Germany’s Most Famous Castle: Schloss Neuschwanstein

Ask a tourist – especially some of my Japanese students when they turn into snap-happy tourists – and they’ll likely tell you that the most famous landmark in Germany is Schloss Neuschwanstein. That’s the extravagant, fairytale castle in Bavaria that is said to be the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle. It was built by crazy King Ludwig II in the 1870s and the 1880s; unfortunately, he died before it was completely finished.

I’m a bit ambivalent about Schloss Neuschwanstein. I’ve visited twice, yet never with a German, and I think it’s a place that most of them don’t bother checking out. Perhaps it feels a bit like the tacky end of German sightseeing, even though it’s still a relatively old and historic castle, by my standards. It’s also set in a truly beautiful location, with great views across Bavaria, and you can’t help but be a bit enchanted by it all.

If you visit Schloss Neuschwanstein, you’ll find a small tourist village has been created around it and the nearby Hohenschwangau castle. Restaurants and souvenir shops abound, as well as various means of transport up to the castle itself – on foot or by bus, or there’s even a horse-drawn carriage option. If you want to get inside the castle, you have to buy a ticket below, always for a tour at a particular time (sometimes many hours later, if it’s high season). It’s not possible, unfortunately, just to wander around inside the castle by yourself, but tours are available in a dozen different languages.

Apart from the tour inside the castle, there are lovely walks through the forest and hills surrounding Neuschwanstein. The most famous spot here is the Marienbrücke, a bridge that provides a gorgeous view to the castle and beyond to the lake. They say King Ludwig II took great care to ensure that building the castle didn’t destroy any (or too much, at least) of the environment around it, and he was keen to create picturesque views – here he certainly succeeded.

If you’re touring southern Germany, or heading into Austria, you’ll find Neuschwanstein close to the town of Füssen – that’s the best place to find on the map if you’re driving. And if you decide to take a tour through the castle, you’ll be one of some 1.3 million tourists who do so every year – so even though I’m not quite sure if it’s really a landmark of note, 1.3 million people can’t really be wrong.