Fussen, Bavaria, Germany -- The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

“Old Town” of Fussen, Bavaria

 

When you visit Bavaria and the famous castles from kings of long past, you truly should make it a point to stay overnight in the town of Fussen, Bavaria, Germany . . . what is considered by many travel experts to be an overlooked gem in the shadows of the castles.

My husband and I chose to take a slow way to enjoy Bavaria and not just go from place to place that draws the majority of  tourists . . . instead, we always choose to find places that display what daily life is like in each destination besides the ‘main attraction’.

So before we visited the famous Bavarian castle of the mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein, we decided to stay overnight in the quaint and beautiful town of Fussen.

After arriving from our 1-½ hour train ride from Munich to Fussen, we were literally within 5 minutes walking distance from the train station to everything in town . . . . including hotels, restaurants, shops, and the “Old Town” of Fussen.

We checked into the funky, eclectic Hotel Sonne first, dropped off our luggage, and then walked around the cobblestone streets.  We were amazed at the beautiful medieval German architecture and just how quaint and dreamy this small Alpine town is.

In the shops of the “Old Town” we bought some absolutely gorgeous German table-linens for Christmas, strolled along the ancient, stone-paved streets, and then stopped for lunch in a recommended local-favorite German tavern.
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Fussen

restaurants with ‘al fresco’ dining’ line the quaint streets of ‘old town’ Fussen

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany

beautifully painted buildings greet us in “Old Town” Fussen, Bavaria, the town next to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany

architectural ‘eye candy’ on every building in Fussen, Bavaria

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just look at the exquisite workmanship of this store window!

exquisite workmanship on a store window

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fussen, bavaria, germany

incredible attention to detail in design

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany

the town’s 1500’s palace ‘Hohes Schloss’ sits on top of a hill overlooking the town

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The Hohes Schloss is a late-Gothic palace filled with regional paintings and sculpture from dating back to the year 1499.

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beautifully painted buildings everywhere you turn!

beautifully painted buildings everywhere you turn

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany

simply lovely painted buildings everywhere in Fussen!

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany

just one example of Bavarian building’s exterior design: paintings of daily life and the Christian faith

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle
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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

colorfully painted buildings everywhere

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

visual art distinguishes Bavarian buildings

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

just as in Italy, the old towns of Bavaria have extraordinary door designs

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

more beauty in architecturally embellished door design

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

we fell in love with Bavaria’s quaint ‘signs’ hung outside each business to inform one of the type of business inside

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

this beautifully designed sign indicates that it is a butcher shop

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

more delightful signage along the streets of Fussen

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

more delightful and quaint German signage

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So let’s go shopping!

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

German Christmas cookies and stollen on display in shop windows

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neushwanstein Castle

a lovely shop chock-full of genuine German table linens that I happily spent a few euros for a hand-emboroidered Christmas table runner!

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From the linens shop in the photo above, I bought this beautiful Christmas table runner (below photo). . . I love neutrals and with the pop of red and green so simplistically embroidered on this linen, I just fell in love with it . . . and it came home in my luggage!

 

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neushwanstein Castle

walking around this Alpine town made our tummies hungry, so we hoofed it to a German tavern recommended by our hotel concierge for where ‘the locals’ eat — which we always seek out on our travels — they know where the really good food is!

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

from the sign it looks like fresh Alpine mountain-stream fish is the specialty in this tavern

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

the interior of this quaint little German tavern

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Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neushwanstein Castle

traditional Bavarian “Knuckle of Pork in Dark Beer Sauce” that my husband ordered for his very first time

Here is a recipe for Roasted Pork Knuckle that needs to be tried at home:  Roasted Pork Knuckle with Crispy Skin

Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neushwanstein Castle

“Hunter’s Style” Jagerschnitzel served with a mushroom sauce and spatzle!

 

This jagerschnitzel was so delicious that I have to make this soon.  Here’s a recipe for Jagerschnitzel (Bavarian Schnitzel with Mushroom Sauce – Hunter’s Style)  recipe I found this recipe from Food Network and has a 4.8 rating from over 91 reviews, with comments that say that this recipe tastes very authentic! I made it and have to agree!

 

Fussen, Bavaria, Germany

the apple fritters were very good, as was all of the food that we enjoyed in Bavaria

 

To complete this post on our one-day visit to Fussen, Bavaria, here are a few shots of our delightful hotel that we stayed in and that we definitely recommend:  Hotel Sonne

This hotel is very eclectic and funky to say the least!  We just loved it with all of the creative and amusing decor.  If you’re looking for a unique, high quality lodging experience, than the Hotel Sonne will truly deliver.  We highly recommend this hotel.

If you are looking for a cookie-cutter chain hotel, then this is hotel is not for you.  But if you want unique elegance with superb attention to service and the absolute, hands-down best breakfast buffet, than this wonderful boutique hotel is perfect for you.

Here are just a few photos from this lovely, modern, joyful hotel in Fussen, Bavaria, Germany:

 

Upon entry to this lovely hotel and the reception area, a contemporary cafe/bar invites you to sit a spell!

Upon entry to this lovely hotel and the reception area, a contemporary café invites you to sit a spell

 

a unique 'Christmas Tree' made up of clothes hangers -- one of the delightful and unexpected visual displays at Hotel Sonne

a unique Christmas tree made up of clothes hangers — one of the delightful and unexpected visual displays in the hotel

 

Fussen, Bavaria, Germany - The Village By Neuschwanstein Castle

interior Christmas decor inside the hotel

 

This hamburger was so HUGE, that we split it between us for our dinner and were still so full! It was truly a mouth-watering burger!

a German hamburger

After the huge lunch that we had in the tavern, we decided to share a hamburger.  It was massive in size, so we were really glad that we shared it.  Several people have asked me why we had ‘hamburgers’ in Germany  Well, there is a debate about the origin of the hamburger.  And many claim the origin of the hamburger traces to Hamburg, Germany, where it was first prepared by Otto Kuase.  Who knows.  But this was a really yummy burger and we’re glad that we tried a German burger.

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room service 'Apple Strudel' -- unbelievable! Dessert to your room that is over-the-top-delicious!

yet another delicious apple strudel

And what better way to end the day then with another piece of apple strudel!  We ordered this dessert in every place that offered it and they were all amazing.  I’ll have to find a good recipe and make this at home soon.

Coming up next is our next stop “The Church of The Meadows” and “Linderhoff Palace”.  I hope you’ll continue to follow along my posts and photos of this wonderful trip to Bavaria!

 

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