Another weekend, another castle....Burg Hohenzollern to be exact. We can now officially check two castles off our bucket list! Whoo-hoo! This one was stunning, just look at that beauty on the mountain. Now this is what I think of when I hear the word "castle."
Just a little history behind it, according to their website, the first mention of it was way back in 1061, however in 1423 if was completely destroyed. It was rebuilt bigger in 1454 and was later converted into a fortress during the Thirty Years War, which later turned into ruins around the 19th century. In 1819 Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia decided to reconstruct the castle again, but it wasn't until 1850 when he finally started rebuilding. In 1952 Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia introduced the interior of the castle with beautiful works of art. However, in 1970 and 1978 earthquakes caused a lot of damage to the castle. With the help of local and international visitors the castle has been preserved and well maintained. Ok, enough history, if you'd like to know more, just click on the website.
As for the touring the castle..... We paid for parking ( 2 £ ), then we got our tickets ( 30 £ - 2 adults, 1 child, toddler Free, we just so happened to go on a day they offered the Royal Castle Stroll, which meant all the rooms tour were open and didn't need a tour guide), then we paid for the shuttle bus up the mountain ( 6 £ - 2 adults, 2 children ). We decided to take the two minute bus ride of the mountain versus hiking up it for thirty minutes with two kiddos, but you can if you want to. As a side note, all the admission fees go back into the upkeep of the castle.
When you finally arrive at the bottom of the castle, you are greeted by a ticket lady. We showed our tickets and began our stroll of the castle starting with this beautiful tunnel.
When the tunnel finally opened up, this is what we saw...
We stopped to check out this pretty little garden...
We kept walking up and up until we were walking along the outsides of the castle. Such gorgeous views way up there.
Someone playing Peek-a-boo with me...
After strolling around the outside we found our way into the inner part of the castle walls. Good thing too, it was getting awful windy and chilly out there.
We walked through the entrance doors of this tower....
And this is what awaited us...this amazing castle full of history waiting to be explored.
Below this guy is an entrance to view the inside of the castle. Just like the Schloss Lichtenstein, no one is allowed to photography inside. Sorry.
This is the Catholic Church.
After walking around a bit, we decided to have some lunch at the Castle Beer Garden. It was a simple menu, which made it easier for us. The hubby got some Currywurst and Pomme Frites (Curry sausage and fries), I got a Rotewurst and Brot (Red sausage and bread), and the kiddos shared some Rotewurst and Pomme Frites (Red sausage and fries). And of course we enjoyed some Kinder Chocolate for dessert. I took a few pictures and then back to exploring the castle.
As we made our way down to the shuttle bus, I was able to take some pictures of the winding streets down. Can you imagine riding in a horse drawn carriage down these?
We met the shuttle and rode back down to the parking lot. I ventured onto a little hiking path while the rest of the family went to the restroom. Took a couple of pictures of these pretty flowers to end another great family day.
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