Castle legends: from the Loire to Bavaria

From the French Renaissance to the castle that inspired Disney.

France and Germanyfrom 10 days17 stops

Free, no account needed. You'll still be able to change dates, travellers and the rest.

Where it goes

Château d'Amboise
The royal residence where Francis I was raised, looking out over the Loire. Leonardo da Vinci is buried in its chapel.
Clos Lucé
The house where Leonardo spent his last three years, with full-size models built from his drawings.
El pasadizo a Clos Lucé
An underground tunnel linked Leonardo's house to the castle so Francis I could visit him unseen.
Mercado del domingo
On the bank of the Loire, one of the best in the valley. It is where you buy the picnic for your day of castles.

Château de Blois
Four wings and four different styles around the same courtyard: Gothic, Renaissance, Classical. It is an architecture course in one building.
Chambord
440 rooms and the double-helix staircase attributed to Leonardo: two people can go up without ever meeting. 18 km out.
Cheverny
The castle lived in by the same family for six centuries, and the one Hergé copied as Marlinspike Hall in Tintin.
Beauregard
Its portrait gallery gathers 327 painted historical figures. Far less visited than its neighbours.

Residenz de Múnich
The Wittelsbachs' town palace — the dynasty that ended up building Neuschwanstein. Starting here explains the end of the route.
Palacio de Nymphenburg
The summer residence, with the Gallery of Beauties commissioned by Ludwig I. Ludwig II, the castle-building king, was born here.
Glockenspiel del Nuevo Ayuntamiento
43 bells and 32 figures acting out a sixteenth-century wedding. It chimes at 11:00 and 12:00 in Marienplatz.
Englischer Garten
Larger than Central Park, and with a river wave surfed all year round in the middle of the city.

Neuschwanstein
Ludwig II's castle, the one that inspired Disney's. Timed tickets are compulsory and sell out weeks ahead: buy before you travel, not there.
Hohenschwangau
The yellow castle opposite, where Ludwig II spent his childhood looking at the hill he would build his own on.
Linderhof
The only one of Ludwig II's three castles he lived to finish, with its artificial Venus grotto. 30 km out.
Wieskirche
A Rococo church in the middle of a meadow, and a World Heritage site. The contrast with the castles is the reason to stop.
Puente María
The suspension bridge over the gorge that the classic photograph of Neuschwanstein is taken from. It closes for ice in winter.

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