We are staying in Lindau for four days midweek in early August and would very much like to visit the more impressive castles, including those around Fussen. It appears from other fora Lindau might not be a great place from which to start such day trips given we do not plan to hire a car (though if the recommendation is %26quot;hire a car%26quot; then we are willing to consider it). Does anyone know how best to achieve this bearing in mind we are travelling with kids aged 11 and 13 - so the trips should be interesting and not too convoluted.
Any assistance will be most gratefully received.
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The closest %26quot;real%26quot; castle is in Meersburg. It is fun to explore.
You can get there by boat, or train and bus. With two kids, though, I think you might enjoy it better if your drive by %26quot;hire car%26quot; (rental car to us Yanks). Round trip by boat is quite long. Going by car you can stop en route in Friedrichshafen and visit the Zeppelin museum, which I%26#39;m sure the kids will enjoy. In fact, if the Zeppelin is in port (at the airport), you can watch it take off and/or land. You can also book a ride (in advance), but it is very expensive.
From Lindau, you can also take the short boat ride to Bregenz and from there take the cable car to the top of the Pfaender. Great views.
Another place both you and the children might enjoy is the Insel Mainau. It can be reached by boat from Meersburg. It is a horticultural marvel;, with enough enterentainment for the children to keep them busy.
I have never gone by train to Lichtenstein, and am not sure how much of the castle there you can visit. I know it%26#39;s not very far by car. You might check this out. For trains, check www.bahn.de
As to Fuessen: Doing it by train from Lindau is possible, but a long train rideL Lindau, change in Buchloe - Fuessen (check schedules on www.bahn.de)
Besides, I%26#39;m not sure that the kids will enjoy visiting the castle. It looks great from the outside. But one can only visit the interior with a conducted tourand, I suspect, the kids will get bored quickly. Were it not for Disney, the castles would probably be only second tier sightseeing targets. They are really quite new, and never have been %26quot;working%26quot; castles (i.e. with a history of serving a defensive funtion). They were one man%26#39;s folly, who couldn%26#39;t even afford it. But there are many people who don%26#39;t share my opinion on that!
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Meersburg has one of Germany%26#39;s oldest castles dating from the 600s (not 1800s like Neuschwanstein), and Meersburg is the loveliest town on the lake. Inland from it is %26quot;ape mountain%26quot; if that would interest the children. If you rent a car, a lovely drive is from Sigmaringen with its nice palace to Beuron with its nice monastery along the upper Danube River with its numerous castles and palaces sitting high above the river on the cliffs. Germany%26#39;s largest castle ruins is also in this direction by Singen, Hohentwiel which sits atop a former volcano.
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The more interesting and closer castles from Lindau are all in Baden-Württemberg, not in Bavaria.
King Ludwig II castles, the big palaces in Munich are all not really close to Lindau. Not even speaking of the longest castle in Bavaria (and Europe) in Burghausen.
Schloss Montfort in Langenargen (the closest to Lindau)
langenargen.de/servlet/…index.html
directly at the lake, you can climb the tower
Meersburg
http://www.burg-meersburg.de/
Schloss Salem *
http://www.salem.de
Actually a former monstry. Large complex with a number of museums, a famous international college. And the ape mountain
http://www.affenberg-salem.de/
Schloss Lauffen at the Rhinefalls
http://www.rhinefalls.com/
The Rhinefalls are more interesting than the castle.
Schloss Wolfegg *
http://www.wolfegg.com/
http://www.automuseum-busch.de/
there is a nice oldtimer museum in the castle
http://www.automuseum-busch.de/
also interesting the farm house museum in Wolfegg
http://www.bauernhausmuseum-wolfegg.de
Hohentwiel castle ruin near Singen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohentwiel
historisches-wuerttemberg.de/burgen/hohentw/…
Schloss Sigmaringen *
www.hohenzollern.de/schloss-sigmaringen/en/
Interior is one of the most interesting and authentic I%26#39;ve seen.
Not that close to Lindau.
You can reach all these place by public transport. Apart from Meersburg all the mentioned towns/places have a railway station.
There is a BodenseeErlebniskarte which covers to my knowledge public transport and entrance fees of all mentioned places.
bodensee-tourismus.de/wDeutsch/…
Something you can check out at Lindau tourism office.
* are places I would recommend as interesting for children. Here I want to add:
Zeppelin Museum in the harbour railway station of Friedrichshafen. Also interesting for kids as there is a rebuilt section of LZ129 one can walk/climb in.
http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/
Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen
a Bronze / Stone Age open air museum
pfahlbauten.de/museum/virtueller-rundgang.ht…
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Wow! Some great posts here and I will certainly be taking your collective advice. Many thanks to all of you
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