Munich to Fussen

This is my third trip to Europe, Unfortunately lost all my notes which I have saved on my iphone notes app, so here is the summary of my trip to the magnificent castle which inspired the Walt Disney castle.

Munich

Munich is famous for it’s Oktoberfest, however it can be quite crowded if you are not into big rowdy festivals. I am once again traveling to Europe in end winter, this year’s winter was a rather long one so most places were still covered in snow. I travelled on a 6 hours train from Paris Est station to Munich Hbf and landed in my favourite land called Germany. Checked into the Euro Youth Hostel, I quickly prepare for my next day’s itinerary and then my favourite German sausages as a treat. Tried the Yorma’s sausages and a cup of coffee. Karlplatz is a short walk from Munich central, the famous restaurant Augustiner is there and I was recommended to try their suckling pig and their famous Augustiner beer which can only be found in Munich. It was a great choice indeed! The restaurant is really big, food and service is really good as well. Keep walking onwards and you will reach Marienplatz where the new town hall and old town hall stands. You’ll see the clock tower at the new town hall which will “play” music around 11am. Since I registered for the free walking tour which gathers around that area, I got to listened to all the stories revolving around Munich city which includes the beer houses and Hitler’s origin. St Peter’s church is just a short walk away as well as Viktualien markt which comes alive during weekends selling food and local produce. Bavaria which is the region which Munich is in has a very interesting tradition. Every town in Bavaria is customary to have a May pole at the entrance of the town and the May pole has designs on it which symbolises what the town is famous for. You can see one of them at Viktualien markt. Moving on from there, the residenz is also worth a visit. One place that I wanted to visit is the BMW Museum - which I took the train from Marienplatz to the U3 (underground), direction Olympia-Einkaufszentrum, to Olympia-Zentrum, from there it is only a few more steps to the BMW Welt. Next to the BMW Museum is a large park which is quite pleasant to walk about.

Fussen to Hohenswangau

Reason for me to set foot in Munich is primarily towards Fussen and Neuschwanstein Castle. Fussen is a beautiful small town. It’s situated in the romantic road. The town is small but clean, with the Bavarian Alps as the backdrop and colourful houses and clean river, it’s a very refreshing view compared to the city. Fussen is easy to reach as it took me only 2 hours by train from Munich Hbf. I put myself in City Apart Hotel Fussen which is at the town’s main’s street and took a bus No. 73 or 78 from the train station to Hohenswangau which is 5km away from Fussen. The fare was €2.10 one way. From the Hohenswangau town, it’s just a few meters walk towards the tourism office which you can grab tickets to the Hohenswangau castle and Neuschwanstein castle. Also there’s a Museum of the Bavarian Kings and the combi ticket for the 3 sights costs €29 per person. They will advise you the entry ticket time when you tell them which one you would like to visit first. Personally, the Museum of the Bavarian Kings was not very interesting. To reach the Neuschwanstein castle, you can either walk, take the horse carriage or the bus. I have chosen the horse carriage which costs €6 per person for a 20-25minutes ride. Watch out for the horse farting at you if you choose to sit right at the front of the carriage. I managed to ask the horse’s name, turns out one is Max and the other is Tony. The other method is to take the bus all the way up to Jugeng Bus stop and walk 200m to Marien’s bridge which you can then hike 5 minutes up to the castle. During winter, this alternate route is not accessible due to slippery icy road, but other days, the view of the castle from the bridge is the best picture taking spot ever!