Neuschwanstein by train & what to do with luggage if continuing on
 

I'm trying to figure out transportation issues on getting to Neuschwanstein from Munich for a party of including 2 young children. If we take the train from Munich and want to continue on after seeing the castle, we will have a lot of luggage including a bulky carseat. Is there any place to store luggage in the area?
Kimberly

Though we've never been to the train station in Fuessen, all the other German train stations we've been through have had luggage lockers.

The following webpage states that the train station in Fuessen has lockers. There might be a problem with how big the bulky carseat is. Keep in mind that Fuessen is at the end of the line and that you will have to backtrack when you want to continue on after seeing the castle.


http://www.stationsdatenbank.bayern-...mp;efz=8002156

To get from Muenchen to Fuessen you have to change trains in Buchloe (but check that on www.bahn.de, there might be one through-train). Then, if you go anywhere by train FROM Fuessen, you most likely have to go through Buchloe again. So, if you have enough time between trains (say 30 minutes), you could leave your gear in Buchloe. You probably would not want to use a locker but take the stuff to the place where passengers usually check their luggage to their destinations. In fact,you might want to check if that is not the answer to your problem, to check the luggage through to wherever your final destination is.

The rail station in Buchloe, even though it gets more traffic than Fuessen, isn't a whole lot bigger. And Treplow is absolutely correct in telling you that any "continuation" at least by rail from Fuessen means backtracking.

You could also do the castle by going by rail to Oberammergau and then taking a public bus but Ober is ALSO at the end of a rail line so that doesn't help.

I would be most concerned about storing that "bulky carseat."

One alternative might be to store the luggage and the car seat in the left luggage room in Munich if you have to return there by rail anyway..or as Treplow suggests, in Buchloe.

Help us out here by telling us about the "continue on" situation.

Dumb question? Why not put the car seat in a CAR? It is so much easier to get to Neuschie and Fuessen if you go by car anyway. Many car rental companies will allow one way drop-offs if you aren't returning to Munich. ANd if your group is 4 or more people, a car is much more economical.

I've done the castles by train/public transport and I think Zeus makes a good point and I'm sorry I didn't ask that same question earlier.

My husband and I are going to that part of Germany in July. For the rest of the trip, we are relying on the train, but for the Alps, we are going to rent a car. We thought about using the train, but decided it would be much easier with a car. If we were dealing with a car seat etc, we would definitely take a car.

Good question about the seat-my 3 year old will travel better with it on the plane. There will be 6 of us. My husband is not eager to drive and wanted to travel primarily by train. I think it seems like it might be a pain based on places we think we want to go to, Our itinerary is a moving target at this point except for Munich and the castle which are definites,

I understand the moving target itinerary :) For our trip, we made our airline reservations in August for this coming July - using frequent flyer miles, so we had to make our plans early. I started reading travel guides immediately and doing my research - there are so many things to see, it is amazing. We decided on our itinerary, but it took us almost 5 months to decide!

As for driving, I have heard that driving in Germany is pretty easy - good signage, good roads, they drive on the same side of the road as Americans (you are Americans, right?). I had originally wanted to take trains everywhere too, just because it seems easier than navigating, but with further research, it seems that for the Alps at least, having a car is the way to go - unless all you are doing is going to Fussen, taking a castle tour and leaving the Alps.

If you do drive, switch off the driving chore so everyone gets a chance to enjoy the passing scenery--unless you have one person who just loves to drive and doesn't care about seeing what's out there.