Neuschwanstein Castle is King Ludwig II’s most famous creation and his most ambitious. It was such a perfect embodiment of the fairy tale ideal Ludwig wanted that Walt Disney used it as the model for Sleeping Beauty’s castle in his 1959 animated film. It’s here that you understand why Ludwig was often called the “Fairy Tale King.” It’s the only castle in Bavaria that makes money through tourism, and it’s the one that subsidizes all the others.

When you arrive to the little village at the base of the castle, you can see the castle up above you. Before we got off the bus at the village, our tour guide Maria had offered to take us the way up to the castle “only the locals know, through the forest.” However, she warned us that it was only for those “with the fitness” because it was a much more strenuous route than the one taken by most people walking up to the castle (or taking the bus or a carriage). I should have learned by now that when a German person tells you something will be strenuous, they mean it. Maria was no exception. So after our lunch in the village, we followed Maria up the mountain to the castle. The views were beautiful, and it was totally worth it. But it was no joke.

From Neuschwanstein Castle, you can see the castle in which Ludwig II grew up, Hohenschwangau Castle, in addition to majestic views across the valley. The guy really had a knack for picking the prime locations for his castles. Once inside the castle, you can see that Ludwig had an obsession with recreating the medieval. Each room is decorated after a famous medieval ideal or Wagner opera. And inexplicably there’s a cave right outside his living room. I suppose he used it to stage plays in, but it’s just kind of randomly tossed in there.

Even more than at Linderhof, the interior of Neuschwanstein feels like a movie set or playhouse – there’s an aura of unreality about it all. After Ludwig was deposed (and murdered?), the castle was hurriedly finished with the bare minimum of expense. So one wonders what his final vision for the place might have been. On the whole, I found it be kind of melancholy, especially hearing how lonely Ludwig’s life probably was.

Title quote: Richard Wagner about King Ludwig II