Walking to discover and other Fussen, Germany Things to Do Tips

My bag was at the Hauptbahnhof and I had a couple of hours up my sleeve so off I went, deliberately heading in a different direction than that I had pursued in the previous three days.
Thus it was that I came upon the Lech River and took what for me was the best photo of my time in the town.
It was dull and overcast above the crossing that leads to the far side and the breeze remained calm, thus allowing me to get this and pic number 3 with the houses reflected in the stream.
Picture 2 is looking in the opposite direction, which just happens to be upstream.

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One good thing about smaller places is that the trains inevitably drop you somewhere near the centre of the city. Fuessen is also at the end of the line so, what's coming in will soon be going out.
Once you alight and leave the platform it's only 100 metres to the main intersection in town and King Luitpold will be there to greet you in the middle of the roundabout.
He's writ fairly large around these parts having had the image of a benefactor of the masses.
There's also a splendid mansion (pic 2) located on the Augsberg Strasse that I used to pass every day named after him.
The other standout at this intersection is the Hotel Kurcafe. Somehow the yellow keeps attracting your eye and its all capped with a gothic roof and dormer windows.

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If there's one place that you'll be visiting while you're in Fussen it's the Reichenstrasse, a lovely cobbled mall that runs off the main traffic road to Austria, or Switzerland, or wherever you want to go south.
Reichenstrasse is supported by the bands of tourists that forage among the shops, giving a deservedly prosperous air to this delightful village.
You can see Lueftlmalerein (the frescoes on the outside of buildings, common in Bavaria) as shown in pic 2 on the chemist shop, or dive into one of the many cafes and sate one of your other senses.
I found myself attracted to this street time and again, such was its lure. It also has the advantage that all the other interesting streets either run off it or aren't far away, leading to other attractions that can be seen above the rooftops as shown in the opening pic.

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In 1748 and 1749 there was constructed in Fussen a building that, in its own right, is reasonably attractive. However, what makes it one of Fussen's standout attractions is the lueftlmalerein on the front.
I defy anyone to walk down Spitelstrasse and not notice the dramatic confronting colours. From any angle it's a winner and, though I love the opening pic, pic 2 definitely shows you more detail of the frescoes.
The building is the Holy Ghost Hospital Church and its actual address is the cross street of Lechalde that takes you over the Lech River but the eyecatching facade is on Spitelstrasse.

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Still marginally jet lagged and tired from my excursions at Frankfurt I rocked up to Fussen and took my gear to the Hotel Filser where I was staying. I was determined to do something in the afternoon so I got instructions as to where I could hire a bike.
That the instructions weren't entirely clear was evident after I had walked the one kilometre to get there. The receptionist had marked the shop in the right area but about a block and a half from where the shop actually was.
By the time I found it I was getting a little leg weary but grateful to, at last, get something to ride. Unlucky!
"No, it's not the season yet, we haven't got our bikes in."
Thus frustrated I made the decision to walk to my destination, Hopfensee, a reported lovely place for a walk. Actually, I had seen it on the way in on the train and took a fancy to it.
By my standards I guess it wasn't really all that far but, when you're unsure of your bearings, it eats into your soul.
I made it to the motorhome park on the lake and they had a bike hire there and, it was open. Great.
Unlucky. At 30 euros per day I decided to call it the great bike ripoff and started to walk around the lake instead. I mean, I didn't want to buy a bike, just hire one. I've hired cars for less.
So I joined the number of strollers enjoying this pleasant ramble around a decidedly pretty location, pausing here and there to duck in amongst the reeds to snap off a picture or two.
Then I came to a spot where I definitely wanted to avoid the water. Sorry, ice. Yes, the entire corner of one spot was totally iced up, something I'm not used to.
By this time I'd made up my mind not to curcumnavigate Hopfensee but turn back towards Fussen instead. Coninued next tip

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As I turned away from Hopfensee my attention turned to the mountains, haze ridden though they were.
They formed a picturesque backdrop to what was turning out to be an interesting sky.
I indulged myself and made colour where there wasn't a lot. Perhaps sometimes you might want to do the same thing to add some drama to your pics. In the first one I put my sunglasses over the lens and you can clearly see the difference in pic 2 of the same shot.
By pic 3 the sky was getting really interesting so I paused to snap off another.
Pic 5 is interesting, for me anyway, as I tried to book in here over the internet but they don't open until April. It overlooks Hopfensee in one direction and the mountains in the other.
Definitely offering rooms with views.

