So… to continue….. we finished at the Krampusumzug in Reutte and made it back to the hotel. And after a good night’s sleep, it was time to head for another of King Ludwig II’s castles…. the famous Schloß Neuschwanstein. Construction started in 1869 and was built in a fashion to resemble Richard Wagner’s operas Tannhäuser and Lohengrin which he loved. Ludwig spent very little time (total of 172 days) in the castle.

You have three options to get from the village of Hohenschwangau to the castle….

1) Walk up – and it’s quite a hike recommended for only the fit

2) Ride in a Horse Drawn Carriage…. very quaint. It drops you off a few hundred yards from the castle gate for a much shorter hike.

3) Take the Bus – Yup, there’s a bus to close to the top but it requires a bit more walking. But the important part of the bus ride is that the bus stop is very close to the Marienbrücke, the bridge across the gorge giving you the view in the pictures above.

Leaving the bridge, you walk back down and up hills to get to the castle entrance but the views are spectacular….

The castle itself is amazing…..and views across the valley to the yellow castle of his father, Maximilian, is breathtaking.

After our tour of Neuschwanstein, our next stop was to head to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Usually, we take a tour up the highest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze, but on Sunday, the weather was horrible… socked in with clouds and rain….not to mention high winds. This view is of the Gipfel, or Summit, of the Zugspitze. So after seeing the webcam image, we decided discretion was the better part of valor and we went to the hotel and checked in, allowing us an early visit to the Christmas Market.

The Market was fun! It’s a smaller one but usually filled with people, music and Glühwein. There was even one with a “frequent drinker” punch card! Buy 10 and your 11th is free!! With 14 of us in the group, filling a card or two was no big deal!! After wandering the Market, we found a great Bavarian restaurant for dinner. Great food and drink then back to the hotel for sleep. Tomorrow, on to Regensburg.