My family and I would like to try and visit Neuschwanstein Castle in 2 days, though we do not have tickets. I’ve read that even without tickets, you can walk some of the grounds. We do have a rental car. Any suggestions on how we could experience the castle without a ticket? We could do some mild/moderate walking/hiking.
Thank you so much!
My only experience was with a tour of Germany/Austria. We only went to an overlook bridge I think named "St Mary's" bridge. You get great iconic pictures there. As I recall, down in the little town, there is a ticket office for the shuttle bus that takes you most of the way up the hill and then you walk to either the bridge overlook (not to far but uphill) and/or the castle (I think it is farther but we did not go). You can also walk up instead of taking the shuttle bus but its a ways. Our guide advised that the walk from where the bus lets you off to the castle is very hilly, down and then up each way. Even just going to the bridge, the path was jammed and the pedestrian swinging overlook bridge was packed. I wouldn't go if the weather is bad.
I think you lucked out. The inside of Neuschwanstein is the most overrated thing in Germany. The outside is beautiful, the setting is gorgeous. The inside tour is a hurried march through a pretty boring place. As mentioned above, the hiking trails above the castle are wonderful although Marienbrücke is sometimes closed so check the website. The advice to get a ride up to the castle is really good. That’s an otherwise 35 minute hike without any particularly amazing scenery. Unless you cut via forest trails, you’re just walking up a tree lined road.
I’d recommend tacking on a visit to neighboring Hohenschwangau if you want to do a much more interesting castle tour.
Some tickets are held back for day-of (or at least they used to), but as others have said, you don't need to see the inside. You can try to queue up early for a time slot if you really want to see the inside.
You can see a TON without going inside. Simply drive or take a train and bus to Hohenschwangau. You can walk up or take a bus or carriage most of the way up and see tons from the outside and into the courtyard. It's an uphill walk of about a mile on a paved road. Alternatively if you are moderately more ambitious you can do a different hike (also steep but not long or arduous--we did it with kids about 9yo easily enough) through the Pöllatschlucht. You can also visit Hohenschwangau. Lots to see in the area.
We quite enjoyed our excursion to Neuschwanstein this past March. We did the “hike” because the bus was not operating during our visit due to weather and we did not want to do the carriage, which is not as romantic as it sounds.
There was some snow on the sides of the path, which our 4 kids loved. The “hike” is not too challenging and was a nice contrast to our other tourist activities in Munich proper. We did the tour and, while the tour is rather bland, I thought there were some nice things to see on the inside. That said, it does not compare to some other palaces, churches I’ve been in. There are some nice views from various terraces and some nice views just outside the castle of the surrounding area.
I recommend it, even if you aren’t able to do the tour. Maybe, as others have said, you can see the inside of Hohenschwagau.
Loved our time in the area and would not miss it even if we didn't go inside (we didn't)! As others have said, the bridge and the walk up past the castle were great, there are little biergartens around and you can go see the view on the lake as well. Great hikes in the surrounding forests as well and we really enjoyed out time in Schwangau (a nearby town) as well.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions!
