Another 305km drive south took us to Hohenschwangau on the Austrian border. This place name will be unfamiliar to most but it is home to the Neuschwanstein Castle which Disney used as the model for its castle in its theme parks. This is the land of Bavarian kings and Leopold II in particular (who was the commissioner of this castle) together with his friend and famous composer Richard Wagner - creator of the bridal march and many popular operas of the time.
These days, the town and local area is a very well frequented holiday destination with visits to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles operating as well-oiled tourist (i.e. revenue making) machines, owned by the German state of Bavaria, with very tight controls over local parking and traffic movements. Tours often sell out weeks in advance and are timed to the minute! Inside the castles, photography is prohibited (I suspect that there is a strong commercial reason for this as well as the fact that photographs would slow the tour groups) and the opulence that the kings of this period lavished on themselves is to behold!
Photographically (from the outside), Neuschwanstein Castle is THE image to capture and we made a very keen start to catch the early morning light. The castle is reached via private road with shuttle buses which start at 8am and we managed to get the first one. The classic view is from a pedestrian bridge some distance away called Marienbrücke and at this time, the sun had just started to illuminate the castle without illuminating the whole valley.
These views and those of the sister castle Hohenschwangau, can be seen here.
Rising sharply from the Bavarian Alps near Schwangau, Tegelberg mountain is famous for sweeping views of the Alps towards Austria as well as the area surrounding Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles including the towns of Schwangau and Füssen, world-class paragliding, and varied hiking routes. The intermediate ascent via the Tegelburgbahn cable car takes you to 1720m and the peak, marked by a large steel cross is another 200m higher.
A more front-facing view of the Neuschwanstein Castle in particular can be seen from the area around the cable car base station and very dramatic views on the way up (clean glass in the cable car permitting). After about halfway up though, the castle is hidden from view by one of the massive rocky ridge lines.
Climbing to the very top of the Tegelburg with the steel cross is claimed to take about 20 minutes according to the signs but by hiking standards, it is steep with steel ropes along some sections for assistance and precipitous drops either side. It took me an hour but the 360 degree views from the top were stunning and can be seen in the gallery here.