I thought there wouldn't be much to write about visiting Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. The details of the trip are so well covered by many blogs and travel guides. Little did I know... My trip was just going to start getting crazy... So many ups and downs.
Up No. 1 :)
Alarm went off at 6:30am as I had planned, very aggressively, to take the 7:52amtrain to Fussen. Without opening my eyes, I decided to keep on sleeping and take a later train.
Huge mistake!
Down No. 1 :(
I ended up taking the 9:52am train after a hearty breakfast (Breakfast was very good). That was the most crowded train I'd ever taken in Europe. Me and many other people had to stand through the 2 hour journey. At Fussen station, several No. 78 buses were waiting, and we filled up all the buses again. When I finally arrived at the ticket office, the queue was at least 200 meters outside of the building.
The real problem is not the queue. Visiting the royal castles must be guided in groups in Deutsch, English or audio guide for selected languages. And the display showed that the earliest available time for Neuschwangau English guided tour was 17:55. I need to get back to Munich for 22:13 night train to Berlin, but my luggage is at the hotel. This means Mission Impossible.
Up No. 2 :)
I told the girl at cashier my situation. She was super helpful that she asked to squeeze me into the 16:55 group. So I got 14:20 at Hohenschwangau and 16:55 at Neuschwanstein. I can visit Marien Brucke in between. I was so happy and loved Bavarian people more.
Hohenschwangau
This castle has been well used and maintained. From the outside, it's a common yellowish castle, but the inside is nice. I read somewhere that a +100 year old cake with a lot of salt is kept in the castle. So when I saw a cake, I told a random stranger that the story. My intention of talking to her is likely from the fact that she had Lululemon clothes on and a friendly Canadian accent. The girl got quite excited about this piece information. Embarrassingly, this is not the cake. We met the real one on second floor. The salt is not in the cake either. A bowl of salt is near the cake to draw the moist.
Neuswanstein from Merien Brucke
So called the best view for the Cinderella Castle is from the bridge. It's one of those check-the-box things that you have to do.
I took a shorter path up which was almost a real hike. Met a girl climbing by herself. Se later offered to take pictures for me when I was holding my iphone like a real selfie. She said in an East Coast accent "it's hard to take photos when you travel by yourself." I told her all the good photos are in my SLR but all the ones with me are in my phone.
Neuschwanstein
The best feature of the castle is the overview from far. I was really bored on the tour inside. Didn't like the guide, and was worried about catching the train back.
Mental note: always check the return train schedule!
Down No. 2 :(
When I got Fussen station at 18:30, I checked the schedule and the earliest time to get back to Munich is 21:40! Panicking mode!! There is no way I could get my luggage and catch my train to Berlin. After all the trouble getting an earlier ticket, the train schedule totally screwed me up!!!
So I used up all my coins, then borrowed a phone from a nice local family, and finally convinced the concierge to find someone send my luggage to Munich central station. I even played the platinum member card, although I planned to have a backpacking kind of trip like when I was younger...
Up No. 3 :)
the Canadian girl and her friend catches me when I was still in panicking mode. She showed me another schedule. By transferring to another train, we can get to Munich by 21:20. Much better!
We somehow started talking with another group of Americans. They mistly MIT freshmen in a German language program for the summer. Then the East Coast girl joined us. We formed a group of nine, happily chatting.
Down No. 3 :(
Train delayed! I was shocked as on time is the characteristics of Germany for me. But all my new friends told me never to trust DB. "German people areon time. but the trains are not."
We transferred to the later train at Buchloe station. I called the hotel so many times that the concierge could recognize my voice. My Canadian friends were also in danger of missing their next train back to their "village".
Up & down No. 4
I arrived at Munich Central Station, found the taxi driver with my new Rimowa. But paid him 55 Euros for the service.
The next train to Berlin was also delayed. So ya, don't trust DB schedule.
Expensive and crazy trip just to see a castle? Don't trust fairy tales either.
Some comments/ tips based on my experience. Refer to comprehensive travel guide to plan your trip.
Bayern day ticket
This day ticketbis perfect for day trip Munich to the castles. It covers all the S Bahn, U Bahn, regional train and bus involved. Only problem is it starts being effective at 9am in weekdays. So if you want to be an early bird, which you definitely should, extra subway ticket is needed.
All these days, no one checked my tickets in Munich though. It could only happen in Germany.
Castle tickets ( which to visit)
Both old and new castles cost 12 Euros. Not cheap. Visiting both costs 23 Euros, and student ticket is 21 Euros. Still not cheap. Dfferent from most travel guide, I would suggest visit Hohenswangau. Because the outside of Hohenswangau is nothing but the inside is interesting to some extend. And for Neuswanstein, go to the bridge for free and get all the pictures you need.
Audio v.s. real guide
I took both tour in English by real guides. Very disappointed. The guides didn't seem to enjoy their job at all. The audio guide could be much better. At least that voice is happy, clear, and you can go at your own pace. Take the audio tour if you understand Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and several other languages.
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