Füssen · Schwangau · Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle

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moderate

9/10

best: morning, afternoon

romantic, mysterious

A local would say...

A mad king spent a fortune building a medieval fairy-tale castle with running water and central heating — then died mysteriously after only 172 nights here, leaving it unfinished for eternity.

King Ludwig II's romantically delusional fairy-tale castle, begun in 1869, stands on a rocky crag above the Alpsee lake with sweeping views of the surrounding Bavarian Alps. Despite being an elaborate exercise in medieval nostalgia built with 19th-century technology — including hot-air heating and running water — the castle was never finished and Ludwig spent only 172 days in residence before his mysterious death. The most impressive room is the Sängersaal (Minstrels' Hall), inspired by Wagner's operas.