| The so-called Royal Castles are located in the foothills of the German Alps just a few miles from the town of Füssen. The first of the castles is Hohenschwangau and is the place where Ludwig II grew up dreaming of the day he could build his own fantastic castles throughout Bavaria. Although he was declared "mad" and removed from his throne because of his reckless spending, his castles today raise enough tourist revenue to support several small countries. In the off-season, it is almost impossible to get an inside tour of Hohenschwangau; there are never enough English speaking tourists to justify it. | 
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One of our very favorite
places to stay in all of Europe is the Pension Weiher. At Frau Oswald's
home, we are provided with spotlessly clean and charming accommodations,
and then we are given one of the best breakfasts that we have anywhere in
Europe.
The Weiher is located on Hofwiessenweg in the village of Hohenschwangau, directly down the hill from Neuschwanstein. At night, we can stand out on the balcony and see the iluminated castle. The village is small and quiet and we can get plently of rest before heading up the road to the castle and the terrible lines that are sure to form early. Don't stay in Munich and take a daytrip to the castle. Don't even stay in Füssen and catch a taxi or bus out early. Go the village the night before. It is definitely worth the trouble. |
| Of course the star of the show is Neuschwanstein. No matter how long the lines, no matter how large the groups, the visit is worth it. We have seen it several times, and each time we see something we missed on the visit before. On almost every visit, we tried to arrive very early so that the lines would be less, but in fact the shortest line we ever had was on this visit in 1994. We arrived early enough on the afternoon before that we were able to get in as the last group; all the tour buses had gone and there was really almost no line at all! | 
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