Gateway to Neuschwanstein — the fairy-tale castle that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty
Füssen is a small Bavarian town at the end of the Romantic Road, overwhelmed by the towering presence of Neuschwanstein Castle 5km away — the Disney-inspiring fantasy fortress built by Ludwig II of Bavaria between 1869–1892 and now the most visited castle in Germany. Hohenschwangau Castle, where Ludwig spent his childhood, sits opposite on a separate hill. The town itself has a compact old centre, a Benedictine monastery, and is the access point for the Alpsee and Schwansee lakes.
Füssen sits at the junction of two Roman roads and served as a toll post on the Via Claudia Augusta. The Benedictine monastery of St. Mang, founded 8th century, made it a significant religious centre throughout the medieval period. Füssen was famous as the centre of European lute and violin making from the 15th to 17th centuries — craftsmen from Füssen spread the trade across the continent. Ludwig II began Neuschwanstein as a personal retreat and tribute to Wagner's operas; he spent fewer than 170 nights there before being declared insane by a political committee in 1886, dying mysteriously i…