During my summer in Germany, I discovered a newfound love for castles (and sauerkraut). Germany, the land of fairytales is also home to many castles, almost one in every town that I visited. The most famous castle in all of Germany is the Neuschwanstein Castle but that was too long a trip for me.

So, when I began researching picturesque, beautiful, fairytale-like castles in Germany, I was surprised to find one so beautiful and so close to me in Stuttgart – Hohenzollern Castle.

Burg Hohenzollern / Hohenzollern Castle – A German Fairytale Castle

An hour away from Stuttgart lies the tiny town of Hechingen. The Hohenzollern Castle (Burg Hohenzollern) is 7 kms from Hechingen (I know cause I had to walk it back after being told there were no more buses operating between the castle and the train station!!!).

The view of the castle from the town is absolutely breathtaking! It looks like the start of a fairytale…

The view of Hohenzollern Castle from Hechingen

In A Land Far, Far Away

The Hohenzollern Castle sits pretty on top of a hill which immediately grabs one’s attention and transport one into ‘one upon a time’ land. To get to the castle, there’s a bus that takes passengers from the Hechingen railway station.

Personally, I found the castle quite a let down. The Hohenzollern Castle is small and does not have much to see. There’s a tour of the castle which talks about the rooms, the history, and other important information about the castle. However, what’s worth seeing are the views from above. Green and blue as far as the eye can see.

Left Stranded In A Fairytale Castle

Unfortunately, my day didn’t go as planned. But I did get a hell of a story out of it.

You see, once I was done with the castle, I headed back to the bus stop only to learn that there were no more buses back to Hechingen for the day! Luckily it was a downhill walk and I have a great sense of direction.

I knew that the last train to Stuttgart left in 2 hours. So I got a move on, but just couldn’t help myself from stopping and looking back at the castle every 20 steps. The landscape kept changing and so did the beauty of the castle.

Happily Ever After

Needless to say I made it back to the town only to get lost again. I happened to bump into an old German couple and luckily enough for me, I knew the German word for “train station”. They pointed me in the right direction and as I made my way back to the town-centre, I spotted a map of the town. I quickly took a picture of the map so that I wouldn’t get lost and would know the shortest way to the “Bahnhof” (great tip BTW)! Given the level of German efficiency, I actually ran to the station with minutes to spare.

It turned out to be one of my favourite days in Germany.