Journeys›Photograph

Early April at the Castles of Hohenschwangau

·Schwangau, Germany·#travel#spring#bavaria#hohenschwangau#neuschwanstein#germany
A yellow castle sits atop a tree-covered hill overlooking a lake where several people stand along the shore.

Early April in Bavaria, and the day went to Hohenschwangau, the castle village near Füssen right up against the Austrian border. Hohenschwangau itself is the yellow one — built by King Maximilian II in the nineteenth century on a site first recorded in the 1100s as Schwanstein Castle, and later the childhood home of Ludwig II, who then put Neuschwanstein on the ridge across the valley.

We started down at the water, first the small pond below the castle where everyone crowds the shoreline, then around to the Alpsee, which was flat enough to hold the whole ring of snowed-in peaks upside down. Grandpa, dad, and daughter posed on the cobbled path in jackets; the wind off the lake still had winter in it.

Then up the hill to Hohenschwangau. The inside is guided-tour-only, but the terrace is the payoff anyway — from up against the yellow wall with its striped window awnings you look straight across at Neuschwanstein, white against the dark forest, all towers. My daughter and I squinted into the sun for a picture with it over our shoulders, and her hair would not stay down.

Three people stand by a calm lake reflecting snow-capped mountains and forested hills under a blue sky.A grand castle with white and red buildings and multiple towers overlooks a lake, surrounded by autumn trees and distant snowy mountains.A large yellow castle building with a prominent tower and striped awnings under a bright blue sky with sun flare.A white castle with spires and towers stands in a forest beneath a large, dark mountain.A grand, light-colored castle with multiple towers stands against a dark, forested mountain, with bare trees in the foreground.A person and a child smile for a selfie with Neuschwanstein Castle and mountains in the background.Two smiling people take a selfie with a yellow wall, red roof tiles, and a distant castle and mountains in the background.A white castle with tall spires and multiple towers is visible on a forested hillside beneath a blue sky and mountains.

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