Schwangau is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. The village lies 4 km from the larger town of Füssen and just 1.5 km from Hohenschwangau, collection of tourist-oriented facilities adjacent to the major tourist attractions of Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau. – wikipedia
Schwangau has no rail service and aside from renting a car, Bus Bavaria is a great mode of transport to get you there. We booked a tour through Mikes Bike Tours / Bus Bavaria / Bike Rentals to visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. If you plan to visit these castle and think you will save a euro or two by standing in the line to get tickets – MISTAKE. The lines are so long and if it is warm, there isn’t any shade to stand in.
We went on the Summer Neuschwanstein Castle Tour by Bus (with bike ride). At €59 ea for adults, it was well worth it. Bus travel to and from Munich, bike ride, plus you skip the lines when you arrive! Super simple to book online and no hassle at all. We were able to walk to their office from our hotel to get on the bus.
The Bike Ride
The bike ride was easy over generally flat terrain. We peddled out to a lake; stopped for a bit so people could take a dip if they wanted and then headed back to where we started for lunch at Schloss Brauhaus.
A clip from the bike tour. Ryan, our guide, was explaining a bit about the castle and why it is still standing today. The audio is poor, you need to really turn up the sound to hear it – sorry.
Lunch
Schloss Brauhaus was very good. The cold beer was very welcome after the leisurely bike ride through the Bavarian countryside. The lunch we had at their outdoor beer garden was tasty too.
Roast Pork, Dumplings & Sauerkraut
Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and in honor of Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.
The castle was intended as a home for the king, until he died in 1886. It was open to the public shortly after his death. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer. – wikipedia
After lunch we hopped on the bus for the castle tour. You do not actually have to do the tour. You can walk all around the castles without doing the tour. Some of the people that were on the bus with us that took the castle tour said they learned more about the castles on the bike ride than they did with the castle tour.
Hohenschwangau Castle
We did not walk around this castle as there wasn’t time.
Hohenschwangau Castle is a 19th-century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the German village of Hohenschwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county of Ostallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria. – wikipedia
I am sure all of Mikes Bike Tour guides are great; Ryan was exceptional!
Dinner back in Munich
As luck would have it, the bus went right by our hotel coming back into Munich. We arrived back in time for dinner. Munchen Stubn was a block away from our hotel. I highly recommend the Munchen Stubn Board and the Allgau Cheese Spaetzle. Both very delicious. the board was smoked kaminwurzen (semi-dried
sausage), blackened smoked pork, cold roast, coarse liverwurst, Tegernsee mountain cheese, obazda, leberkas and herbed cream cheese. Served with crunchy radishes and beer radish, pretzel stick with chives, assorted breads, a pretzel and tub butter. The spaetlze was two kinds of cheese, homemade fried onions and chives. A great meal to top off the day.
It was another beautify day in Munich. We had a nice lunch at Kennedy’s Bar & Restaurant to start. The open-air beer gardens are pretty fantastic. A great place to pause for a bit so as to take your time and relax while you tour the city on foot. Must keep hydrated.
You never know what you are going to encounter or what will be around the next corner…unless you peak on Google Maps.
The street musicians were entertaining. Sadly, this is the only one I took video of.
We were all over the city center this day touring the beautiful churches. The architecture was simply stunning – both inside and out.
Church of Our Dear Lady
photo credit – https://www.muenchen.de
The Frauenkirche (Full name: German: Dom zu Unserer Lieben Frau, English: Cathedral of Our Dear Lady) is a church in the Bavarian city of Munich that serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freisingand seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city.
The church towers are widely visible because of local height limits. According to the narrow outcome of a local plebiscite, city administration prohibits buildings with a height exceeding 99 m in the city center. Since November 2004, this prohibition has been provisionally extended outward and as a result, no buildings may be built in the city over the aforementioned height. The south tower which is normally open to those wishing to climb the stairs, will, on completion of its current renovation, offer a unique view of Munich and the nearby Alps. -wikipedia
Each church had their own policy on photographs. Even when not permitted, it was hard not to snap at least one…or two as it were. I wish I would have recorded more of the organ playing. It was pretty amazing and filled the entire 200,000 m³ volume of the cathedral.
