Neuschwanstein Castle, Barvaria, Germany (July 2026)

This year's road trip from Munich was started with the initial goal of seeing this Neuschwanstein Castle that is located only two-hour drive from Munich. From there, I saw that the Dolomites were not too far away and added them to the itinerary. Later, Lake Como was also added. Neuschwanstein Castle became famous and popular after Walt Disney made its emblem based on inspiration from seeing this castle. Do you see the similarity?

We had to buy the ticket in advance, and our entry time was assigned. We had to arrive in the village of Hohenschwangau more than two hours before the assigned time. Our assigned entry time was 12:30 PM. So we had to arrive in the village by no later than 10:30 AM. From the parking area, we could walk up, take a shuttle, or ride a horse-drawn wagon. We chose to take the shuttle. We took a photo of the whole castle from Mary's Bridge and arrived in the waiting area 15 minutes before the entry time. 

 

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside the castle. We followed a tour guide assigned to our group of thirty people, who led us to each floor and room with a brief explanation of the history. After we came out of the castle, we decided to walk down the hill for about 30 minutes. It was not too bad.

An alternative to walking or taking a shuttle was riding this type of horse-drawn wagon.

After we came down to the town center, we visited the Museum of Barbarian Kings. Not all the narration was in English, so we watched many paintings and artifacts, but there was very little reading. 

After this castle, we drove for two hours to a hotel near the Munich International Airport for an overnight stay before we would leave Munich the following day to return home. We had dinner at a boutique restaurant near the hotel and the food was really good. 

 After the river cruise, we did the road trip to the Dolomites, Lake Como, Innsbruck, and Neuschwanstein Castle. All trips start with excitement for the new experience and end with the excitement of returning home. No exception this time. We looked forward to returning home. We enjoyed this trip a lot. - Jeffrey

Innsbruck, Austria (July 2026)

After we left Lake Como, we headed back to Innsbruck, Austria, after driving for four and a half hours. While driving, we passed through a major switchback road called Maloja Pass.  This road was unbelievably winding back and forth to pass over the mountain range. 

We also passed by Lake Sils, which was tranquil. A tour bus also stopped for the tourists to take photos.

Innsbruck is the fifth-largest city in Austria, with a population of approximately 130,000 inhabitants. It hosted the Winter Olympics twice in 1964 and 1976. Kristin and I once visited this city. At that time, we took the cable car to the top of the mountain. This time, we walked around the city. 

We found several street musicians performing with different instruments. Their performances were all impressive.

The city has a river flowing through it (Inn River) and a mountain overlooking the city, called the Nordkette, meaning Top of Innsbruck. The highest peak is approximately 2,300 meters high. The city downtown is packed with colorful buildings and window box flowers. Beautiful.

One of the things the travel guide suggested we not miss in this city was the Golden Roof. It was the most significant symbol of the powerful Habsburg dynasty. Disappointingly, however, it was a very small roof above a balcony where the royal rulers came out to greet people.  

We made a stop in Innsbruck only because our next destination would be Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. It is only 68 miles to get to the castle from Innsbruck. Nonetheless, Innsbruck is a beautiful city with a lot of things to see and do. - Jeffrey

Lake Como, Italy (July 2026)

After we left Ortisei, we headed to Lake Como, another famous and popular destination in Northern Italy. Lake Como is a major historical and cultural tourism hub for the elites in the past. Its dramatic Y-shape is unique, and its deep glacial water is now attracting many tourists from all over the world.

On the way to Lake Como, we made a stop at Lake Garda. It is another lake, equally famous and popular as Lake Como, but there are more residents along the lake shore than tourists. In the town center, we found many restaurants, cafes, and souvenir stores, particularly leather goods stores. We ended up buying one product each of the leather products because their prices were so inexpensive.  

As we drove into the town of Como, we went first to downtown. It was a bit far away from our lodging, located in Lecco, and our tight schedule would not allow us to visit this town if we did not go there first. The town of Como was not as busy as other towns we were scheduled to visit the next day. We strolled around the streets and the lake shore promenade. 

The next day, we walked over to the train station and took a train to Varenna, one of three major towns at the center of the lake. We walked from the train station to the harbor to buy a mid-lake ferry pass to visit the other two towns, called Menaggio and Bellagio. As the ferry passed by the colorful town buildings and the trees, we felt so tranquil despite the crowd on the ferry. 

We spent some time exploring the town of Bellagio, and it was the busiest of the three towns. 

Our initial goal was to visit the Villa de Balbianello, famous for being the site for filming the 007 movie Casino Royale. But when we got there, we found the waiting line far too long. So we had to give up on it. 

After we returned to Lecco, we explored the town as well. It was a lot quieter town than all others. Walking on the promenade was pleasant as we planned to leave for our next destination. 

 We thoroughly enjoyed our short but sweet trip to Lake Como. I am not sure if we will ever return to this tourist destination, but we kept our fond memory in our hearts with deep gratitude. - Jeffrey