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Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle – All You Need to Know

When we took a road trip to Lake Constance for the Easter holidays I took the opportunity to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. It has been on my bucket list for such a long time. But what I didn’t realise is there is also another castle, Hohenschwangau Castle on the same site. So I booked tickets for both. Because it has been somewhere I have wanted to visit for so long I had high expectations. Although it was perhaps not as magical as I had hoped, it is still a fairytale castle and had a very good day out. I can see why Walt Disney modelled Sleeping Beauty’s Castle on the elaborate castle. Here are our Neuschwanstein Castle tips.

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Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle & Hohenschwangau Castle – All You Need to Know

There is a significant lack of information about these stunning extravagant castles, which tends to make me a little stressed. Especially with the warning that if you are late then you don’t get a second chance. So hopefully this post will tell you everything you need to know if you are planning your own visit. With plenty of Neuschwanstein Castle tips throughout.

How to get to Neuschwanstein Castle

As we were travelling from the Bodensee we drove. However, there are local buses that serve the area. The closest small town is Fussen which is right on the border between Austria and Germany. If you are looking to stay close by then I would consider this. It is around a fifteen-minute drive away. Bus route 78 will bring you to the bottom of the castle into the restaurant area. Fussen also has a main train station which will be the closest one to the castles and shuttle buses that run during busy times. If you can travel by public transportation then this may be preferrable at busy times.

Parking at Neuschwanstein Castle & Hohenschwangau Castle

As you drive into the area you are directed into one of three car parks located at the bottom of the steep hill which have an extra cost. There is also a further car park located closer to the lake. We parked in carpark two which was perfectly adequate. It costs 10€ and you make payment by machine before leaving. There was plenty of parking when we visited. However, my husband has been there at different times after working in the surrounding area and found it to be chaos. So I would recommend visiting early in the day if travelling at peak times.

Entrance to the castle’s what to expect

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we visited Neuschwanstein Castle. And I felt a little stressed before we arrived on the basis the tickets made it very clear that if you missed your time slot then you could not get in. There is a guided tour that leaves every 5 minutes for Neuschwanstein Castle and every 10 minutes for Hohenschwangau Castle. So if you miss the chance to scan your ticket, then you can not get in. There were no staff operating the scanners when we visited. Instead, each tour is given a number and once it is showing on the computer screen you can scan your ticket and enter.

If booking online it is important to read the information you are given in advance which details how long it takes to get to each castle from the centre. Otherwise, you will run the risk of missing your entrance time.

How to get up to Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is the furthest away and up a considerable hill. Well, what do you expect it is located on the side of a mountain in the Bavarian Alps. To walk the information you are given says it will take forty minutes plus an additional fifteen minutes for the last part. However, trying to save little legs and minimise the moaning we made our first stop a horse-drawn carriage. Opting to take that up and walk back down. The horse and cart cost 8€ each although Harry at 6 years old was half price. Our driver was very friendly giving the boys a small bag of Haribo gold teddies each. The horse and cart does not take you all the way. Leaving the steepest part for you to climb yourself, which is about fifteen minutes. There are various souvenir and refreshment stops at this part of the walk-up.

By horse-drawn carriage

We picked the horse-drawn carriage from just after the ticket office on the opposite side of the road. The sign you want is green. We reached the pickup point around 10 am. At this time it seemed that there was only one horse and cart operating. This could be because we were out of season. Or just that the majority do not come on to slightly later. As we were seated on the carriage several others arrived.

By bus

The cream horse and carriage sign is for Hohenschwangau Castle. It took fifteen to twenty minutes to go up by horse and cart. It is also possible to get a bus but this takes you to the other side of Schloss Neuschwanstein close to the bridge. This costs 2€ each with children five and under travelling for free. I estimate that it is probably around a fifteen-minute walk to the castle entrance from where the bus drops you off. To catch the bus up you need to walk towards the end of the initial row of restaurants and shops. The bus stop is located by the entrance to carpark 4.

How to get up to Hohenschwangau Castle

Hohenschwangau Castle is much easier to get to. There are two walking routes up. One that takes half an hour which is more of a gentle route. Or another that takes around twenty minutes and is much stepper and has various steps. This is the route we took. It is also possible to get a house and cart up the entrance. The route is not so long and this is reflected in the price. Which is 5.5€ for an adult and 3.5€ for a child. The longer walk will take you past the lake which has beautiful turquoise waters due to the mineral deposits. Leave a bit of extra time either before or after your tour to explore the gardens with their two water fountains.

Tours and audio guides

We booked an English tour for both castles. When booking online it will tell you the different times and the language of the tour. For Neuschwanstein Castle you are given a little handset that the tour guide talks into. Holding them to your ear will amplify their voice. The ceilings are very high so it was useful to have this. For Hohenschwangau Castle there was no electronic device needed. It is also possible to book an audio guide for Hohenschwangau Castle. Where you do not have a guide but move from room to room based on the information given.

Our tour for Schloss Neuschwanstein started at 11 am and our tour for Hohenschwangau Castle started at 2.55 pm. This gave us plenty of time to move between the two and have some lunch in between. Which mainly consisted of ice creams and snacks. We ate properly afterwards once everything had started to close down.