St. Johann Nepomuk
photo credit – https://www.muenchen.de
St. Johann Nepomuk, better known as the Asam Church (German: Asamkirche), is a Baroque church in Munich, southern Germany, built from 1733 to 1746 by the brothers, sculptor Egid Quirin Asam, and painter Cosmas Damian Asam as their private church. It is considered to be one of the most important buildings of the southern German Late Baroque.
The church was built without an order, as a private chapel for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of the builders. This allowed the brothers also to build in line with the ideas of independent contractors. So for example Egid Quirin Asam could watch the altar through a window of his private house next to the church (Asamhaus). Egid Quirin Asam designed the church as Beichtkirche (confession church) for the youth. So the small church has seven confessionals with allegorical scenes. – wikipedia
The front of the church blends in nicely to the homes on either side. This was the smallest church we toured. It was arguably the most colorful and ornate in my opinion. The ceiling alone was so magnificent.
St. Peter’s Church
photo credit – https://www.muenchen.de
Before the foundation of Munich as a city in 1158, there had been a pre-Merovingian church on this site. 8th century monks lived around this church on a hill called Petersbergl. At the end of the 12th century a new church in the Bavarian Romanesque style was consecrated, and expanded in Gothic style shortly before the great fire in 1327, which destroyed the building.
After its reconstruction the church was dedicated anew in 1368. In the early 17th century the 91 meter spire received its Renaissance steeple top and a new Baroque choir was added.
The parish church of Saint Peter, whose 91 meters high tower is commonly known as “Alter Peter” – Old Pete – and which is emblematic of Munich, is the oldest recorded parish church in Munich and presumably the originating point for the whole city.
-wikipedia
This church is massive; I cannot imagine this built hundreds of years ago. It would be a marvel today with modern equipment! So much artistry, craftsmanship and talent.
It was remodelled in 1724–30 by Johann Georg Ettenhofer (de) (vaults, renovation of pillars); in the interior are Rococo frescoes and stucco ornament by the Asam brothers. After the demolition of the hospice buildings in 1885, Franz Lšwel added three bays at the west end of the church and gave it a Neo-Baroque facade. The church suffered severe damage during World War II and its interior furnishings were largely destroyed; extensive rebuilding and restoration was carried out after the war. The interior of the church was renovated in 1991. – wikipedia
This massive church is directly adjacent to Viktualienmarkt (more on that later). Most of these churches in/near the city center sustained significant damage during WWII. Unless it was pointed out, it was almost impossible to ascertain what had been damaged. The vaulted ceilings, columns and frescoes in this church were wonderful.
St. Michael’s Church
photo credit – https://www.muenchen.de
The church was built by William V, Duke of Bavaria between 1583–97 as a spiritual center for the Counter Reformation. The foundation stone was laid in 1585.
In order to realize his ambitious plans for the church and the adjoining college, Duke William had 87 houses in the best location pulled down, ignoring the protests of the citizens. The church was erected in two stages. In the first stage (1583–88), the church was built by the model of Il Gesù in Rome and given a barrel-vaulted roof by an unknown architect, the vault being the largest in the world apart from that of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, spanning freely more than 20 meters.
When the church was built, there were doubts about the stability of the vaulting. But it was the tower that collapsed in 1590, destroying the just completed quire. Duke William V took it as a bad omen and so planned to build a much larger church. The second phase of construction continued until the consecration of the church in 1597. Friedrich Sustris built on to the undamaged nave a new quire and a transept and a magnificent facade. -wikipedia
This church was quite large as well, but very much different in design having significantly less barrel vaults in the ceiling. St. Michael is the first renaissance church north of the Alps. It was trend-setting for the baroque church building in southern Germany. The main altar was pretty amazing; they all were in every church though.
