Depending on when you go room in the parking lot may be problematic - althouhg when we have gone in May there was plenty of room.

Hi w,

If you have a car, and if it is cheaper than going by bus, reserve for the morning and get to the parking lots before about 10:00.

I picked up my tickets the day before to avoid the lines.

Enjoy your visit.

Thanks for your prompt responses. We are going in May and had the same idea--buy the tickets the day ahead. There is a small fee for that, correct? Great tip on the time. I read it takes a half hour just to walk up. It is not overly optimistic to do both in a day and still have time for other things, is it? Thanks again!

You can buy your tickets online if you want - then you don't have to go over there the day before. If you buy the combo ticket, it is timed so that you can do both tours back-to-back. The whole thing will take about 3 hours from picking up your tickets an hour before the tour of Hohenschwangau starts to finishing the tour of Neuschwanstein and walking back down the hill.

Parking was no problem. We were there in late September and arrived to the castles around 9:00 am I believe.

You can definitely do other things after seeing both. We had a 9:15 entrance for the first one and were done about lunch time which coincides with november_moon suggestion that it will all take about 3 hours. Just reserve an earlier time in the morning so you can have the afternoon free.

As long as you arrive early parking shouldn't be an issue. I agree, get the combo ticket and it is timed to allow you to visit both. The walk up the hill to Neuschwanstein was about 30 minutes.

Where are you coming from to tour the castles? IF you don't reserve ahead of time, arrive early, 8:30 to 9am the latest. Plenty of parking and lots. Both castles should take about 3 or so hours. If you don't want to walk up to Neuschwanstein, take the shuttle bus up. It leaves you off at Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge). Excellent vantage point above Neuschwanstein. Then it's a 10 min. pretty steep walk (on a paved walkway) down to Neuschwanstein.

Afterwards, check out the luge ride (Sommerrodelbahn) and or cable car trip at Tegelberg, just a mile or 2 from the castles.

Paul

Paul,
Thanks for the great suggestions. We have been trying to decide between using Fussen or Garmisch-Partenkirchen as our home base for the two nights we are staying. We also hope to get to the top of the Zugspitze. I Googled Sommerrodelbahn and Tegelberg.
There were YouTube videos and one ride seemed slower but also was a longer ride. Are there different types? Your post mentions the luge ride as well as a cable car trip. Also, on Rick Steves' website a post mentioned buying a 6 ride option. Do you know anything about this?
Finally--those of you who paid the service charge to reserve ahead--is it worth it? We did something like this to pass the lines at the Vatican and there were no lines. Kind of made us
second guess this option. We are going May 21, 2012.
Will definitely use the combo ticket suggestions. Many thanks!

Hi,

We liked our two stays in Fuessen at the Hotel zum Hechten ('01 and '03) .

www.hotel-hechten.com

Fuessen is about 10 minutes from the castles.

The luge speed is basically conr\trolled by the rider. Go as fast or slow as you like. Faster is better though! We used the 6 ride ticket (13.30 Euro). It's simply a reduced price per ride compared to the single ride ticket (3.30 Euro). It's hard to ride it only once anyway.

www.tegelbergbahn.de/sommerrodelbahn-tegelberg.html

For the Zugspitze, I'd recommend going from nearby Ehrwald, Austria (30 to 40 minutes from Fuessen). It's one cable car right to the top of the Zugspitze. Cheaper than from Garmisch also. Both trips, from Ehrwald and from Garmisch, go the exact same place, the top of the Zugspitze, just going up from different sides.

www.zugspitze.at

www.zugspitze.at/zugspitzbahn/en/gipfelbesucher_sommer.html

Paul

wappel, it appears we will be visiting the castles the same day as you

On the ticket website for the castles it states that in person purchase of tickets is for current day only. Ira said he picked up the tickets ahead of time. Ira, were these ordered online? Has anyone recently bought tickets in person to be used at a later date?

We will be in Fussen for 4 nights so have some scheduling flexibility. Thanks, Deborah

Another vote for the Hotel zum Hechten.

It has parking.

Yet another vote for Hotel zum Hecthen. We stayed in their quad room which was HUGE with our two kids. Highly recommend.

We went in August, in the afternoon, and parking was no problem. We also booked the tickets online, very convenient, don't remember the details though, it was in 2006. I wouldn't wait until the day before. What if they are sold out? Who knows?

I also suggest that you book Neuschwanstein, first, since it's the more significant of the two castles. As others said, go there much earlier than your scheduled time. You should allow enough time to find parking, in case the lot is crowded. You also need time to get up to Neuschwanstein. We took the horse carriage, since people did not recommed to walk all the way up. I recommend that you do the same not to waiste your energy. You have to get in the line for the carriage and you don't know exactly how long it will take. The line was not too long when we were there but we had to skip a carriage or two before our turn came. There was still a little bit of hiking left in the end to get to the castle and it was pretty steep.

You will want to take many pictures from the bridge before or after seeing the castle. If you get there much earlier than your scheduled time, you can take the pictures from the bridge, first.

Hi,
I don't believe you get a choice as to which castle to tour first. Hohenschwangau is first, Neuschwanstein is second. They allow enough time between the first tour of Hohenschwangau to get to the second tour, Neuschwanstein.

By the way, the Tegelberg luge ride 6 ticket deal.. you don't have to take 6 rides yourself. You get tickets/tokens and you can split them up. My wife and I bought one 6 ride ticket and split the rides between us.

Paul

Paul

Thanks one and all! Paul, we are using your suggestion to go
the Austrian side up Zugspitze as well as the luge rides.
DeborahAnn--I requested the first tour slot on the 21st of May as the cancellation policy allows exchanges for another day.
Definitely getting there early and will walk the bridge while
waiting for our tour. Will check before we go in case anyone thinks of more info.

wappel, we have to be at the ticket center at 8:50 on the 21st. We wanted a 10 am English tour in the morning and I didn't want to rush my breakfast!! Deborah

wappel,

You're welcome and have a great time!

As mentioned, it was mandatory to see Hohenschwangau before Neuschwanstein when we were there in 2010. We took bus from Fussen and got off in front of ticket office, picked up reserved tics (reserved online) and walked up to H and planned to take a horse drawn wagon up to N. However, when we walked back down to do so the line was so long if we waited we would miss our entry time to N. So we walked up and it is a fairly strenuous walk. Saw quite a few people needing to rest and many we passed going back down asked how much longer they had to go. Amazingly, it seemed a much shorter walk going back. : ) We passed the car park on our walk up to N so with a car the walk is shorter. We stayed at the artsy Sonne Hotel a couple of blocks from the railstation. Happy travels to you!