What to expect on a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle

When we visited four of the eight rooms that you toured were closed for renovation. This was a little disappointing, to say the least. Especially as this was not advertised anywhere when I booked the tickets. I have no direct comparison in price so whether this has been taken into consideration in the tickets or not.

The walls and ceilings are painted In beautiful patterns and murals. Everywhere you look you will see something different. Although I felt you were rushed through the tour and so it was difficult to take it all in. And the fact that you can not take photos really irked me. The over-exuberance in the decoration and furnishings of the throne room. Along with all the gold light fixtures does very much give you a feeling of a palace. There is even a little grotto that was built in one of the rooms. I can understand why King Ludwig II of Bavaria who commissioned the construction of Neuschwanstein Castle was called the Mad King. But unfortunately, we could not see this because it was closed.

What to expect on a visit to Hohenschwangau Castle

I am glad that we did this one second. Since it was almost the complete opposite. Although it also had lots of wall paintings on the castle walls inside. In each room these told a story and were works of art in their own right. You can tell that this was the one lived in as it was much more traditional. Rather than the sleeping beauty castle opposite. You went through the Queen’s rooms before the Kings rooms.

It really gave an insight into the history surrounding the Bavarian monarchy. This was a much more informative tour and we all preferred it. There was the opportunity to ask questions and the guide was much more knowledgeable about the history of the castle and the royal family. I am glad we did this second tour otherwise I think I would have felt a little disappointed. After all visiting Neuschwanstein Castle is a bucket list attraction with the new Hohenschwangau Castle often being overlooked.

How long do you need at Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle

If you book your tickets in advance it is recommended that you arrive two hours before your entrance to Neuschwanstein castle. This is allow you to park, browse and work your way up the hill. We arrived around ten in the morning and left at 5.30 pm. If you are planning on going inside both castles then I would allow a whole day for a visit. We also had a sit-down meal so this also added extra time to our visit. Yet after all the walking we were all starving.

The tour around Neuschwanstein Castle only took 20 minutes. This is because of the room closures. The rest of the tour went quickly. The tour around Hohenschwangau Castle took around 40 minutes.

Do you have to buy a ticket?

It is possible to visit the site, enjoy the scenery and see both castles from the outside without buying a ticket. Your only cost would be the car park which was 10€. Less if you can pick up a bus from a local town. If you did this then you would have access to Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge, aka Pöllat Bridge) and the slightly higher-up viewing point. As well as the Hohenschwangau Castle gardens. Not to mention all the souvenir shops and restaurants located at the bottom of the two castles.

We brought our tickets in advance online to ensure that we had access to an English tour. They run various tours throughout the day. When we visited it was out of season so possible to still buy tickets on the day. You can purchase these from the ticket office located at the bottom. It is not possible to buy tickets from either castle entrance. This is worth bearing in mind since the walk up to Neuschwanstein Castle takes around forty minutes.

The boys were free to visit both of the castles, I only paid a £2.50 booking fee per ticket for them. Neuschwanstein Castle was £15 and Hohenschwangau Castle was £21.50 per adult. I also had to pay additional booking fees on top of our tickets. This is one of the drawbacks of buying online. However, during peak season I would recommend this as it is a very popular tourist spot.

This meant for us as a family of four the total cost was £93 for the tickets and €10 for the carpark.

Food Options at Neuschwanstein Castle

They cater for all options. There are a couple of snack bars selling sandwiches and fast food. Ice cream, cold drinks and sweets were available in most of the souvenir shops. As well as various restaurants. In the summer there are also some beer gardens although these were shut when we visited.

We ate in Ludwig’s Stüberl, früher Allgäuer Stüberl restaurant which I would recommend. This is located in the Village of Hohenschwangau at bottom before you reach the parking lot. Not only were they really flexible with Harry being fussy. They had a children’s menu, which was something we did not see much of during our visit. But the food was really tasty and traditional. Between us we had a Schweinhaxe, Deer Goulash and the biggest Schnitzel I have ever seen.

There is also a restaurant on the walk up to Neuschwanstein Castle which looked very promising. Although it was far too early for us to consider eating at the time we passed by. It is one I would potentially plan for should we visit again.

Neuschwanstein Castle tips for your visit

I hope these Neuschwanstein castle tips will help you to organise your trip:

It gets really busy so be prepared for this, especially in the Summer months. They are the most visited castles in Germany.
Arrive early! We managed to park centrally and beat the long lines by arriving early. Especially if you have to visit the ticket center as this is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Germany,
There were toilets where we parked but they cost 1€ each. While the toilets next to the castles are free
If you can delay your visit to Schloss Neuschwanstein to when all the rooms are open I would do this if you can.
The castles recommend that you print out your tickets in advance. However, we had no issue scanning the tickets on our mobile phones. Although the signal can be patchy so I would make sure they are downloaded before you arrive.
You can not take photos inside either castle although it is possible to buy a guidebook!
Take time to visit the Marienbrücke bridge. As it gives great views of Neuschwanstein Castle. The viewpoint is a bit further up but we did not do this when we were advised that there were no rails and it was very muddy. Not ideal for the boys.
I lost count of the number of souvenir shops we passed. But it appears that they broadly sell the same sort of items at the same sort of price.
Arrive in plenty of time. We arrived a whole two hours before our first tour and I am glad we did. I can not stress how important it is to make your tour time as you will not get your money back or be able to get in if you do not.