Top 30 Places I’ve Visited – # 7 Salzburg, Pinswang and Fussen

This is a bit of a stretch to call these a “place” as they are really a couple of hours apart by car. However, the last time I visited the area, I visited all three together. Driving from the Medieval city of Salzburg, Austria to the small border village of Pinswang, Austria is quite a change of scenery in one way but they are similar in that the Austrian Alps provide a backdrop for both. Fussen, Germany is just fifteen minutes – at most – across the border from Pinswang. We stayed at the cutest bed and breakfast I have ever visited in Pinswang, just so we could be close to Fussen, which is the town near the Ludwig Castles, built by “Mad King Ludwig” of Bavaria.

Constructed on the hilltop ruins of an older castle by Ludwig II of Bavaria, from 1869 to 1878, and paid for by his own private funds and not the treasury as alleged by his detractors, Neuschwanstein Castle is the most beautiful castle ever built. It was the model for the Disney Castles in the theme parks. The English name is simply New Swan Stone. The hill overlooks a small village and the Hohenschangau Castle (Upper Swan County Palace) sits on a small hill across the valley from Neuschwanstein and is where Ludwig grew up, always dreaming of building the perfect castle high on the nearby hill.

Although we visited on a dark, dreary March day, the castles were still worth the trip. Neuschwanstein (left) and Hohenschangau were where Ludwig spent most of his life. A pleasant part of the trip was a carriage ride up to Neuschwanstein.

This picture was taken between the two castle visits and we caught a break in the clouds for this pic. Another view of Hohenschangau is in the background.

Nearby Fussen was home to a bustling tourist trade, even in March and we had a very nice dinner at. of all things, an Italian Restaurant.

Fussen, Germany

We arrived late at the B&B in Pinswang, and forgot to take pics the next day. Thus, this late evening view is our only picture of the place. This was taken from the yard and doesn’t even show the B&B.

After our visit to Fussen, we drove south of Pinswang, deeper into the edge of the Austrian Alps and visited some old ruined castles in a tiny village near Reutte, Austria. This village as well as the castles was a true “find” and without the help of Rick Steve’s TV series on PBS, we would never have located it or even Pinswang and the B&B. The castles today are connected by a 1,322 foot pedestrian bridge 360 feet above the village.

I took this pic of the bridge from the village below while my wife and daughter were watching my grandchildren cross the bridge!

Below, from the outside, this church in the village – just feet from where I took the above photo of the high footbridge, looked as if it might hold a dozen people at most. But from the inside, it appeared capable of seating at least 40 to 50 and probably more. The underpass through the building was as we left the little town, the church being just a few car lengths behind us.

Salzburg was an important Celt center around 500 BC and was under Roman occupation by at least 15 BC. To me, it is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. The name literally means Salt Castle and it was an important salt transportation area during the middle ages. Salt tolls paid a large part of the local budget. Hohensalzburg Fortress is one of its major attractions, located high on a hill above the city.