What is the easiest way to get to the Neuschwanstein castle from Venice?
 

I will be in Venice from the 12 of January to the 16th of January and would love to go see the Neuschwanstein castle after that. Wat is the easiet way to get there? It looks magical in pictures, so is it like that in real life? Is it as nice in winter?

Assuming that you haven't got a car - you could make your way to Munich either by plane or train and then down to Fussen which is the closest town to the village of hohenschwangau where the castle is.<BR><BR>Using the swiss railway page (www.sbb.ch -&gt; from Venice to Fussen), by train, it takes about 9.5 hrs with a direct train either from Venice to Munich of Verona to Munich. From there, you take a local train to Fussen and a quick bus ride to the castles.<BR><BR>I hope you weren't planning a day trip. ;)<BR><BR>It's definitely worth visiting Schloss Hohenschwangau as well while you're there. Far too many people just hop into town, go into Neuschwanstein and then hop out. It's really the area that is so marvellous as well as the castles.<BR><BR>Which is why I haven't recommended that day tours from Munich that will get you to the area by tour bus, with a quick shopping stop in Oberammagau and a trip to Linderhof. Tour's not bad if you want to hop on and out but Linderhof for example, is best appreciated by exploring its grounds - the hunter's cottage, moorish kiost, grotto while the tour leaves you no time to enjoy Schloss Hohenschwangau and area.<BR><BR>We were just there yesterday and spend the night at a pension in the village itself in a room with view of Neuschwanstein. The cost was 54 Euros including breakfast and attached bathroom. Since it's not peak tourist season, we got this place when we arrived by using the TI's accomodatin board.<BR><BR>If you have a car, try using www.mappy.com or www.mapquest.com for directions on the best way to drive. <BR><BR>And yes, it is as wonderful as it looks. :)<BR><BR>G'luck.<BR><BR>-brownie

The day I went to Neuschwanstein I rented a car. Once you get out of Munich, the roads are not all that bad, although you do not have autobahn for most of the trip.<BR><BR>I opted for the car because the train/bus combination was slow. I also was able to visit the Wieskirche on the way, which is a beautiful baroque church.<BR><BR>If you don;t rent a car perhaps there is a bus tour you could take. I recall looking at one, but decided the car would be better.<BR><BR>We rented from Sixt (not recommended from my experience), at night, parked overnight at the hotel, and left around 8 the next morning.<BR>There were 3 of us, so compared with 3 train fares we came out fairly well.<BR>Certainly the convenience was great.<BR>And, if you can, go on a weekday.<BR><BR>About Sixt. First we had a hard time finding the garage where the car was parked. It was a combination of bad directions to a secluded spot. When we returned the car, there was a major snafu. A new shipment of cards via motor transport was blocking the entrance to the underground return facility. The driver of the tranport vehicle refused to move the cars -- not his job. The jerks down in the garage who worked for Sixt maintained that it was not their job to move the cars.<BR>So there the cars sat, blocking the entrance. Great way to end a fantastic day.<BR><BR>

Are you planning to spend time in Bavaria or Austria? If you were only going to see Neuschwanstein I would skip it for a time when you will be in the area and I would choose summer or spring or early fall instead of winter (I would guess the trail up to Marienbrucke could get rather trecherous in the winter and that has one of the best views of the castle). I enjoyed the castle but I wouldn't say it was one of the most amazing or magical things I have seen since moving to Germany. I would much prefer to head out to Linderhof, now that place has character.

As you might be able to tell, you should really go to Schloss (castle) Linderhof. The grounds are wonderful and you could spend as long as you want there (well up to a day anyways). We did this and the other (what i call the mickey mouse castle since it was never really used as a completed live in castle and disney has used this castle as the basis for its picture that you see on disney films etc) castle.<BR><BR>To bhe honest the beuaty of the mckey mouse castle is on the outside and the inside is not as interesting as you might expect. It is also quite an expensive day to do both castles given you pay for parking if you have a car (and as receommeneded you should get a car) you pay for the castle and you pay to get the bus up to the castle and also the lack of atmosphere compared to libderhof and others. This is due mostly to the masses of crowds and the waiting for the tickets, then the waiting for the bus to get up to the castle, then the waiting to get into the castle and the crowds all the time then when you're down the waiting to eat etc etc. <BR><BR>If you really want to do it i recommend 2 things and at the very least do one of them. 1) get there real early like 8am, enjoy the are, the lake etc before the masses arrive. 2) walk up to the castle, look around the outside...if it is winter you will have lovely pictures and then walk down, that way you can go TO the castle and still have time to do otehr more interesting things.<BR><BR>Now about the car. The drive along the smaller road through the scenic way is a lovely drive from lindrhof to the ,mickey mouse castle and it is well worth the extra time to do it. <BR><BR>Oberammergau was also suggested. I stayed overnight there and its a charming village. So in that general area you get a castle, a village and nearby you get a lovely cathedral (forget the name) so if you don't go Inside the mickey mouse castle you'll still have a most memorable time.