Lucerne 23 July

Today was an early start. We had to have the bags out by 6:30 and get down to breakfast so we were ready to leave at 7:15am. It was pouring rain when we left but luckily it cleared after about an hour.

Steingarden

 

We had a tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle booked for 11:25 but we were early & arrived about 9:30 so had to hang around until our tour time. This was the castle of King Ludwig II of Bavaria who only lived in it for 172 days before he reached a mysterious death. Photos were not allowed inside the castle. It was very dark & rather gloomy. Some of the floors were incomplete and never been completed since.

We were delivered to the bottom of the mountain in a horse-drawn carriage.

 

David & I had a Bratwurst sausage & chips for lunch. We met back at the bus at 2:00pm & continued our journey to Lucerne. It was quite a long trip. We broke our journey at Arlberg Pass, the highest point in Austria. We had to go that way because the tunnel was closed. The mist had come in so it was a chilly 17C so the jumpers came out.

Arlberg Pass - Highest point in Austria

We continued on to Lucerne arriving at 7:45pm. We checked in to the hotel and then had to go & find something for dinner. We had a wander around the Blue Ball Jazz festival on the banks of the lake.