We had another beer break a little later in the afternoon at what became a favorite stop of ours – Hackerhaus. Cold refreshing beer and terrific food. The yellow jackets are not very nice here – or anywhere in Munich. Cover your beer and don’t mess with them; otherwise someone is liable to get stung. So sorry Megan.
The history of the firm dates back to the 15th century. The brewery was known as “Prew im Haggenviertel” until the 18th century. On 16 August 1738, brewer Simon Hacker acquired the brewery and gave it its new name – “Hackerbräu” – the Hacker Brewery. – http://www.hackerhaus.de/
The 15th century townhouse owned by the family since 1892 is the the oldest weinhaus in the Munich. It was a beautiful evening and we ate outside. My apologies for the marginal iPhone photos, but you will get the gist of it. We started with a Watermelon Gazpacho soup – wow, that was amazing. The Wiener Schnitzel, Fried Potatoes (not pictured) with Lingonberry-Horesradisch Cream was so delicious. The Pear-Bacon-Cabbage Ravioli was very unique and absolutely out of this world as was the Truffled Chicken Pie. Desert – oh my – Lavender creme brûlée with marinated pears and sugar crust and raspberry sorbet. I do not recall what all the cheeses where, but the Sweet and Spicy Fig Mustard Glaze that came with it was a hit. It turns out that the chef was from Austin, TX, the same city our travel companions live in. Small world. To cap of the evening our amazing waiter poured us a round of peach schnapps not available on the menu; brought out for special occasions. We were celebrating our travel companions recent marriage. Perfect end to another incredible day in Munich.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Wiener Schnitzel
Pear-Bacon-Cabbage Ravioli
Truffled Chicken Pot Pie
Lavender Creme Brûlée with Marinated Pears and Sugar Crust and Raspberry Sorbet
Our trek to the English Garden continued after our 1/2 liter of beer and respite at Augustiner Klosterwirt. The green-space in Munich was pretty amazing; even more wonderful is the fact that much of that space contain beer gardens!
Hofgarten and Diana Tempel
This garden was adjacent to the English Garden. The landscape maintenance in Munich must employee a lot of people. Most every place we visited had beautiful flowers and well-maintained grounds.
The garden was built in 1613–1617 by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria as an Italian style Renaissance garden. In the center of the garden is a pavilion for the goddess Diana, built in 1615 by Heinrich Schön the elder. -wikipedia
Hofgarten
Hofgarten
Bayerische Staatskanzlei – State Government Office
We passed by this magnificent structure on way to the English Garden. So much glass you’d think it was a green house of sorts. Beautiful building to conduct government business from.
The Bavarian State Chancellery is serving as the executive office of the Minister-President as head of government. The agency’s primary function is to assist the Minister-President in coordinating the activities of the Bavarian State Government, similar to the German Chancellery on federal level. – wikipedia
English Garten
The English Garden is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count Rumford (Reichsgraf von Rumford), for Prince Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. Thompson’s successors, Reinhard von Werneck (1757–1842) and Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell (1750–1823), advisers on the project from its beginning, both extended and improved the park.
With an area of 1.4 sq mi (910 acres), the English Garden is one of world’s largest urban public parks. – wikipedia
Surfing in English Garden
Monopteros in English Garden
A Monpteros is a circular colonnade supporting a roof but without any walls. Unlike a tholos (in its wider sense as a circular building), it does not have a cella (inner chamber).
-wikipedia
A few more photos from around the garden. The beverage bottles atop the trash can initially appeared to be there as there was no recycling receptacle near by. After further consideration and discussion, it may also be that they are placed on top of trash receptacles so they would not have to be dug out of the trash. Recycling pays in Germany. In fact, Germany leads the EU in recycling. Nicely done. Great beer, pretzels and recycling program – the list continues to grow.
