snowcraig

We will be picking up our rental car at 9 a.m. in Munich and driving down to see the castles. We booked a combo ticket for 3 p.m. and have to get there by 2:30. I hope this is enough time to tour both castles.

How long does it take to get from Munich to the castle area?

What else would you recommend we see that day or is this going to take up the whole day? I have read about hiking up to the bridge for views of the castles - will we have time for this?

Lastly, any recommendations for places to stay in this area. We are planning on spending the night there before heading out in the morning.

Thanks so much for your help -again!
Jessica

Palenque

Well as it can't take more than a few hours if that to motor to Fussen you should have plenty of time - do Hohenschwangau first - no reservations needed there or probably even possible - and time also to walk up to the Marienbrucke (bridge) for the fine view over the castle nestled in trees and over the lake far below.

Whilst there, on the bridge, you can think of 'Mad' Ludwig himself who used to hike up here whilst the castle was being built - to ponder his wondrous endeavor - too bad he never lived to see it finished and only managed to live in it a few days before his alleged suicide and probably murder by Bavarian officials who thought he would bankrupt the state treasury with his castle-building projects.

Indeed parts of the castle are still unfinished.

Delaine

I'm not sure how the combo ticket works (I've toured both castles but on separate visits), but I'm sure they wouldn't sell you a combo ticket if you didn't have enough time to complete the combination. Your ticket also might dictate which castle you visit first. As I recall neither castle tour (Neuschwanstein in 2003 and Hohenschwangau in 2007) took more than 45 minutes.

It is a fairly long walk up a steep hill to Neuschwanstein. You can either walk or take a carriage up part of the way. You can also take the tram/shuttle up to Marienbrucke (a different road), visit the bridge, then walk down to the castle. The walk up to Hohenschwangau is fairly steep but much shorter.

In 2007 I stayed at the Hotel Müller, www.hotel-mueller.de. It is in the small "village" at the base of both castles. It was quite charming. There was the added bonus of being able to take photos of the illuminated castles at night too.

Palenque

I stayed once on the other side of the lake and in the evening a brass band struck up and it was so surreal with the castle looming high in the background. Mostly Germans in those resort hotels there.

Dutch

I would think it very doable - unless you are like me and take a wrong turn and get stuck in Munich for an hour.

You should even have time to visit the Weiskirche that it is enroute to Fussen. Think about staying in Reutte, Austria for the night.

Larryincolorado

I've only been to Hohenschwangau once. We did not have reservations, and they weren't necessary for us (in early September), but they are possible. The Ticket Center Hohenschwangau (www.lisl.de/?id=377) says reservation are possible in writing or by email, fax, or telephone for either Hohenschwangau or Neuschwanstein for €1,80 or for both from €3,60. If you go to either castle, you must stop in the kiosk near the bus stop to schedule a tour or to pick up your reservations.

Palenque

check the time for last entry to Hohenschwangau if leaving that until after Neuschwanstein - when i was there (off season however) even the last entry at Neuschwanstein was like around 4pm or something - in summer must be longer but check.

ira

Hi sc,

These sites might be of use to you:
www.hohenschwangau.de/
www.viamichelin.com

When we visited the Castles, we stayed at http://www.hotel-hechten.com/ in Fuessen. Very pleasant.

Enjoy your visit.

snowcraig

Is it better to stay in Fussen or in the area right near the castles? What is the distance between these two areas? I think it might be nice to have a place to walk around in the evening and am worried about being too isolated if we pick a place right by the castles.

Two options that looked good to me:
Schlosshotel Lisl right by the castles
Hotel Hirsch in Fussen

Any opinions?

Thanks!

swisschocolate

We were there in May. When you have a combo ticket, you will tour Hohenschwangau first. The tour takes about 30 minutes. We took the bus up to Neuschwanstein, which lets you off at the Marianbrucke. But be warned that the view from there is marred by scaffolding on that side of the castle. We ended up buying some postcards for that view since we couldn't get it with our own cameras. We didn't tour inside Neuschwanstein, just walked around outside and then had lunch at one of the restaurants up there. We opted to walk back down to Schwangau - it's a long, steep walk.

We liked Hohenschwangau better. We stayed in Fuessen at the Hotel Kurcafe which we highly recommend. Clean, convenient and a pastry shop downstairs! We liked the town of Fuessen. It's nice to walk around and lots of restaurants and shops.I think maybe it was about 15 minutes to Schwangau from Fuessen.

Have a great visit!

aquablues

Hi snowcraig, we are doing pretty much the same end-september this year. we are driving from rothenburg to hohenschwanbau. We leave by 9 am and it is a 2.5 hr drive. Any tip for visitng the castles. was planning to buy a combo ticket but how do I plan this ? Cheers

violetduck

Just visited both a few days ago. We made reservations online and picked up the tickets. We had a combo ticket and it was required that we see Hohenschwangau first.
If you allow around 2 hours total time that should work. Possible problem, and it was for us, is upon leaving H. quite a line had formed for the carriage ride up to the castle. We realized if we waited we would miss our enrty time. So we walked and it is quite a hike up a steep hill.
With a car you may get to drive closer. Someone can give you better advice, but just wanted to make you aware of our situation. We stayed in Fuessen at Post Hotel.