Neuschwanstein

On our last day in the Munich area, we traveled the two hours down to the "Sleeping Beauty castle" (Neuschwanstein) with Shawn and Nicki.  Germany's train system is fantastic -- clean, fast, cheap, reduced transfers, and it has a great website.  We bought a regional group pass for 30€ (~37 USD) which meant the four of us could hop-on / hop-off any line in the Bayern region of Germany all day long.  Shawn particularly liked that we could have also brought along a couple kids and a dog!

Unfortunately, the renovation of the castle's façade meant the picturesque views of the castle perched on the hill were not quite as magical as they will be again in a year or so.  But the Füssen area is situated in the northern part of the Alps, so the natural views were absolutely breath-taking -- bright yellow rapeseed flower fields, snow-capped alps, thick green forests, deep valleys, and shining lakes!

For a full-screen HD slideshow, click here.