, I felt the urgent need to escape the chaos of the city center, less I give in to my desire to punch an innocent passerby. [...] The atmosphere that afternoon was dark, cloudy, cold, and rainy, but the moment I left town I was in better spirits. While my hike didn’t result in any particularly great pictures, the weather did serve to enhanced the overall feeling of being in the Bavarian Alps. Everywhere around me seemed peaceful; the little tap-tap-tap created by the rain on the surface of the water was both incredibly relaxing and helped to drown out the noise of people back in the city.”

“The pamflet they give you with your tickets warns it cane take nearly an hour to get up to the castle. Because it is such a far way there are many options to get to Neuschwanstein Castle – you can pay to take a horse and cart, take a bus, or walk and the walk is not a joke, it’s more of a hike. There are benches every 2-3 minutes, and they say the walk takes 40 minutes but it took me 30. As I got to the top at 8:10 for my 9am tour it sounded like plenty of time but I knew I wanted to check out the castle vista point, Mary’s Bridge. Based on my speedy assent I ignored the map saying the bridge was 20 minutes each and headed straight there. Walking fast, I made it in 15, took a ton of photos with my tripod and nearly sprinted back downhill to the castle for my tour.”

“After hearing the background, I was even more impressed with the castle. The whole group then took a little hike toward a bridge which overlooked the castle and the surrounding forest and lakes. This was my first real glimpse of the castle. Damn. That is a really special castle. In fact, this was the most impressive castle I had ever seen. It was really jaw-droppingly beautiful. Damn. As I stood there I listened to the dozens of people around me complain about the scaffolding on the castle. [...] Eventually we started our tour of the interior. The inside was as elaborate and beautiful as the outside. It included frescos, giant chandlers, a man-made cave and lavish furniture.”