Hey all,
My wife and I will be in Munich this June and are planning a day trip to Neuschwanstein. We had originally planned to rent a car the day we were leaving munich (to complete our trip through austria), but now I am wondering if it would be better to get the car a day earlier and drive to the castle. Does anyone know what would be the easiest way to get there? Any directions or info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I vote for the train. It'll be cheaper, and it's really easy. Just get a train going to Fussen from the Hauptbanhof in Munich. They run hourly. It takes 2 hours to get to Fussen. Right next to a train station is a bus stop. The bus takes you to the place where you get tickets and walk to the castle.

If there are two of you, you should by a Bayern Laender card from the red machines in the Munich train station. It'll cover all of your transportation for the day, including both the train and the bus. The ticket costs only 25 euros and will cover both of you. MUCH cheaper than renting a car.

Flexibility is the question here. I've driven there and have sent a visitor on the train to Neuschwanstein. It certainly is not complicated to take the train there. My visitor was terrified as she spoke no German but in the end, she said it was a breeze. She also said there were so many tourists on the train speaking English, she just followed them - and that was in November and freezing. You will probably have to make one change of trains and then take the bus as mentioned in the previous post. However, with a car, you don't have to keep to a timetable and you can stop off along the way to see anything interesting. That said, if you are coming back to Munich before setting off to Austria, check parking possibilities and costs especially if your hotel is in the centre of Munich.

Nice, thanks a lot for the info. Way are also planning a daytrip to Dachau, I'm assuming that card will work also? Do we need to buy the ticekts before we get there, or will it be fine to get them at the station?

thanks

It's best to buy them at the station, I think. It only takes a minute.

I prefer a car for that particular trip. There are a number of interesting places to stop on the way (e.g., the Wieskirche, Oberammergau and other nice towns, Linderhof Palace, lunch along the Plansee), and it is much easier with a car. Distances are short and driving and parking are easy outside of the big cities.

With a car you can easily see Linderhof, Hohenschwangau, and Neuschwanstein in one day--especially if you make advance reservations for the last two over the internet.

We spent 2 nights in Hohenschwangau (where Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles are located).

I wrote a trip report on the route we took 4 or 5 years ago--I'll see if I can dig it out.

Here's the Munich thru Hohenschwangau part of my trip report. I see that I did not detail our driving route--I'll find that as well.


Day 4 thru 6--Train to Munich. Stayed 3 nights in a place I can't recommend. Had a great time--easy city to get around in with subway and trams. Lots of art, palaces, nightlife, etc. The English Garden (big park) is impressive and worth some time. 3 days worked out well for us.

Day 7 & 8: rented a car and drove to the village of Hohenschwangau to see Ludwig's castles. It was a pleasant and easy drive--we made several stops along the way including Linderhof and lunch along the Plansee in Austria, and still got into Hohenschwangau mid-afternoon so we were able to tour Hohenschwangau castle that day, and then visit Neuschwanstein castle the next morning. Stayed at Pension Albrecht at 64 euro per night. Neuschwanstein hovered right overhead--we could easilty see the pension from parts of Neuschwanstein. Had a wonderful meal at Alpenhotel Meier on the outskirts of Hohenschwangau, on the road to Schwangau.

We also stayed in Bamberg (our favorite German city), Rothenburg, and Beilstein on the Mosel.

I favor the car option despite the extra cost because having the use of one enables you to travel a little faster, go where you want to go on your timetable, and at the end of the day you probably will have seen and done more than if you are bound to public transportation.

I look at this way: I paid a lot just to get to Germany. So I will be darned if I will let a few euros stand betweeen me and seeing what I came to see.

I also suggest selecting Linderhof over Neuschwanstein. The castle of Neuschwanstein is one of those places that looks better on the outside than what actually materializes on the inside. The castle itself on the inside was never finished. As I recall, we bypassed a whole floor because it was mostly empty roms.

Suffice it to say that Ludwig's grasp exceeded his budget by a wide margin.

Linderhof has a more impressive interior.

Also I thought the Wieskirche was a good example of Baroque period architecture. Some find it lavish to the extreme, but that was the style. So if you view it for what it is, then you will not be let down.

Once I visited the inside Neuschwanstein and satisfied my curiosity, I have had absolutely no urge to return. I might like to walk the trails for a view of the whole setting, but a return to the interior would be a waste of time for me.

I'd rent a car for the flexibility. The difference between 1 extra day of car rental fees and the train tickets shouldn't be significant. As others have said, this way you can see the sights on the way. And the drive is really easy.

bookmarking

Our route: Left Munich on the A95/E533. Got tired of the Autobahn so exited towards Harbach, route 472 west. At Harbach, decided to hit the backcountry, so turned onto 2038 towards Leibersberg, meeting the B2 between the Riegsee and Staffelsee. At Murnau we took 2062 west to the B23 south. Drove thru Oberammergau. Picked up 2060 west south of Oberammergau to Linderhof Palace.

