best day for touring Neuschwanstein Castle

If it closes on a certain day, such as Monday (just using Monday as an example), then avoid going the very next morning because it will be mobbed.

There will be a lot of visitors there, but the timed control entry will keep the actual crowd in the castles down during the actual tour. There is a long walk either up to the Neuschwanstein or a shorter walk down from Mary's Bridge. This tends to disperse people. Then, you line up with the group that matches your timed entry ticket.

You will be moved swiftly and efficiently from room to room in the castle until you at last end up in the gift shop. From there you walk back down the hill.

I had really looked forward to touring to Neuschwanstein Castle. It was a bit of a let down to see the actual place and to walk through the portions we were allowed to see. I wouldn't go there again, but I suppose everyone needs to decide for themselves.

August is Holiday Season in Germany (as well as the rest of Europe) and Hohenschwangau is probably going to be really busy every day of the week - rain or shine. I recommend you acquaint yourself with the Hohenschwangau Tourist Center web site (just google) to look at the process of visiting the castles. Your entry is by guided tour only and you are given a particular tour time slot and your entry ticket MUST be picked up no less than 90 minutes prior to entry.

My suggestion if you are day tripping from Munich is to use a tour agent that bundles the bus travel with the entry tickets.

Alternatively, if your itinerary is rock-solid, you can reserve tickets online but make sure you can pick the tickets up 90 minutes in advance or they will be released for general sale and you lose the reservation and your money.

Use a TA to bundle tickets with bus travel?? Seriously?? And why would you recommend that? Reserve your own tickets through the one and only official castle ticket site. Buy a train ticket and go. That’s exactly what a travel agent will do for you.

You cannot book a guide to take you into the castle because only the castle’s official guides can take you inside.

Neuschwanstein "Castle" (in Germany it's called a palace) is IMO pure unadulterated kitsch (at least inside). I as a German was there once decades ago and will never ever go there again. I can hardly understand why people from all over the world would like to see this kitschy object. It hasn't got any authenticity about it. On the other hand I must admit that it looks quite nice on the outside, especially seen from the Marienbrücke (St. Mary's Bridge). Probably a kind of Disney syndrome is responsible for so many Americans to flock there.

I've paid Neuschwanstein two visits - the first a German tour, then years later an involuntary English tour that was foisted on me by my travel companions. I largely share demag's impressions. It's a whole lotta overpriced theme-park atmosphere, with high prices for the rushed and overcrowded walk-through of this late-19th-century mock-up (a residential palace with a fake castle exterior, in no way a real castle.) Nonetheless, day trips to N'stein from Munich are a surprising but very common phenomenon. That people set aside most of a day for this 30-minute tour - and put forth so much effort and cash into their transport and ticket arrangements for this place - and then completely overlook the other Bavarian palace options AND the real charms of the Bavarian Alps - is pretty stunning in light of the excellent alternatives.

Here's what you won't read in the glossy travel brochures and guidebooks:
https://www.dw.com/en/is-neuschwanstein-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/a-17887035

For a good palace visit, consider a visit to Nymphenburg Palace (King Ludwig II's birthplace, btw) which is within easy striking distance from central Munich - there's much more to see and do there.