Together with some friends, I spent a very hot Sunday (August 4, 2013) in a village called Hohenschwangau just beneath Neuschwanstein Castle. Naturally, we had to queue up with all the other tourist to get tickets for the tour of the castle.
While approaching the castle and spending the day in the village, I've taken above pictures which feature complete views from various angles of the outer appearance of the castle. The first picture (shot from "Marienbrücke") is also the symbol featured in the map of the game, which gets Grace to go to the castle. The St.George figure is featured in a prominent spot on the outside of the castle.
I must admit it is a kind of rip of being forced to pay 12,- Euro just to be part of the tour of the castle which only lasts for 30 minutes. Having said that, it was stunning to be able to spend circa five minutes in each of the rooms featured in the game. It became obvious that the grotto is more of a pathway between two adjoining rooms than a room in itself.
Another thing that struck me when I took a closer look at the various paintings - especially in the singer's hall: there are no wolves in there. The large painting in the back of singer's hall depicts no wolves. In the centre of the picture there is a deer. It seems that the paintings in singer's hall were modified for the game. It's a pity, I had no time to study them more closely. The tour of the castle does not give access to the balcony of singers' hall. Only after the guided tour has finished, one has access to the balcony of the floor below singer's hall, which provides a picturesque view over the area. It's a postcard view and it is just awesome.The second picture of above slide show was taken in the room leading to the third floor. Due to the fact I was there with 50 other tourists I was not able to take a picture of the famous door on the left side. This is the room where Grace starts her explorations of the castle.
After the tour, we checked out the inner courtyard which features two paintings of St. George and Patrona Bavariae. It also provides a lovely view to the "Marienbrücke" and its waterfall. I bought a booklet in one of the many gift shops which holds some interesting facts: