MUC: Neuschwanstein Castle

Hello Everybody!

Now that I'm on reserve on a regular basis, I've been doing more sightseeing, since I never know when I'll be able to get back to these great int'l layover cities. This time in Munich, I decided to go see the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Here's the Google Maps Satellite Image of the Castle town.

Transportation
Bus Tour:
You can try a bus tour if you get in early enough. Our trip arrived at the hotel after the Neuschwanstein bus tours left. If you are there in time, I'd try the Mikes Bike Tours tour of the area.
Rental Car:
If you can rent a car and you have a few people to go in on it with you, then it's not a bad deal. However, prior planning is a must. You can rent at either the airport or the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station). The Hilton Concierge did not believe we'd even be able to get a car, and if we did, we'd pay around €200. So, after hearing that, we did not even try.

Train:
This is the option we went with. Although the travel time is more, the price is great, and you can eat and drink on the way up and back. If you are travelling alone, get a Single Bavaria Day Pass for €19. It is good for any DB train and any Bavarian bus. The group rate which is good for up to 5 people is €30. The S-bahn (subway) all day group rate is €9. So, for about €40, you're totally covered for transportation coming and going for up to 5 people. Buy the Gruppe Karte (group card) at the Hauptbahnhof.

One note with the group card though, is that you must all travel together! You won't be able to split up, so be sure everyone agrees on the itinerary and amount of time at the castles. If you do decide to split apart from the person holding the group ticket (or if it happens unintentionally) you must purchase your own ticket.

If you can research the Deutsche Bahn schedules ahead of time, you'll be in great shape. Departure station is Munich Hauptbahnhof, and the arrival station is Füssen. If you change the arrival station to Hohenschwangau, the DB website will include the proper bus connection to get you to the castle town. There are no direct trains to Fussen, so you'll have either one or two stopovers. Try to avoid the two stopover trains if possible. The train ride is 2.5 hours start to finish (which includes the little layover in Kaufbeuren). Give yourself about 4 to 5 hours in Schwangau to tour the two castles. Then you can plan your return trip. Bring your wine and cheese and enjoy the view! (between naps...)

The busses in Fussen depart and arrive on the back side of the train depot.

Taxis from Fussen to Hohenschwangau will cost €10 (but they'll only carry 4 people)

If you want to rent a bike, you can either do that at the Fussen train station (there is a little mountain bike shop right next door) or you can rent on in Munich and bring it along. If you choose to bike up there, let me know how it goes so I can add the comments.

Once the bus drops you off at Hohenschwangau, you'll want to walk up the hill to your right. There is a ticket office there to purchase the castle tours. They give the tours at specific times, so just be sure that it all falls in line with your planned train/bus schedule.

Unfortunately, due to the time constraints of one person in our group, we could not take the next available Neuschwanstein tour (€15). We had to settle for a tour of Hohenschwangau tour (€9). The walk to Hohenschwangau castle was easy, but be prepared for a 40-45 minute walk up to the Neuschwanstein Castle. There is a shuttle bus that goes to Neuschwanstein every 20 minutes, and you pay for that on the bus. There are indeed signs pointing you to all of these things, but a picture map is worth many words:


Enjoy your trip! Let me know if this post helped!

Hohenschwangau Castle