Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein Castles

First of all, you buy tickets to tour the castle/castles in town.  We decided to tour both castles - but you can choose what you want to do.  They assign you a time for each tour.  Each tour takes about 30 minutes and there is 2 hours from the start of the first tour (Hohenschwangau) and the start of the second tour (Neuschwanstein).  Our tickets were 23 Euro each, with children under 18 yrs old FREE.

For more information - go HERE

Hohenschwangau Castle

This is the castle King Ludwig grew up in and lived in during the time that his 'other' castle was being built.  Some of our favorite things about this castle include:

* the heaters - they were big stoves and the servants had to walk through passageways in-between the walls of the castle to fill them with wood.  I guess the servants couldn't disturb royalty

* The telescope set up aimed at Neuschwanstein Castle - King Ludwig could view the progress of his new castle being built from his then-current castle

*The stars and moon painted in his room.  The moon has a special metal piece on it so King Ludwig could see the phases of the moon during the month or year.  The servants would change it periodically for him so he could experience the outdoors

*The secret stairwell between the two floors where the Queen and King had separate rooms

*the piano in King Ludwigs room where Wagner would come and play for him every once in a while

Neuschwanstein Castle

Here is the Cinderella Castle.  If you have children I highly recommend taking the shuttle up because it drops you off at Mary's Bridge where there is suppose to be a great view of the castle, then you walk down to the castle, take the tour of the castle and then ride the horse carriage down.  Unfortunately the shuttles weren't running while we were there and by the time we FINALLY made it out of the castle the horse carriages were done for the night so we missed both of them.  If that happens to you Mento's are a magical thing to bribe your children with.

Some of the highlights of the Castle tour:

*All the Swans - King Ludwig had a thing for swans and they are seriously everywhere

*King Ludwigs bedroom, the detail of his hand-carved wooden bed, and his bathroom with indoor plumbing - ingenious for that time period

* The 'telephone' in his office

* The man-made cave ... who creates a cave in their home? 

*The kitchen in the basement - for some reason I love to see the old kitchens

The view from the castle - isn't it beautiful!?

The lake where they found King Ludwig's body.  The kids were really scared that we were going to see his body - so of course we had to scare them ... we are such good parents!