Today was my two palace tour to Linderhof and Neuschwanstein and I almost missed it by sleeping in. I woke at 6.30 and had to rush out by 7.10 and catch the 7.20 train. I stopped for some food and drink and made it my bus meeting point just before 8.

The scheduled departure time from outside the department store was 8.30 but as the bus was already full with no seating left it just drove off. Luckily I made it in time and hopefully there was another bus as there were extra tourists for Oktoberfest who would still be arriving for the printed 8.30 departure.

We drove thru the countryside south towards Linderhof which was our first stop. We arrived 9.30 but as soon as I got off the bus I had sharp pains in my rear knee muscle and could hardly walk. Ouch! I tried massaging as a I had a long day of walking and this was just the start of a two week trip.

Our group had a tour time of 9.45. As I had my Bavaria Castle Pass I didnt have to pay extra for the ticket. This just left a short amount of time to explore the gardens before the tour. We were on a tight schedule and needed to be back on the bus for 10.45.

Linderhof was the only palace that King Ludwig was able to complete in his lifetime. Partially this may be due to its small size. Its more like a small five bedroom mansion than the larger grand palaces of Europe. It was also a two day carriage ride to get here from Munich.

No pics were allowed inside so I had to do hands behind back again. We started in a music room, for the throne room he had a bed instead of a throne. It was decorated in blue as he was the 'Moon King'. There was also a small hall of mirrors.

The tour finished 10.20 and we were due back on the bus 10.45. Luckily I had a map of the grounds printed from the internet and knew about the other buildings to explore.

I had to run thru the grounds up the long hill path to reach the Moorish Kiosk. This was a very Arabic flavoured building in its exterior and lavish interior design.

Nearby was the Grotto with the next scheduled tour at 10.25 lasting 15 mins. I told them I had to be on the bus 10.45 so they said I can just walk thru quickly without the tour.

Its a small lake inside a cave replica where Ludwig would have private opera performances. You can walk thru in a minute, the 15 minute tour is more for the narration stories.

Finally heading back to the bus I dashed up some more stairs to get to the Moroccan House. Luckily my leg was reasonably behaving and I managed it. Similarly to the Moorish Kiosk it was lavishly designed and you can only see the interior thru a glass wall.

I made it back to the bus for 10.45. They could have allowed another 20 mins for this part of the tour to explore the grounds. The schedule is tight because of the unpredictable tour time slots at Neuschwanstein coming up so they have to leave a larger window for that.

We passed thru a village where Hansel & Gretel and other childrens stories from the Brothers Grimm were painted on houses. We then made a stop in the village of Oberammergau.

This village has notorierty as every 10 years they put on a play of The Passion of the Christ. Only people born in the town or who live here are allowed as actors. The play will run several months that year until the next performance 10 years later.

The town was very touristy with cuckoo clocks and wood carvings. Many houses were also painted. I made my way to the village church before heading back for our scheduled bus departure at 11.45.

This was a very busy morning on a tight schedule and there was still the full afternoon of the highlight Neuschwanstein coming up.