点评:World-renowned Schloss Neuschwanstein, famous for having inspired Walt Disney’s castles, is definitely worth visiting if only for its amazing exterior and the breathtaking setting of the Bavarian Alps. Despite all the negative comments about the experience of the in-castle tour I still recommend taking it.
Appropriate preparation and management of expectations is key to having a memorable experience at Neuschwanstein (and any other place you might visit, for that matter, but especially one as popular and potentially crowded as this one).
The simplest approach is to book an organized tour from Munich and have all the details worked out by the operator. This does not give you a longer stay and personal tour within the castle, though. Assuming the guide does their thing on the 2-hour drive from the city you will have gotten a good briefing of not just the castle and its creator, King Ludwig II, but also about the history of the Kingdom of Bavaria at that time. They will give you a deeper understanding and appreciation of the castle beyond the already-impressive visuals.
If you want to make your own arrangements to visit Neuschwanstein decide if you want to take the tour of the interior. If you do, commit to that tour and book your tickets ASAP online. The sooner the better. I chose the 0900 slot; we were staying in town and but still needed time to hike up. Even in the shoulder season of fall there were fewer available tickets after mid-morning, presumably due to tours arriving at those times and later. There is a ticket office in Hohenschwangau but hoping for same-day availability is probably not the way to go.
If available I suggest getting a mid- or late-morning slot for the castle tour but still arriving as early as possible, perhaps 2 hours beforehand. The reason for this - other than merely needing time to get to the castle from town - is that I recommend first visiting the Marienbrücke - Mary’s Bridge - for its classic views of the castle. After our tour we headed to the bridge but found the bridge already thoroughly packed making it very difficult to enjoy the sight. I had also hoped to cross to the other side for additional perspectives on Schloss Neuschwanstein but decided not to fight the crowd.
Regardless of the time slot you are able to land be sure to arrive perhaps 90 minutes before scheduled entry. You’ll have to find parking. It’s at least a 45 minute stroll up the winding roads to the front gate and you may want to take it easy or take a break on the way up. If you plan on taking one of the horse-drawn carts you have to give margin for waiting for a cart to be available. The same thinking applies to using the shuttle bus. Use any extra time at the castle before entering to enjoy the views of not just the imposing structure but of the craggy mountains to the south and the rolling verdant plains to the north.
The tour experience is definitely an industrial one, yet another connection to Disney, albeit not a favorable one. And photos of the interior are strictly verboten! Frustrating for a shutterbug like me. After admittance we picked up our audio guides and proceeded through the castle, with audio prompts moving us along and castle staff reinforcing the continuous flow of visitors. They also repeat the mantra of “No photos!. The 30-minute tour takes you through just 14 rooms but these rooms were definitely a sight to behold. The original plan had apparently been for 200 rooms but only these had been completed. Of these the Throne Room was the most impressive. It was reminiscent of a Byzantine church. The strangest was the Cave or grotto, a water-filled chamber with fake stalagmites and stalactites. It once even had a small waterfall. Speaking of water features, Schloss Neuschwanstein featured then-advanced plumbing features of flowing warm/hot water and flushing toilets.
The best views were had at the end of the tour from the balcony at the end of the Palast part to the castle, looking to the west at Alpsee, Schwansee and the alpine peaks across the border in Austria. To the south was Pöllat Gorge, the waterfall and the Marienbrücke.
We were fortunate to have great weather during the days we spent at Hohenschwangau. The mornings were overcast , the castle briefly obscured by mist. Even so that also added to the mysterious beauty of the location.
Having become inveterate birders in the past few years we paid attention to the local avifauna. Numerous Jackdaws flew overhead and perched on the turrets and roofs of the castle. Chaffinch, Coal tits, Eurasian Blue tits, Alpine Chough, Eurasian Nuthatches and European robins were busy feeding in the trees and undergrowth.
The world-renowned Schloss Neuschwanstein, recently designated a World Heritage Site, was the main reason for our visit to the area. It was not the only place we visited, however. We spent 2 nights in the town of Hohenschwangau just below the castle. We strolled around the tiny town, hiked the shoreline of nearby Alpsee, and explored the forest and meadows adjacent to Schwansee. All this on the afternoon we arrived. These spots provided different views of the castle and helped place it in perspective relative to the Bavarian Alps just beyond it. On the following morning we devoted about 4 hours specifically to Schloss Neuschwanstein. This involved hiking up to the castle, taking the tour, checking out the views of the castle and the area from the bridge (Marienbrücke) before hiking back down. We then drove over to the nearby Tegelberg ski area where had lunch at the base of the mountain then took the aerial tram to the peak. We then hiked back down to the parking lot of the Tegelbergbahn We had yet more great views and different perspectives on Schloss Neuschwanstein from here. At Tegelberg and Schwansee we enjoyed views of the castle without any crowds, impressed by the backdrop of forested mountainsides that dwarfed the tall castle.
