Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany is one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been in my life. And when I say breathtaking, I mean, it literally took my breath away when it finally came into view.
Though you may not have heard the name before, you’re probably familiar with its appearance. This is because Disney World modeled the famous “Disney Castle” after it. This is the castle you see at the beginning of every Disney movie, as well as the literal castle standing tall at the gates of Magic Kingdom. But the real thing, the Neuschwanstein Castle, looks like this:
The castle is located in a small town called Hohenschwangau, right next to a more popular town called Füssen. Most tourists (like us) come from Munich, in that it is a 2-2.5 hour train ride away from Füssen.
How to Get to the Castle
Getting to the Castle is a bit of a multi-step process. First, you’ll need to take the train from Munich to Füssen. Trains depart from Munich HBF every hour, with every other train being a direct trip.
Once you get off at the train, you’ll need to take either Bus 73 or Bus 78 to get to Hohenschwangau. To find the bus stop, you just need to exit the train station and you’ll likely see it right away. At the very least, there will be a mob of people to help point you in the right direction.
You can buy your ticket for the bus on the bus itself, or, you can purchase a Bayern Ticket in advance, which will cover both your train and bus tickets for the entire day. If you’re traveling in a group, this is a significantly cheaper option. HappyToWander has a great guide on purchasing these tickets here.
The bus from Füssen to Hohenschwangau is only about 10 minutes, but I would not advise trying to walk the path as it’s a very steep incline! You’ll be dropped off downhill from the ticket center, which you’ll have to go to next in order to get into the castle. Again, follow the mob.
Now, you’re not quite there yet. To get to the actual castle, you can either walk uphill about 30-40 minutes, take a bus, or ride in a horse-drawn carriage! Personally, I would recommend the walk. It’s a well-marked path (you’ll see it right away), and it’s not difficult. And probably the most important reason to walk is because it will take you to the suspension bridge overlooking the castle.
Sure, you can get there after riding the bus or the carriage, but the walking path leads directly to the bridge, and this is the view I was talking about when I said my breath escaped me.
Now I’ll give you a fair warning, if you’re afraid of heights, maybe skip this part. The bridge in itself is sturdy and secure with barriers on either side, but it’s very high up, and a lot of people are competing for pictures on it. It was particularly unnerving when we went because it had just rained and was still sprinkling a bit, so everything was wet. But that didn’t stop us! Or the other hundreds of tourists scattering around on the bridge. Honestly, it was so worth it. The castle is cool up close, but you can’t really appreciate it’s majesty until you step away a bit.
You’ll also likely have to wait in a short line to get on the bridge in the first place, but again, worth it!
Okay so after the bridge, you just have to walk a bit further to get to the actual castle itself. The walk is beautiful, with a ton of incredible views from high up.
Tickets
So now that you’ve come all this way, you probably want to see in the castle, right? Well, the only way in is through a guided tour that you will need tickets for. And this is important. Buy your tickets in advance. When we went, the line was incredibly long to get a ticket. And they only sell a certain amount each day, so getting one in advance is going to save you a lot of time. You can get your tickets on the official website here.
If you get a ticket in advance, you’ll receive a pickup and tour time. Make sure you plan your travel around this so that you’re not late to pick up your ticket! And it’s worth noting that you must buy your tickets in advance. So say you want to go to the castle on November 12. You cannot reserve the ticket on November 12. You have to do it ahead of time!
The ticket center is back down where you got off the bus from Füssen, so make sure you pick them up at will call before you start on your hike up to the castle. It’s very satisfying to walk past the long lines of people and grab your ticket and go.
When it comes to the actual tour itself, you can’t take any photos inside, so unfortunately I don’t have much to share. The tour pretty short, around 15-30 minutes, but I think it was worth it to see inside. At the end of the tour, you also get this beautiful view from the balcony of the castle.
Final Thoughts
If you decide not to take the tour of the castle, I would still highly recommend making the trek up to it so that you can see the whole thing up close. There are restrooms and snacks up at the top if needed! There is also a Hohenschwangau Castle in the same area. We did not tour it, but I know there were several ticket packages that included trips to both castles.
A couple of things to look out for: bus schedules and castle hours. These change based on the day and time of year, so make sure to check before you go. We almost missed the last bus down from the castle and would have been stranded!
And finally, we made this a day trip, leaving in the morning from Munich and departing at night back to Munich. Looking back, I think it would have been worth it to stay overnight in Füssen. We had a few hours before our tour, so we spent some time strolling the streets, and it was such a quaint, romantic little town! With the building all painted pastel colors and fresh bakeries on every corner, I hope to get back some day!
I hope you found this post informative and that you enjoy your trip to the fantastic Neuschwanstein Castle!
samanthanowhere 