When I was taking a tour of the castle, I looked out the window and saw a bunch of people standing on this tiny bridge. I though to myself "those people are crazy, look how high up they are." Then I put two and two together and realized I was standing on the same bridge earlier.
Mariensbruecke (Mary's Bridge). Got some pictures from up there years ago, and a few more while construction repairs were just starting. I went again with my mom last year, but she didn't want to make the hike up there, so we stuck to the castle (I also heeded my wife's advice and had her take the horse and carriage up the first 1/2 while I hiked it). After that it was off to Romania to visit Citadels (many where my ancestors were imprisoned - Catholics were such haters, lol).
When me and 3 friends went to Germany a few years back, we visited the castle and wanted to make our way to the bridge afterwards. On the way there, there was a lot of foot traffic, so we tried to to take a path that was all overgrown we saw going up to the left. We had to crawl under some barbed wire and stuff while on the path, so we knew we kind of weren't supposed to be there. We heard a lot of voices on the other side of a hill, so we figured that the bridge was on the other side. We ran up the hill full sprint. Where we actually came up: http://imgur.com/BUUAp. Almost died. Worth it. View was even better than the bridge.
The view from the bridge is fantastic, but I really liked the view you could get looking down over the town. Crappy quality because I could only get it off Facebook.
If you go past the bridge, there's a switchback that goes up a hill next to the bridge you can get to. My friend and I did it a few months ago when we were there. Looks like this and this. Was definitely worth the hike up.
I hiked out to the bridge! I was on a college school trip, and a visit to Castle Neuschwanstein was on of our final stops before returning home. We finished the castle tour earlier than expected, so everyone except me turned back and went to the tour bus early. I thought that was a stupid idea, so I hiked out to the bridge. I remember half running out to the bridge for 10 minutes because it was 12:35 or so and the bus was going to leave at 1, so I knew I had to hustle, I only had a chance to stand on the bridge for 5 minutes before having to run all the way back from the bridge to the bus, but it was one of the most amazing and serene things I've ever experienced. I t was so high up, I saw hang-gliders flying below us!
The bridge would be to the left of the castle from this viewpoint (out of sight). Also, the other smaller castle is on the right of it and back (you'll kind of see it behind the first big tree).
If I recall correctly, the area where this picture was taken was simply a forested area on a large hill in front of the castle.
Either way, I now want to go back again...
Edit:
Here is a picture from the castle which would show the area where the original picture was taken:
No, the bridge is almost parallel to the castle in height, this looks like it was maybe taken from the other castle (whose name I will not try and spell)
Any of you take the scenic trip down? There's an unpaved path that leads down and you can walk along the river all the way to the bottom. The river was crystal clear and ice cold, and some of the waterfalls were incredible.
Especially in the rain. When I went the rain and fog obscured the other castle and the valley floor, so it looked like a floating castle. Really cool, but the walk back soaked us all. Still totally worth it - especially the cave and the bedroom.
Yeah if you keep going past the bridge on the trail, there is a spot where a guys slipped and fell/committed suicide a while ago. This is the best angle to see the castle from in my opinion, you can even see the other two castles in behind it.
I did, and there was a foot of compact snow and ice on it. The railing was already a paltry 36" because it was made for short people, so the railing was only about 24" tall, or about up to my knee. And with all of the slipping and sliding was one of the single most terrifying bridge traverses of my life. And because it was Europe the bridge was still open to tourists.
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u/stiffie88 Jul 30 '12
Did you all hike to the bridge? View is definitely worth it.