Rumoured to be the castle that inspired Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle, a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle was at the top of our list of things to during our visit to Germany for Mr ESLT’s birthday last year. The famous castle is located in southwestern Bavaria and is a must visit if you are a Disney/castle/history lover. We visited as part of a day trip from Munich which also included a visit to Linderhof Palace booked via Viator. We paid around £50 each for the transfer from Munich and tour guide in advance. Then an additional €27 per person (directly to the guide) on the bus for admission tickets into both castles. The day trip is a long one with a lot of bus time. However, seeing Neuschwanstein Castle up close and being able to take a tour of it made the journey worthwhile.
The History of Neuschwanstein Castle
‘Mad’ King Ludwig II commissioned the fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle, or Schloss Neuschwanstein as it’s known in German, as a home for himself. It was reported that he took a keen interest in the design of the castle from start to finish. He even oversaw the laying of the cornerstone for the Romanesque Revival castle. Unfortunately, he never lived to see it completed. Following his death in 1886 the castle was opened to the public. It’s now one of the most popular and most visited castles in Europe. With over 6000 people per day visiting during the summer months, it gets super busy. Therefore, don’t forget to prebook tickets (and transport if you choose to take an organised tour as we did) in advance to avoid disappointment.
Location of Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle is built on a hill overlooking the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria. It is an easy trip to make whether it be by bus, train or car from Munich. Regardless of the mode of transport you opt for, the journey will take you between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. Making it an easy day trip to take from the city. It is an even easier and shorter journey to make if you are based in the southwest Bavarian countryside already. Or even over the border in west Austria. Our journey took longer. This is because our organised day trip also included a stop and tour of Linderhof Palace as mentioned before. Together with a quick stop (enough time for ice cream and a quick wander around) in the pretty Bavarian Alps town of Oberammergau.
Getting to Neuschwanstein Castle from Hohenschwangau
Our coach rolled into Hohenschwangau around 1.00 pm, meaning one thing – lunchtime. As our tickets were for the 2.45pm tour we decided to grab a schnitzel and a stein, which may not have been the best idea. There are plenty of places to eat in Hohenschwangau. Although there may be a bit of a wait for a table during peak season. Especially as a number of coaches all seemed to hit Hohenschwangau at the same time.
After lunch, we decided a nice leisurely stroll up to the castle was in order. Little did we realise how long (around 40 minutes at a good pace) and steep the walk was. To be honest it would have been no sweat if we’d not eaten first. However, we had and it wasn’t long before we wished we hadn’t. A more sensible idea, especially in the 30 odd degree heat would’ve been to hop on one of the shuttle buses. They run regularly from the “Alpsee” parking area below Hohenschwangau Castle in the village to the castle. Adult tickets cost € 2,50 uphill, € 1,50 downhill and € 3,00 for a roundtrip. Horse-drawn carriages are also an option for € 4,50 per person uphill and € 2,00 per person downhill. However, this is something we would never entertain, especially in the hot summer sun.
The trip back down was a lot easier. Once the schnitzel had been digested and the sun was not as strong that is. We even seemed to find a shortcut through the woodland as opposed to the main road which cut the time it had taken us to get up there in half which left us enough time to grab a quick drink before jumping back on the coach for Munich.
Tour of Neuschwanstein Castle
The tour of the castle was actually the most disappointing part of the day. Not because it wasn’t informative or great to see inside of the magnificent castle, but because it lasted only 30 minutes and we were moved on very quickly from room to room. We understand the reasons behind it – it is one of, if not the most visited attraction in Bavaria, therefore, the more people they can get through the doors every day, the more money they make. But unfortunately, it just felt like we were being rushed and there certainly wasn’t the opportunity to ask questions or wander around looking at things on own.
We ensured that we were at the castle doors 15 minutes before our designated tour time as advised by our tour leader on the coach. We were then swiftly lead through the castle as commentary was delivered explaining the history and origins of the castle, information about King Ludwig II and the rooms we were looking at. It was an interesting tour but as mentioned above, all too brief.
Would We Recommend a Visit to Neuschwanstein Castle
Definitely, who doesn’t want to be able to say that they have been to the castle that inspired Walt Disney? The castle is beautiful and the second we saw it, we knew the trip had been worthwhile. Also if you’re based in Munich like we were and want to make the trip as simple as possible then we would recommend the trip we took. We didn’t have to worry about anything. It was simply had to show up, jump on the bus and the rest was done for us. We normally do prefer to make our own arrangements, travel places on our own and stay away from organised mass group trips but this was a good one. There was enough time in the various places and it was an overall nice length making for a great day!
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