Chinese Tower
Beer gardens
With 7,000 spots, the beer garden in the English Garden, right by the Chinese Tower, is Munich’s second largest. This distinctive pagoda is approx. 75 feet high and is based on a design from 1789.
Another beer garden is located on Kleinhesseloher Lake. From the first ray of sunshine, all benches are quickly taken. The associated Restaurant Seehaus is open year-round and offers sophisticated local fare. ~muechen.de
We had dinner at Biergarten am Kleinhesseloher See. We were pretty spent at this point. It was another warm day of walking around Munich (approximately 12 miles). I have no photos of the food which mean I was pretty tired and hungry. After dinner we began walking back towards the hotel and hailed the first taxi that came into view.
We decided to stop by the Glyptothek and Staatliche Antikensammlung on our way to the Englischer Garten. It was the second stop of many that day; only a mile into our journey. Prior to that, of course we stopped at Augustiner Klosterwirt for a quick 1/2 liter of beer.
Bicycle Traffic
A huge contrast to the USA; at least where we live, is the incredible amount of bicycle traffic. It was odd to see a bunch of bicyclist stacked up at a traffic light or large numbers of bicycles parked everywhere you looked; sometimes in masses and sometimes just laying in the middle of the sidewalk. Sometime you saw bikes that seem to have been partly run over.
You really need to pay attention when walking around. If you hear a bicycle bell you best get out-of-the-way. The bicycle lanes are next to the sidewalks; not partitioned off as part of the roadway like they are here in Minnesota. For the most part, the smooth surface was the bike path and the cobble stone was the walk way. We heard a few interesting phrases shouted in Germany by bicyclist – the meaning was quite clear even though we didn’t understand much of the language . The variety of types of bicycles was interesting as well. I began counting the number of red scooters I met and quickly gave up – they were everywhere.
Glyptothek
The Glyptothek was commissioned by the Crown Prince (later King) Ludwig I of Bavaria alongside other projects, such as the neighboring Königsplatz and the building which houses the State Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, as a monument to ancient Greece. He envisioned a “German Athens”, in which the ancient Greek culture would be remembered; he had this built in front of the gates of Munich. The Glyptothek is Munich’s oldest public museum. – wikipedia
The exterior of the building looks the part – German Athens.
The Laocoon and His Sons statue just outside the door is an interesting combination of white marble and pigments by Fabio Viale
Fabio Viale
Fabio Viale
Here are some other photos from inside. There is so much here to see here; if in Munich, this is very interesting to see.
Staatliche Antikensammlung
The neo-classical building at Königsplatz with Corinthian columns was established in 1848 as counterpart to the opposite Glyptothek and commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I. The architect was Georg Friedrich Ziebland. Already from 1869 to 1872 the building housed the royal antiquarium before the Munich Secession resided here from 1898 to 1912. From 1919 the building contained the New State Gallery. The museum building was severely damaged by bombing in World War II but was reconstructed and reopened to the public in the late 1960s to display the State Collection of Antiques. – wikipedia
Here are a few photos of some on the pieces on display. Most items are behind glass witch makes photographing them tough. You really have to see this place in person to truly appreciate the art and the totality of the collection.
We selected Le Meridian hotel because it was one of very few that had AC. It’s close proximity to the Munich Hauptbahnhof (transportation station) was an obvious plus as well. This was important given our plans for day trips outside of Munich by rail travel. The added bonus was the convenience stores and food vendors. Each morning, breakfast was a short walk away. The pretzel with butter and sliced Camembert cheese was an instant favorite and breakfast for most of the week. At €2.70 it was hard to beat. Pair that with a hot cup of coffee or even a beer and you are set for the morning.
Exterior view of Hauptbahnhof from hotel
Exterior view of Hauptbahnhof from hotel
Pretzel Breakfast
Interior view of Hauptbahnhof
Panoramic view of Interior of Hauptbahnhof
Day 3 -Bayerstraße Stroll –
Marienplatz & Glockenspiel
Our first full day in Munich. We made our way along Bayerstraße toward Marienplatz to see Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Marienplatz is the central square in Old Town. The magnificent neo-Gothic Neues Rathaus is absolutely stunning to experience in person.
