We left Dachau on Thursday afternoon, April 18, around 15.30 in a somewhat somber mood. We headed south west towards Füssen, still in Bavaria, close to the border with Austria. On the way, we went to see the village of Oberammergau up in the Alps where the Passion Plays are performed every ten years. Jo’s parents went there in 1990 so she was keen to see what it was like. The weather was still a mix of rain, sleet and snow but thankfully it stopped whilst we walked around the village with its painted houses. We had parked up near the centre so only had a 10 minute walk into the centre (P4N#417898).

We thought about staying nearby but decided to crack on towards Füssen as we wanted to get an early tour of King Ludwig’s castle, Neuschwanstein, on Friday morning. We stayed at a Stellplatz next to a campsite just outside of Füssen by Lake Bannwaldsee. It is run by the Camp Bannwaldsee (P4N#43627) and you have use of all the facilities but at a reasonable cost. The restaurant had been recommended so we had to try it. We also didn’t get there until nearly 19.00 and couldn’t be bothered to cook. The restaurant didn’t disappoint. Liz had deer goulash and Jo had a ham and cheese schnitzel. Both excellent. We went to bed reasonably early as we had a tour booked for 10.00 at the castle the next day.

We were up around 06.30 and having showered (bliss), had breakfast and filled the van with water, we left for the castle. The parking is in the village with a 45 minute steep climb to the castle entrance. We allowed an hour as we had to be there 15 minutes before the tour. It was a good workout but not great for my bad knee! The views from the top were spectacular and even more atmospheric when it started to snow! The castle inside was a mix of gothic, medieval fantasy but somehow tasteful. You aren’t allowed to take photographs but the wall furnishings and murals were extraordinary, depicting scenes from Wagner’s operas, Norse legends and religious depictions that you’d expect to see in a cathedral.

On the way back down, we passed a stall selling quarkbällchen which are a sort of cheesy donut. Covered in sugar and delicious.

We had met two Dutch women the night before at the campsite who told us about the local thermal baths called Konigliche Kristall Therm so we made our way there to spend a couple of hours indulging ourselves. The different pools were between 31 and 35°C hot and with various amounts of salinity (24% to 2.5%). Whilst we were relaxing in the pools with the Neuschwanstein Castle in the background, we made the decision to head to Liechtenstein next as neither of us had been there!

Miles driven since last post: 102

Miles driven this trip: 4,102