Vietnamese Food in München

Today we tried Oanh 65 for lunch. One order goi cuon, two orders hoanh thanh soup, one banh canh xao ga, and one curry. All were excellent.

Lindwurmstraße 65, about a block from the Goetheplatz U-bahn stop. Highly recommended.

Hohenschwangau

About two hours by train from Munich, the town of Füssen is the gateway to Hohenschwangau, home of two delightfully accessible Bavarian castles.

To

We got the Bahn Card 25 which gives 25% discount on train tickets, so we opted for first class. It turns out the first class sections of the RB68 trains amount to about 20 seats in a section of two cars. The consist seems to be three cars, with one married pair coupled with a single. As fate would have it we opted for the first class section in the single.

Also as fate would have it, there was some mechanical problem with that car about halfway to Füssen. They needed to uncouple the car and remove it from the train. That meant all passengers on that car had to move to the remaining part of the train.

Fortunately there were few first class passengers and we had no issue finding a new seat. There was a delay of about 15 minutes as they completed the work. The train made up some of the time during the rest of the journey.

From Füssen we took a taxi to our hotel in Hohenschwangau, the Hotel Müller.

Stay

Hotel Müller gives a good first impression. Friendly check in. Got our room ready early, as we arrived before check in time. Generous with advice without being pushy.

Our room had a balcony with view of Hohenschwangau Castle. Nicely appointed. But then we noticed odd things. The TV would not turn on. The phone did not work so we couldn't call the front desk. There was a safe in the room, but it was locked open with no means to unlock it. There were no racks to put suitcases on. Not horrible, but slightly off-putting.

Breakfast included, ordered from a wide variety of options and served by friendly staff dressed in dirndl. Recommend the fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Hohenschwangau Castle

A footpath from the left of the hotel leads up the mountain to the castle.

There are no guided tours, and the only option is audio guide. They are very strict enforcing COVID regulations. Must have "3G" proof. Small groups. Make at all times.

Ticket order came with harsh instructions demanding were arrive well in advance if the appointed time. If more than five minutes late no admittance and no refund. But in reality we did not need to arrive at all before the tour time, as all we could do was stand around and wait.

When our time arrived we scan or QR code at the entry gate, and the turnstile allowed us to proceed. If we don't move fast enough the turnstile whaps us on the backside.

Inside they check out vaccine status and hand out audio guides, burning 10 or do minutes. Guide walks with us from room to room, activating that room's content on the little audio device. Very robotic. This is a Castle that was actually used by Bavarian royals, and in that respect is interesting. The rooms are decorated not with things the people may have used, but with portraits and statues of former residents. I wonder if that was the actual decor at any point in time, or just to make it a museum.

A big deal is made of Ludwig II.

Overall impression is that it's a nice Castle and all, but I wish I knew more about German and Bavarian history.

Neuschwanstein Castle

This is a very pretty fantasy castle situated higher above the hamlet of Hohenschwangau. 

My hiking app, Gaia GPS, says the walk up from hamlet level was one mile with an elevation increase of 450 feet (2840 feet to 3290 feel above sea level). It took us just under 30 minutes.

Visitors are permitted into the outer courtyard from 15 minutes before their tour time. Again, why did they give instructions to arrive over an hour in advance? In the courtyard people are killing about waiting for the entry time. We were advised by the Steves book of a staircase over to the left which leads to an upper courtyard. This is worth the additional climb.

There are signboards at the upper level explaining that Ludwig intended this courtyard be blocked by a chapel, and the footprint of that intended chapel is visible in the paving stones.

Eventually the tour time comes. And you begin climbing stairs! OMG, so many stairs. Only a dozen or so rooms are completed, and those are the only rooms on the tour. As I saw rooms and heard more Ludwig II anecdotes I got the impression that Ludwig was not so much mad as her was eccentric. The castle send to have been a short of private themed park, where the theme was Richard Wagner.

So anyhow of you're going to the area definitely see both castles. But if I were forced to choose just one I would probably choose Hohenschwangau.

Other

We allowed waaaaaay too much time, guided by pre-COVID advice. We likely could have seen both castles in a single day. The guided portion of each tour was not more than 40 minutes.

But because we had so much time we had a very relaxed pace. We even made an unplanned side trip to a nearby thermal bath, Königlich Krystal Therme. Wow! 22€ well spent!

The region offer a transit pass for guests in the local hotels, so we were able to move around freely.  The hotel did not offer this on their own, but as soon as I asked it was quickly generated.

Füssen, the nearest train station town, is also worth spending some time walking in.