After two days in Tegernsee, we headed to our next destination, Schwangau, to explore the royal castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. We arrived at Ameron Neuschwanstein Alpsee Resort & Spa midafternoon and had some time to settle before heading to our gondola ride up Mount Tegelberg.

Once at TegelbergBahn, we were given a tour of the station to learn more about the gondola system and its history. I even got a behind-the-scenes look at the wheels that operate the cable system. After the tour we boarded the gondola and took the 10-minute ride up Mount Tegelberg. The views during the ride were breathtaking; you could see all of the surrounding towns and a bird’s-eye view of both castles. When we reached the top, the mountain was covered with snow, and it was about 10 degrees colder than down below. We took in the views and walked around before setting off on a five-minute hike around the mountain for even better views of the Alps.

On our ride back down the mountain, we saw a toboggan mountain slide that, of course, we had to try. Once we got to the bottom, we were eager to get on the slide. The ride starts on a track that pulls you up the mountain before a free-fall ride down. During the ride you can control your speed with a brake built into the toboggan, but I chose to go as fast as I could the whole way down. We had so much fun on the slide, we had to go a second time and were tempted to go a third, but it was time to head back to our hotel.

Later that night we ate dinner at Restaurant Lisl, one of the hotel’s restaurants — it was delicious! We had an early night because we had a jam-packed itinerary the following day.

We started with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before heading off to our first castle tour of Hohenschwangau Castle. After a quick hike uphill, we were greeted by our tour guide and headed in to explore the castle. We saw all the private rooms, extravagant gifts given to the royal family, original paintings and more.

After our tour we headed over to Museum of Bavarian Kings, where we learned more about the family who lived in the castle and their descendants. I highly recommend giving yourself a good amount of time in the museum because there are a lot of exhibits and history packed in.

Next, we had a quick lunch at Braeustueberl before hopping on a horse-drawn carriage to Neuschwanstein Castle for a tour. The castle was breathtaking from afar but even more impressive up close. The castle had a lot of construction and repairs going on, so we didn’t get to see the whole thing, but we still saw a lot of impressive rooms. One could get lost in the castle, it is so big. Once the tour was over, we walked around outside to a suspension bridge that offered some of the best views of the castle; it was all so beautiful, it almost looked fake.

After a quick walk back into town, we did some souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel to relax before dinner at Braeustueberl. We had an early night again as we had to be up early for a six-hour car ride to Cologne.

Tune in next time to hear about my time in Cologne.

— Mary Melnick, social media & editorial coordinator