We made a couple of stops in small towns on this part of the trip. Sorry I can't find the town names, but we went thru an intersting antiques/collectables store in one town and looked at the old church and some shops in another.

Spent a couple of hours at Linderhof, then again proceeded west on 2060 into northern Austria. Very scenic area, and eventually we were driving along the Plansee--on the left (south) side of the road. Near the western end of the Plansee there was a largish restaurant (might have been a hotel, too) where we stopped for a very pleasant late lunch. There was a little swimming area across the road on the Plansee that had a lot of people frolicking about.

Then drove thru Reutte and Fuessen to our pension in Hohenschwangau. Checked in, walked to the castle ticket office to check on our reservations for the next morning. The gent in the ticket office asked if we would like to see Neuschwanstein that afternoon as there were still a few tickets left. We agreed--it would give us more time to explore the area the next day.

After the very enjoyable and informative, but way too short, tour, we had a lovely dinner at Alpenhotel Meier along the road towards Schwangau. Even had the sounds of cowbells as evening approached and the cows headed towards the barn of a nearby farm.

Stayed 2 days--enjoyed both of the castles and the Wieskirche plus other sights in the area. Then headed up the Romantic Road to Colmberg.

I'd vote for the car as well, for the same reasons mentioned above. Its a beautiful area filled with great towns and interesting places to see. A car will give you maximum flexibility. Driving over there is extremely easy.

Tracy

I see no one answered your question on Dachau. You can get there on the S-Bahn on the Munich XXL ticket. As there are two of you, buy the Partner Tageskarte (XXL) for €11.50. That'll get you there and back and you can use it the rest of the day for travelling within Munich on S-Bahns, U-Bahns, trams and buses. Dachau isn't very far from Munich. You can get there in 24 min from Marienplatz on the S2 line, going in the direction of Petershausen. (When coming back, the S2 will show its end station as Erding.) Get off at Dachau Bahnhof. Once you get outside, look for the bus terminus and there is a sign marked 'Concentration Camp'. The bus takes you right there. There will probably be enough tourists around so you'll know you are in the right place. The XXL ticket allows you to take the bus in Dachau too. By the way, since you will already be there, do also take a look at Dachau. It has some pretty sights. I would do the Dachau trip without the car. Seems alot less of a hassle and cheaper.

Thank you to the post on Neuschwanstein Castle - my middle school kids want to "see" it but I think that it may be sufficient to see the outside, tour his childhood castle, and maybe see the inside of a more interesting castle. Any recommendations? Linderhof? We hate crowds, too, and I have read that the crowds are so intense at Neuschwantstein in July that they hurry you through it to boot.

In fact it is better to see the castle from a distance. Seeing it up close kind of spoils the magic, and not just for the crowds. I'm told that visiting inside spoils it even more.

My advice too| Avoid Neuschwanstein from the inside. There is not much to see. And in July its horribly crowded. And it is a rip-off too. Just parking the car downhill costs several Euro. Taking a horse-drawn carriage up there another bucks. And the entrance fee is among the highest in Germany, not regarding the fact that the guided tour seldom takes more than 20 minutes.
In going there you will see plenty of Americans and Japanese, but almost no Germans. Guess why?
But Fuessen itself is nice and the idea of visiting Linderhof and the Wies instead great.

Yes!! Stay away from those Americans....

Pago,
thanks for your sarcastic answer! What about the Japanese?

If your budget allows it, you might consider a private tour with John Whetstone of John's Barvarian Tours (www.johnsbarvariantours). We took tours with him to both Neuschwanstein and Dachau and found him informative and flexible. The trip to Neuschwanstein included King Ludwig's castle at Lindenhof and lunch across the border in Austria. Had a great time!

I can only guess that people who advise not going into Neuschwanstein were either preoccupied while taking the tour, or are acting on hearsay and have never been inside.

It is true that only 15 or so rooms inside the castle were completed, but those rooms are prime and very interesting. This is one of the most unusual castles in the world--and seeing the inside provides interesting insights into Ludwig's mental state.

Some of the finest 19th century craftsmanship anywhere is found in those 15 or so rooms. And they give a real feel for Ludwig's obsession with German myth and folklore and his Wagnerian opera view of the world.

Other castles may be more complete inside, but they are no different from dozens of other castles you can see all over Europe. Neuschwanstein is very very different from any we'd ever seen before.

By the way, the tours of Neuschwanstein are no more or less rushed than scheduled tours in many other castles and palaces around the continent.