One Night in Fussen

While figuring out our trip to Neuschwanstein, we could have easily made it a day trip. This would have meant driving two and a half hours, touring the castle, and then driving two and a half hours home. However, nearby Fussen offered a variety of hotels, restaurants, and shops. Ultimately, we made the choice to stay and take advantage of the opportunity to explore. Staying the night also meant we could go back to Neuschwanstein the next day and hike the surrounding woods.

Hotels have been a real adventure so far, even if you book for two people they will put you in a twin or double size room if you aren't careful. After arriving we rearranged our room plan and ended up in what turned out to be a very nice suite.

Neither of us were familiar with the area, so we dropped our things by the room and wandered around downtown. First on our priority list was to scout out a restaurant. We strolled through the pedestrian friendly streets and looked at menus on our way. While contemplating our decision, we stopped into a gift shop. One item we are interested in purchasing while we're here is a really cool cuckoo clock, and this store had a wall full of them. The Black Forest area is famous for theirs and there are some crazy intricate ones out there. We didn't end up purchasing one that night, but made a mental note so we have a point of reference.

Dinner was at a small restaurant down one of the side streets, so small I asked for a Pinot Grigio and was informed they don't offer such a wide variety. Tom ordered sauerbraten with a beer and I had some sort of spatzle, beef, and vegetable dish with a chardonnay. Apparently chardonnay is more universal... For dessert we grabbed ice cream and explored some more before heading back to the hotel. One store also had gigantic fried dough chunks available in every flavor imaginable. They looked and smelled amazing, but we resisted.

Our hotel did have wifi, but you had to pay which wasn't worth it for the 12 hours we would be there. On the hotel's computer, we attempted to look up some hiking routes for the next morning as we didn't have a reliable map of the area. After half an hour of searching, we weren't any better off than when we started. One thing that did catch our eye was the hotel bar just around the corner.

We were the only ones there when we arrived, which was a welcome change of the overly crowded day. My cosmopolitan came with apple slices, and they were a great snack after I finished my drink. The decor was mountain cabin meets art pop, we loved it. 

The following day of hiking was successful and made the overnight stay absolutely worthwhile.