To Neuschwanstein from Munich:
Train to Füssen, bus to Hohenschwangau
http://www.neuschwan…
http://www.fuessen.d…
http://www.hohenschw… (map at the bottom of this page)

DB timetable:
http://reiseauskunft…
From: M (for Munich Hbf)
To: Hohenschwangau

You can do this trip on the Bavaria Ticket. This ticket is valid one day on all local trains (no others to Füssen anyway) in Bavaria till 3 am next day. On weekdays (Mo-Fr) however only past 9am. Also valid on all local public transport in Munich (U-Bahn, trams, buses). And with some regional bus companies. E.g. the RVO bus from Füssen to Neuschwanstein is also covered.
Price:
1 person: EUR 15,-
2-5 persons: EUR 22,-

As usual, Abalada is a great source of information, but when he typed Fussen (with umlauts—dots—over the letter U) the formatting didn’t work.

There are frequent (hourly?) trains from Munich to Fussen. Not all are direct and a few even split en route, but just follow the tourists or ask a local (most speak at least rudimentary English). Total journey is about 2 hours, 5 minutes. Catch the bus (it looks like a luxury/Greyhound bus) across from the Fussen train station for the quick ride up to the village of Schwangau. You’ll be dropped off in front of the ticket center and the smaller castle of Hohenschwangau, but its an uphill walk on the main road to Neuschwanstein. Before leaving the area, be sure to cross the Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge) behind the castle for great views.

Have fun—it’s a great place!

I guess this has something to do with the different codepages used on your/mine computer. On my screen the umlaut in Füssen looks still correct.

The correct spelling if umlauts (i.e. vocals with funny dots) are not available is: Fuessen
e.g. the URL is http://www.fuessen.d…
And at the DB timetable or a search engine e.g. like Google you’ll only get useful results if you type in "Fuessen".

It’s a great train ride! The castle is alright and all but there’s also Liderhof Castle, the monks of Attal, and excellent skiing in Garmisch (actually it’s a bit better just down the road and over the border in Austria).

It is much easier to pickup one of the Munchener City Tour buses to Fussen and the castles… You can get on the right near the Hbf, and/or Englischer Garten, etc… The tour lasts about 8 hours, and was 60 DM – last time I went… But, that was about 4 years ago. I am guessing that it will run around 35 to 40 EUR these days.

Since nobody else is gunna tell ya I might as well…Neuschwanstein ain’t all that, or even close. Don’t get me wrong, the area is wonderful and worthy of anybodys attention…Garmisch, Linderhof, the abbey where they make that wonderful monk booze. But the castle itself, for me was kinda dissapointing. It’s a fairy tale castle! Built as a showpiece by that loon, never inhabited…It’s fake.

Save yourself the walk and the dime. If you want to check out a REAL castle, try Burg Eltz on the Mosel just above Cochem. Also many others in that area that are much more interesting than Neuschwanstein. Again, alot to see and do down that way as well, just be ready to be underwhelmed by the, "castle" itself.

I agree with Jeffro, as far as the inside of the castle goes. However, I still say it is worth a day trip to snap some good photos from various locations – above, below, and in/around the little mountain/scenic perches along the road. Also, the valley and surrounding view & other castles are nice to look at. One more thing: it’s a good day of exercise. Don’t be lazy and waste money by taking the horse & buggy… The walk up the mountain will do ya good.

Agree with comments from jeffro and sunskin. Here are some links to some real castles that you can tour, all close to one another in the Rheinland northwest of Frankfurt:

Reichsburg Castle in Cochem (destroyed but rebuilt to original plans; 1,000+ years of history)
www.mosel-reisefuehr…

And two never-destroyed castles:

Burg Eltz near Cochem (the best castle tour!)
www.burg-eltz.de

Marksburg in Braubach on the Rhine (really rustic and medieval-feeling)
www.roadstoruins.com…

I wasn’t going to rain on anyone’s parade but the honesty came forth and I have to also agree that Neuchwanstein isn’t so great unless you’re a Disney buff…the Monks are great because you get to drink tasty brew and I liked the fountains at Liderhof…

Still, the castles rec’d are better ideas and probably less out of the way…not that Fussen is an area to miss. That whole region of Germany is breathtaking!

