Today we got up extra early and took the 7:53am train to Fussen. The train ride was very pleasant and the scenery was great. We got to Fussen and discovered that they are rebuilding the train station, so the toilets were not there. We decided to walk briefly around the town and found the Fussen Heritage Museum had a WC. The cost was .50 each, but they were very clean and much appreciated. It was agreed that we would walk to the area where the castles are. It was a very pleasant 3.2k walk. The path was well marked, level, and traveled a lot by bicyclists. The weather has been great. Today was a little overcast, but it was still quite warm after the walk. The walk also afforded glimpses of Neuschwanstein Castle through the trees.
Arriving at the business area around the castles we choose to walk up to the Hohenschwangau first. This one was an actual residence. The coloring looked wonderful against the fall foliage. Taking one path up, we walked around the outside of the castle and saw the gardens. We took the other, longer path back down and then started up the trail to Neuschwanstein Castle. That was a long, very steep, hike. You can pay for a bus to take you most of the way up, or there is a horse-drawn wagon you could hire as well. Neither of these options will take you all the way to the castle. For the off season, there were quite a few people there. We had decided not to go inside the castles, but to just walk up to and around them.
Our walk through the town area also afforded us nice views of the castle. The Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge) was closed for maintenance. We did have some nice views of the waterfall coming down the side of the mountain. We took yet another path down from that castle. We decided to take the bus back to Fussen as we were both quite tired. The bus ride is 2,20 per person one way. The ride back was much quicker than our walk there! We wandered around the little town of Fussen and had a late lunch at Ristorante La Perla. The food and the beer were great. The server was very funny. He showed my Rick Steves’ travel book to the owner. That book was our reference for where to eat. After some shopping we headed to the temporary train station to catch the 16:05 train back to Munich. I think we both nodded off on the ride back. We got back to the hotel and decided to go out after dark for a walk around the hotel area. Not the best area for families. Lots of import shops. Lots of sports betting places. There is a Euro Store right across the street. Tomorrow we get up early and start our journey north. Our final destination tomorrow is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Since we have to change trains in Nurnberg, we may take a couple of hours to walk around there as well. It will depend on the time schedule for the trains. It will take four connections to get to our final destination.
Guten Tag