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I crossed the small hill and drifted silently towards Fussen. Picking up a trail I kept telling my tired legs it's just one step after the other. Sooner or later you will get there.
Interspersing my journey with photo stops, getting misplaced and sitting down where opportunity arose, I made ground towards my destination. The scenery was very pretty and, on another day, I would have enjoyed it immensely.
Coming across things like Mexican hairless dogs (pic 4) were also diversions. I mean, seriously, a naked dog and it's bordering on minus temperatures and they're out for a walk. What are people thinking of?
At another stage I crawled under a school fence hoping to get a nice reflection shot but it turned out only average (pic 3).
Cutting through the outskirts I hoped to foreshorten my journey and I proved successful in that venture.

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I arrived at Wiesbaur Gaststutte and saw it was time to get the sunset.
Though I was prepared the sunset turned out to be average and nothing to get terribly excited about but I perserved and you can clearly see the results in the four photos here.
It wasn't that far from here to my accommodation, a building I was clearly pleased to see having left it five hours earlier to walk up the road and hire a bike!

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Of course, you've come to Fussen or Schwangau or any of the outlying villages to see Neuschwanstein. If you don't already know, there are several others in the area. My advice, for what it's worth, is to allow time to do more than just visit one. There's a lot more this area has to offer.
Fate took me to Hohenschwangau first. I alighted from the bus and went to get a ticket for Neuschwanstein. "Sorry, it's closed today." It's a constant source of amazement to me that places such as the Green Vault at Dresden and Neuschwanstein even contemplate shutting. They have a captive audience 365 days of the year and to shut over 50 of them surprises me. Still, governments have their reasons.
Anyhow, I bought a ticket and chose to walk up to Neuschwanstein first before my tour commenced, English language tours not as frequent as German ones naturally.
Our guide was rugged up in a long coat with layers beneath while I walked in with just my shirt on after walking for the last hour and a half.
He looked at me knowingly when I queried that it must be cold in here, though my doubtful tone and look didn't go unnoticed.
He was a good guide, taking time to explain things clearly and elaborating when asked (usually by me as I have an insatiable curiousity).
As you may have noticed, my camera unfortunately fell out of my bag and went off a couple of times which is how I am able to luckily bring you some inside pics.

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Hohenschwangau is actually more of a hunting lodge than true palace. Here the nobles would head out on the hunt or go for walks around places such as the nearby Alpsee.
This was a place to spend your leisure time without too much showing off though that side of it was taken care of as well.
Maxmillian the II was the man most responsible for this place as you see it today but it was also the nursery of Ludwig, as in the second, as in the man behind Neuschwanstein.
It dates from the 19th century and obviously had much to do with Ludwig being inspired to build Neuschwanstein. The ancient Schwangau castle of “Schwanstein”, which was already dilapidated and uninhabitable when the Schwangau aristocracy died out, was purchased in 1535 by the patrician and Imperial Counselor Johann von Paumgartner zu Paumgarten and completely rebuilt from 1538 to 1547. He gave it the new name “Hohenschwangau”. Almost 300 years later the Paumgarten building was again in ruins. In 1839 the Bavarian Crown Prince Max, the son of Ludwig I, came to the district of Füssen on the occasion of a “history excursion” with his teacher and acquired this crumbling building. He had it rebuilt according to ancient extant plans by the architecture and theater painter Domenico Quaglio, who, although he originally came from the area of Lake Como, had long since settled in Munich. The whole complex lives in the spirit of the romantic era. Such names as the Swan Knight’s Hall, Guelph Room and Hohenstaufen Room are indications of a living attachment to sagas and history. The Castle Courtyard, whose finest ornamentation is the Mary Fountain, is immediately adjacent to the Castle Garden, which is enclosed by a castellated outer wall. In the center of a circular flowerbed is a pool with a water-spouting swan

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