I was curious about doing hang gliding near this castle….I am having a hard time finding information on it though. I had some friends that did this, but we’ve lost touch and I can’t contact them for the info. Does anyone know anything about this? I don’t want to go into the castle, but hang gliding over it sounds awesome!!

If you’re a romantic you’ll love Neuschwanstein…a totally over the top structure built as an ode to crazy King Ludwig’s fav composer Wagner . I loved it, especially the hike to the nearby gorge and bridge (fantastic view of the castle and surrounding countryside). Go there!

Hanggliding – http://www.abschweb….
The Tegelberg Mountain tram and luge is just a short public bus ride from the information center or a nice walk. Check website before going to make sure you have clear weather. It rains alot in the mountains.

I loved the trip down to Neuschwanstein! Yeah it’s “fake” but who cares? It’s historical in and of itself just for the fact it was built by one of the last monarchs in Germany, and if nothing else shows just how bad monarchy can be (crazy spoiled King Ludwig draining the treasury to build impractical crazy castles).

Though I will say, the inside of it is unfinished (just as it was in the 19th century when Ludwig died) but the tour is cool nonetheless. And while it’s less picturesque, I’d go to Hohenschwangau castle first (the ticket office is right in front of it anyway); it’s an actual palace where King Ludwig spent his childhood, and I actually enjoyed the tour there a little more.

Also, someone mentioned Burg Eltz on the Mosel… I highly recommend this place as well, though it didn’t seem as frequented by Americans as other places (it’s kind of out of the way… yo uhave to walk through the woods to get to it), so I’d imagine getting a tour in English could be a bit difficult. If you speak another European language though, you should be okay.

This was one of the best parts of the trip….I highly recomend it. We didn’t bother going into the castle, seemed dull and we were on a budget anyways….it was fun climbing the hill and all that, going over mary’s bridge, so much fun. Was a very easy daytrip from Munich. Took about an hour via train….got some great food in the city of Fussen as well.

The castle and the surrounding gorge is breathtaking…inside was worth the price of admission. Ludwig was totally off his rocker with his obsession with Wagner (lots of germanic folkloric scenez painied on the walls etc.). I’d put it on par with the Eiffel tower, Leaning tower, etc. in terms of manmade sights to see

Neuschwantstein is definently worth the trip. Also, the inside is not totally empty. I thought the rooms were very attractive. There is one floor that was not finished. King Ludwig only lived here for about 3 months before he mysteriously took his life but probably the one of the most worthwhile castle visits I have taken. I went to Versailles and Prague Castle on same trip and Neuschwanstein was a much better visit for me.

I had a good time at Neuschwanstein last summer. Yes, it was “fake,” but (in my opinion) it was sort of kitchy and ridiculous in a good way. And the tour at least provided me with some laughs. I agree with Finnegan, it’s at least worth seeing the work of such a crazy man, and the surrounding area is breathtaking. There is a little lake at the bottom of the mountain where you can rent rowboats and it’s a lovely area to go walking. We went in August and there was a festival of some sort going on (traditional music, beer, lederhosen, etc.) which was also a blast.

As far as transportation, we took the train from Venice, which was breathtaking. I’m sure the train from Munich would also be lovely, even though you aren’t going through the Alps. We stayed in Fussen and we didn’t have a car so we walked to the castle from town in the morning and it was lovely. A little long (I would guess about 2 miles, but I’m not sure), but relaxing, and took the bus back to Fussen at the end of our visit. This worked out well because we didn’t really want to go anywhere but Neuschwanstein. If we had wanted to go anywhere else in the surrounding area, it would have been difficult without a car.