Royal hiking in the Allgäu castle park
The area around Füssen was undoubtedly a paradise for the king. The countless mountain peaks and clear lakes, embedded in untouched nature, created a retreat where he could draw strength and energy.
The network of mountain trails, which became considerable for the royal family, still exists today. These hiking trails literally offer you the opportunity to hike in the royal footsteps to this day.
"It is necessary to create paradises for ourselves, poetic havens where we can forget for a while the dreadful times in which we live."
Royal day tours around Füssen
The following selected hikes will take you directly to the places King Ludwig II and his family longed for. These include the royal castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, of course, but also places in the middle of nature that the royal family visited.
The Royal Alps Route
Wandering royal highnesses
Queen Marie of Bavaria, mother of Ludwig II, was a persevering mountaineer with a head for heights. She is considered a pioneer of female mountaineering. Wearing a special hiking costume, she regularly climbed Säuling, Schlicke, Tegelberg, Aggenstein and many other Bavarian and Tyrolean mountains. Her highest peak was the Watzmann near Berchtesgaden. As a young 19-year-old crown princess, she founded the Order of the Alpine Rose, which she awarded to those who hiked with her up the Achsel near Musau.
King Max II of Bavaria, father of Ludwig II, was an enthusiastic mountaineer, nature lover and hunter. As king, but already as crown prince, he hiked through his kingdom several times. One of these multi-day journeys on foot took him from Lake Constance to Lake Königssee, for example. He climbed countless Bavarian and Tyrolean peaks. In doing so, he always followed his motto "You have to climb the mountains as if you never wanted to go up there."
Ludwig II loved the peaceful solitude of the Bavarian and Tyrolean mountains. He usually visited the Schweizerhaus in Bleckenau, the Tegelberghaus or the Kenzenhütten several times a year. Since his childhood, he preferred to spend time in the seclusion of untouched nature. Here, far away from the constraints of court life, he felt at home. The hustle and bustle of the cities was anathema to him. On August 13, 1864, he wrote in Bleckenau "How happy I am to greet you again, / You quiet house, after a long, long time! - / With pleasure I greet the peaceful flow of this stream / You trees and you mountains far and wide. / I breathe the fresh air of the mountains here, / I delight in the clear blue of the sky / The sweet scents of the flowers greet me / The fresh dew of the sky lies on their leaves / So now I say to this region, the noble one, / My stay here will last a long time. / Ludwig"
From childhood to old age (Luitpold was 92 years old), Luitpold of Bavaria hiked in the Bavarian and Tyrolean Alps on the occasion of the annual court hunts. Tireless and extremely sure-footed, he climbed the most dangerous paths and ridges. During his stays in Hohenschwangau, he was regularly to be found in the hunting grounds on the Säuling and Tegelberg, always dressed in short leather trousers and a loden jacket.
Leaflets and flyers
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