翻译:举世闻名的新天鹅堡,因启发了华特迪士尼的城堡而闻名,绝对值得一游,即使仅仅为了它令人惊叹的外观和巴伐利亚阿尔卑斯山的壮丽景色。尽管人们对城堡内部游览的体验有很多负面评价,我仍然推荐您参加。
充分的准备和合理的预期是您在新天鹅堡(以及您可能访问的任何其他地方,尤其是像这里这样受欢迎且可能拥挤的地方)获得难忘体验的关键。
最简单的方法是预订从慕尼黑出发的旅行团,并让运营商安排好所有细节。但这并不能让您在城堡内停留更长时间并享受私人导览。假设导游在从市区出发的2小时车程内讲解了城堡及其创建者路德维希二世国王的精彩介绍,您还将了解当时巴伐利亚王国的历史。除了令人印象深刻的视觉效果之外,他们还会让您对城堡有更深入的了解和欣赏。
如果您想自行安排参观新天鹅堡,请先决定是否要参观城堡内部。如果要参观,请尽快在线预订门票,并完成预订。越早越好。我选择了上午9点的时间段;我们住在城里,但仍然需要时间爬山。即使在秋季的平季,上午10点之后的门票也较少,这可能是因为这些时间段以及之后到达的旅行团较多。旧天鹅堡有售票处,但指望当天有票可能不太现实。
如果可以的话,我建议您选择上午10点或上午晚些时候的时间段参观城堡,但仍然要尽早到达,比如提前2小时。这样做的原因——除了需要时间从城里前往城堡之外——是因为我建议您先参观玛丽亚桥(Marienbrücke),欣赏城堡的经典景色。参观结束后,我们前往桥上,但发现桥上已经挤满了人,很难欣赏到美景。我原本也想去另一边欣赏新天鹅堡的更多景色,但为了避免人潮拥挤,我决定不去。
无论你什么时候能到,一定要在预定入场时间前90分钟左右到达。你得找个停车位。沿着蜿蜒的道路漫步到正门至少需要45分钟,你或许想在上山的路上休息一下。如果你打算乘坐马车,需要预留足够的时间等待马车。乘坐接驳巴士也一样。在进入城堡之前,一定要利用在城堡里的任何额外时间,欣赏雄伟的建筑,以及南边崎岖的山脉和北边连绵起伏的翠绿平原。
这次的游览体验绝对带有工业风,这又一次与迪士尼的联系,尽管这种联系并不那么令人愉快。而且城堡内部的照片是严格禁止拍摄的!对于像我这样的摄影爱好者来说,这真是令人沮丧。入场后,我们拿起语音导游器,继续穿过城堡,语音提示引导我们前进,城堡工作人员引导游客不断前行。他们还反复强调“不许拍照!”的口号。30分钟的游览只带你参观14个房间,但这些房间绝对值得一看。最初的计划似乎是建造200个房间,但只有这些房间完工了。其中,王座室最令人印象深刻,让人联想到拜占庭教堂。最奇特的是洞穴或石窟,一个充满水的房间,里面有假的石笋和钟乳石。它曾经甚至还有一个小瀑布。说到水景,新天鹅堡拥有当时先进的管道设施,包括流动的温水/热水和冲水马桶。
游览结束时,从宫殿部分尽头的阳台上俯瞰城堡,西望阿尔卑斯湖、施万湖和奥地利边境对面的阿尔卑斯山峰,景色最佳。南面是波拉特峡谷、瀑布和玛丽安桥。
我们很幸运,在……的几天里天气都很好。霍恩施旺高。清晨阴云密布,城堡短暂地被薄雾笼罩。即便如此,这也为这个地方增添了神秘的美感。
过去几年,我们一直是鸟类爱好者,因此留意着当地的鸟类。无数的寒鸦在头顶飞过,栖息在城堡的塔楼和屋顶上。苍头燕雀、煤山雀、欧亚蓝山雀、高山山鸦、欧亚山雀和欧洲知更鸟在树丛和灌木丛中忙碌地觅食。
举世闻名的新天鹅堡最近被列为世界遗产,这是我们此行的主要原因。然而,这并不是我们唯一参观的地方。我们在城堡下方的霍恩施旺高镇住了两晚。我们漫步在这座小镇上,我们沿着附近的阿尔卑斯湖畔徒步旅行,探索了施万湖附近的森林和草地。所有这些在我们到达的当天下午就完成了。这些景点提供了欣赏城堡的不同视角,并有助于将其与远处的巴伐利亚阿尔卑斯山联系起来。第二天早上,我们专门花了大约 4 个小时游览新天鹅堡。这包括徒步登上城堡,参加游览,从桥(玛丽安桥)上欣赏城堡和周边地区的景色,然后徒步下山。之后我们开车去了附近的泰格尔贝格滑雪场,在山脚下吃了午饭,然后乘坐空中缆车到达山顶。之后我们徒步下山到泰格尔贝格缆车的停车场。从这里我们可以看到更多新天鹅堡的美景和不同的视角。在泰格尔贝格和施万湖,我们欣赏到了没有拥挤人群的城堡景色,被森林覆盖的山坡所包围,高耸的城堡显得格外矮小,这给我们留下了深刻的印象。