If I reserve tickets to go to the castles can I can cancel them or change the ticket times? Or do I really need them for October7, tuesday? We might be there early enough on monday to take one tour on monday afternoon and one on tuesday morning. Please advise. I don't want to rush things on Tuesday, but have a busy day...see castles drive to Garmisch and visit sites in between. On monday we are driving in from Rothenburg. Confused...can't you tell!! Do I make reservations to avoid crowds on tuesday or just wing it?

I don't know about changing ticket times but if you get to Neuschwanstein Monday afternoon, take a look and see how bad the lines are: if they are long and you are staying the night nearby then just get up and to the castle before 9 and you will most likely make it before any long lines start forming and eliminate your need for reservations.

Hi, abp!

If I recall correctly, the ticket office opens at 7:30am and the first tour starts at 8:30am. Each tour is 30 minutes. Then, if you buy the combo tickets, you have an hour and a half to get between castles. Thus, if you do the first combo starting at 8:30a, you will be done by 11am.

Hope this helps!

www.ticket-center-hohenschwangau.de

On changing times: We used the above to reserve tickets. When I went to pick them up, I asked if we could be bumped up to an earlier time slot (we were ahead of schedule.) This they did, since they had space available on an earlier tour. I don't see why, if you reserve for Tuesday, you couldn't bump up to an earlier day, if you think you can manage it on Monday (and they have space.)

Remember you need to pick up tickets at least one hour before your tour departs. I don't recommend the combo-ticket because you are considering spreading the castles over Monday and Tuesday.Also, bear in mind that one of the nicest things about Neuschwanstein is the view from the bridge. Myself, I would make that castle the priority, and wing the other if I had the time or energy.

thanks for the information

Having visited my wife's favorite spot in the World at least 10 times now, I can assure you that if you get to Neuschwanstein before 10:00 am (especially on a non-weekend, non-summer date), you will not have to worry about lines. Finding enough people for an English-speaking tour COULD be a problem though.

Changing times/days--when we were there June last year, our plan was to drive from Munich to Hohenschwangau with several stops along the way and then visit Hohenschwangau castle the next morning followed by Neuschwanstein castle in the early afternoon. We made our reservations over the internet accordingly.

We actually arrived in Hohenschwangau earlier than planne--late afternoon of our driving day. As there was plenty of sunshine left, we decided to walk to the ticket center and see if we could change our reservations to visit one of the castles at that time.

They changed the reservations with no problem--we saw Hohenschwangau castle that afternoon, and Neuschwanstein the next morning. Gave us an entire extra afternoon to drive around exploring.

Just returned from this area, toured the castles last Sunday 9/28. When we arrived Satruday evening the town was crowded, within about an hour the daytrippers left and we had the town to ourselves. Same thing on Sunday, midday the area was quite crowded, by 6 p.m. the place was empty.

We did reserve tickets via their website before we left home but at that time of year there were no lines at the ticket office when we went to pick them up. However, we went to the ticket booth before breakfast, at midday there were short lines. In fact our pension offered a discount for tickets which we found out after we had purchased ours. Check with your hotel via e-mail before you go. They don't actually sell tickets but give you a discount card when you register which you can take to the ticket office.

As far as time to visit the castles allow enough time to walk around and enjoy the area. Near the top of the road to Neuschwanstein is a Hofbrauhaus beergarden restaurant, a great way to spend some time relaxing with a good meal. Other nice outdoor restaurants down in the village with great views of both castles.