Schloß Hohenschwangau Things to Do Tips by codrutz Top 5 Page for this destination

Nightview of the castle Hochenschwangau

When decided to go there and visit the famous castles of King Ludvig of Bavaria, you will reach Schwangau, which is the little village where you accomodate for the next day to visit the two royal castles.
Here is one picture I took the night I've reached Hochenschwangau, coming from Innsbruck.

Website: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/462.0.html

King Ludwig II of Bavaria

For the biography of the "King of dreams", "Mad king", "King of the swans" you are advised to read my TRAVELOGUE or visit the official website of Hochenswangau, following the link below.

Website: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/453.0.html

I love this picture

This is my favourite picture from Hochenschwangau. It is taken from one of the castle's courtyards, looking down to the village of Schwangau, with it's lovely white painted houses.
The forest, the lake and the mountains really mix to a nice athmosphere here, and I'm not surprised why iy is such a popular destination in Bavaria.

Website: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/456.0.html

Tour of the castle

A must do activity is of course to visit the castle. For that you will have to buy tickets from the ticket office, which you can't miss (everybody in the morning will head there) and there will be a small crowd (I was lucky to visit in a very relaxed time of the year) :)
One 15EURO ticket will give you guided tour to BOTH of the castles, with Hochenschwangau being visited first. The tours are very well organized, you'll be assigned to a group number, and the ticket will show you this number and the hour when you will be entering the castle.

Website: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/ticketcenter.0.html

Hocheschwangau - "the upper land of the swans"

It is interesting to know that Hochenschwangau means in strict translation "the upper land of the swans". And it's true that one important symbol for this part of the world is the swan.
So you will find everywhere in both Ludvig's castles (Hochenschwangau & Neuschweinstein) the majestic swan.

Website: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/562.0.html

A little history

Schloss (Castle) Hochenschwangau - the yellow one :) was the childhood residence of King Ludvig II of Bavaria (about which I invite you to read below). He had a dream whilst living at Hochenschwangau, in fact, he had a lot of dreams, and he could afford almost anything, so he built his own dream castle - Schloss Neuschwenstein.

Website: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/556.0.html

The whole view

Waiting for the bus to the next castle, you take a direct look to Schloss Hochenschwangau. You can see it's two parts (each one with it's own courtyards). What a nice tour we had, the interior is really great - no pics, but you can always get the book.

Another gorgeous view from the windows

Probably King Ludwig wanted to keep his childhood castle in sight. Looks very far, but it isn't.

View of Neuschwenstein from Hochenschwangau

Again from the courtyard of the "yellow one", taking a glimpse to the second castle to visit in the next hours.
It's really nice to have two castles so close, Hochenschwangau is ten minutes by foot from the ticket counter and Neuschwenstein is ten minutes by bus and then half an hour to walk down - a great walk!

Gorgeous views

Taking pictures inside the castle is forbidden, but the guide will tell you that the outside views are not "copyrighted" and you can take as many you like. So you will miss some of his explanations, but you will stare out of the windows trying to get a better photo.

This view to the lake is really fantastic!