Distance from base: 525 km

Enjoy the majesty and enchantment of Bavaria’s Castles.
Both of these majestic castles are well worth seeing.

Hohenschwangau
The 19th century palace of Hohenschwangau was the castle where King Ludwig II of Bavaria had dwelled during his childhood. It was built by King Maximilian II of Bavaria, as it gets spotted in the village of Schwangau that lies near Füssen. Erected on the remnants of fortress Schwanstein, it had got mentioned for the first time in historical records in the 12th century. After the death of Maximilian in 1864, Ludwig, his son had taken control over his father’s room in the Hohenschwangau Castle. When Ludwig had died in 1866, the only resident of the castle was Queen Marie. Price Regent Luitpold of Bavaria who had occupied the third floor pertaining to the main building of the castle was the one who enabled the electrification as well as the electric elevator in the year 1905. The palace got converted to a museum after the death of Luitpold in 1912.

Neuschwanstein
The “Fairytale Castle” Neuschwanstein is the most famous and magnificent of King Ludwig’s Bavarian castles. Neuschwanstein was built in the 19th century in the late Romanesque style and served as the model for Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland. Seven weeks after the death of King Ludwig II in 1886, Neuschwanstein was opened to the public. The shy king had built the castle in order to withdraw from public life – now vast numbers of people came to view his private refuge.
Today Neuschwanstein is one of the most popular of all the palaces and castles in Europe. Every year, 1.4 million people visit “the castle of the fairy-tale king”. The setting of Neuschwanstein could not be more idyllic. Neuschwanstein illustrates the ideals and longings of Ludwig II more vividly than any of his other buildings. The castle was not designed for royal representation, but as a place of retreat. Here Ludwig II escaped into a dream world – the poetic world of the middle Ages.