I woke up a couple of times throughout the night as my back was hurting but was thankful I had time to go back to sleep as I wasn’t ready to get up yet. I could hear the neighboring room person as they left because the doors in this Airbnb apartment are so heavy and loud. When my alarm went off at 6:30am I went on ahead and got up. The goal was to use public transportation to get to my meeting point for my Neuschwanstein Castle tour by 8:45am.

I thought that would be enough time but as I got up I noticed not only was back hurting but my left knee was hurting as well (I really don’t need this today). I checked the weather and saw a chance for rain so I made sure to take out my umbrella. Because it took me more than an hour to get ready I was going to have to use an Uber to partially get there. I utilized the Go Later portion of Uber to save money on the trip.

I met the driver outside and he took me to the closest train station (I basically skipped the tram ride). After arriving I checked to make sure I was on the right side for the train (I got turned around yesterday) and waited. The train was packed but I managed to get on. As I kept looking at the upcoming stops I became worried because I didn’t see my stop and we were stopping at stops that weren’t listed in Google Map’s directions. After double checking I was on the right train but it was all confusing to me. When I finally saw my stop I breathed a sigh of relief.

It would be a good 7 minute walk to the meeting point from Munich’s Central Station. I made it to the Radius tours location with some time to spare. I had some time so I sat and waited. I met an Indian woman Hama, who is also city hopping solo and she said in a month she’ll be in California for 6 months for work. When it was time our group gathered outside and Mark our guide gave us the rundown. We boarded the bus and were on our way. 

We would ride for about 2 hours before we reached our destination at Neuschwanstein Castle but leaving the city (Munich) we ran into a bit of traffic. I ended up having an entire row to myself on the bus which I’m always thankful for. Mark told us a bit about King Ludwig II as it was his castle we were going to see afterall that he had built solely for himself out in the alps. From what I take it he liked to go big or go home and wanted somewhere to escape to. On the way we passed by a small town that is a big producer of dairy for Germany so as you can imagine we saw a lot of cows.

The ride didn’t seem as long as it was and before long we were had arrived. It was a nice sunny day in the Alps today and though there were people there it wasn’t as crowded as it could be (or at least not yet). We had an hour break to get lunch at some of the neighboring restaurants before we had to meet up to take the bus up the hill to Mary’s Bridge where on the bridge you get a closer away view of Castle Neuschwanstein. Once we got to the bridge the line wasn’t long and we all got on and got our photos and videos.

A Korean lady (I’ll call here Ana), Hama and I stuck pretty close as it seemed as though we were the only solo travelers. On the bridge we took turns taking pictures of each other and even got a group selfie in. I could see how the castle seems so mesmerizing even to Walt Disney who was inspired by it’s look. Next we would have to walk a good 15 minutes to get to the castle. I told Ana and Hama to go on without me because I’m walking slower than usual due to my ankle but by now my left hip was hurting me moreso than the ankle. I paced myself and took my time and ended up catching up with them a couple of times as they stopped by the viewpoint of the Castle Hohenscwangau to get photos (a smaller yet older castle). 

Once we arrived at the castle base you could see just how big it was. Everyone in our group with the exception of Hama and I had paid to go into the castle. We both had heard from others that it wasn’t worth it to pay to go inside and that getting photos outside was more than enough. Come to find out you couldn’t even take pictures or video inside due to copyright purposes so I saw no real point. Hama and I stayed for a few and found other spots/viewpoints to get pictures at and then we proceeded to go ahead and walk back down as it was an estimated 45 minute walk and I knew it would probably at least take me an hour in that case.

Now I had the option of getting in a horse drawn carriage on the way down for a few euros but they smelled like horses and I was being stubborn so I walked and just took my time. We passed by a few streams, souvenir shops and restaurants on the way down in which some cases we stopped briefly for. I told Hama she didn’t need to wait for me and that she could walk ahead which she did but would sometimes stop and wait for me and then proceed on. Once I arrived back at the cafe from which we started I checked out the main souvenir shop down there and was unimpressed. I then found a seat and sat down because I was tired and just did a lot of walking.

I ran back into Hama so we just sat and chatted while we waited for the group. When the group arrived back down we had a chance to get a quick snack/beverage before heading back on the bus to leave. I took the opportunity to finally get a pretzel (a cheese one at that) while in Germany and it was ok. We got a head count and boarded the bus but not before I bought a beer from the bus driver who had drinks on board (I haven’t drank it yet) as apparently it’s a beer a lot of people in Munich drink and enjoy. I got back in my seat and as much as I would’ve loved to have finished my write-up on the ride back you know that didn’t happen because I went to sleep and basically slept the whole way back.

When we arrived at our drop-off spot we all said goodbye and I decided even though exhausted that I’d take the train and bus back to the Airbnb. This ended up proving to be a good idea though as on the way to the train station was a department store and I needed to pick up a couple things. Further into the station I saw a burger place as I needed to get something for dinner as well. With my goodie bag now I was ready to head in. The train ride seemed longer than what it should’ve been but the bus was quick and thankfully the walk from the bus stop was short enough. When I finally got in a little after 8pm, I took off my shoes, took of my clothes and put on lounge clothes and crawled into the bed.

I needed a moment to just lay after the long day I had so I caught up with some news on Youtube and ate my burger while watching a podcast and took some Tylenol along with my medicine. Before you know it I was waking up right before midnight. I got up and washed up and decided I’ll pack in the morning as I check-out tomorrow. As I wrap up this write-up tomorrow I’ll be leaving Germany but will be back next Monday in Berlin to fly out but I’ll be heading to Czechia tomorrow (aka Czech Republic-Prague specifically).