The Rathaus-Glockenspiel of Munich is a tourist attraction in Marienplatz, the heart of Munich.
Part of the second construction phase of the New Town Hall, it dates from 1908. Every day at 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. it chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century to the amusement of mass crowds of tourists and locals. It consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures.
The top half of the Glockenspiel
It tells the story of the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V to Renata of Lorraine. In honor of the happy couple there is a joust with life-sized knights on horseback representing Bavaria and Lothringen . The Bavarian knight wins every time, of course.
The bottom half of the Glockenspiel
Tells the second story: Schäfflertanz . According to myth, 1517 was a year of plague in Munich. The coopers are said to have danced through the streets to “bring fresh vitality to fearful dispositions.” The coopers remained loyal to the duke, and their dance came to symbolize perseverance and loyalty to authority through difficult times. By tradition, the dance is performed in Munich every seven years. This was described in 1700 as “an age-old custom”, but the current dance was defined only in 1871. The dance can be seen during Fasching.
The whole show lasts somewhere between 12 and 15 minutes long depending on which tune it plays that day. At the very end of the show, a very small golden rooster at the top of the Glockenspiel chirps quietly three times, marking the end of the spectacle. – wikipedia
There is so much to see in and around the town center. It is very much alive with activity, tourist and locals alike. The Town Hall itself was spectacular; very ornate. There is quite a variety of gargoyles all over the structure. The sculptures and fountains in the square were quite interesting as well.
Early dinner at Kilian’s Irish Pub. The food was wonderful. The salad was Baked Goats Cheese and Figs with Rocket and Baby Spinach, with blanched Asparagus, Mixed Olives, Sun-dried Tomatoes with Balsamic Dressing. The Gnocchi was prepared with Sauteed Spinach in a Creamy Pumpkin Garlic Sauce with Goats Cheese and Toasted Pine Nuts.
The flight to Munich – MSP to ATL 2h 31m; ATL to MUC 9h 13m. It’s always a long travel day to Europe from Minnesota. Our 46m layover in ATL was barely sufficient. Thankfully our flight from MSP landed at the same concourse that our flight to MUC was departing from; albeit at the opposite ends of the concourse, we arrived at the gate as the departing flight began to board – yay!
Leaving MSP
Flying over Ireland
Arriving MUC
MUC Airport S train
The gates at the MUC airport were like island in a sea of asphalt. After deplaning you congregate in a “holding area” of sorts and wait for a bus to bring you to the terminal. This felt a bit cattle-esque. It was warm and humid with no AC. Thankfully dragging our luggage around and waiting in line to clear customs didn’t take too long. The excitement of landing and finally arriving in Germany carried us through the exhaustion for the plane ride. We only had a 45 minute train ride to our hotel near the city center. Thankfully we could check in early and crash for awhile.
Day 2 – Augustiner-Keller
After waking up from a post-flight-power-nap, we went in search of some local fare. Augustiner-Keller is one of Munich’s oldest beer gardens. It’s close proximity to our hotel made this an easy choice.
The delicious Bavarian food, tasty beer and a great atmosphere make this a wonderful place have dinner. The Augustiner-Keller beer garden is quite large. It seats 5,000! This is quite a bit different that what we are used to in the USA at fairs, town celebrations, etc. This beer garden is under the canopy of 100 Chestnut trees instead of tents. This was the first of many beer garden experiences. Our first exposure to the beer garden culture in Germany was fantastic. We ate at the actual restaurant and where there is a larger menu. We sat outside which is slight elevated from, but directly adjacent to the beer garden seating. There is a limited menu available from kitchens around the perimeter of the beer garden as well.
A perfect end to a very long day 2 of travel and first day in country. Stay tuned for more post on our Germany trip.
