Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace - Munich Day Trip or Over Night and on to Salzburg

Each time you change hotels, it cuts into your travel experiences, but with that said, I'd consider 3 nights in Munich, 1 night in Fussen and 2 nights in Salzburg.

We took the train to Neuschwanstein Castle only as a daytrip from Munich. If you really want to get in all three sites, ( I can't say whether it's possible or not), but with limited time I'd skip the inside tour of Neuschwanstein Castle. I didn't think it was that interesting. And I know many on this forum agree. The magic is the sweeping view of the exterior from Mary's bridge.

A car rental makes a lot more sense given your itinerary.

With a car you can easily see Neuschwanstein and Linderhof in the same day. And probably add Ettal or Oberammergau; they're that close together. But you would want to start that fairly early and so it makes sense to stay closer to the mountains than Munich. Note the tour at Linderhof is fairly short, photography is not allowed inside, and there are only limited times when the tour is in English (which can be an issue if you have a tight schedule.) But the attraction (Linderhof) is the gardens, and depending on how much you feel like walking, that can take several hours easily.

If you don't want to drive I'd consider taking the train south, staying overnight, using a local tour operator, and then stay that following night for a early train to Salzburg.

The advantage a car will give you is the ability to be at Neuschwanstein before the tours start. In May the sun is up around 6am, and you could be on the bridge, get your scenic view and photos, and be away before the crowds start to arrive. And that would allow you to do all three castles in one day. The best way to do that would be to stay close, rent the car the evening you arrive, get an early start, and drop it off before catching the late train to Salzburg.

I think you're going to find Salzburg requires more than one day.

*Four nights in Munich is plenty. Since Fussen is a pleasant contrast to Munich and you would like to tour Neuschwanstein and Linderhof,— it would be optimal to overnight in Fussen. That way, you could see Hohenschwangau the next morning before continuing onto Salzburg.

If you visit Neuschwanstein and Linderhof on Friday, you will have seen the most popular castles which, as you’ve noted, would likely be more crowded on Saturday. You should then be fine avoiding most of the crowds by seeing Hohenshwangau first thing on a weekend morning and then continuing to Salzburg.
Have a great trip!

...would it be better to leave Munich 5/16 and stay one night somewhere nearer to the castles, then continue on to Salzburg?...I’m also not super thrilled about adding more driving to the trip lol. Also we would then be doing these major tourist attractions on a Friday and/or Saturday so I could see it being much more crowded.

I share KD's take on the interior/tour of Neuschwanstein. Linderhof is more worthwhile. Extending a stay in Munich to do day trips sounds reasonable at first glance, but it is often problematic... many high-profile Bavarian destinations in RS's materials (Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, the Zugspitze for example) are simply too far away and very inconvenient as round-trips from Munich. So yes, I think your new idea is better.

But it's still not a great plan, as you seem to realize. So my question is whether you have given consideration to the alternatives... You can quench your thirst for palaces far more easily in...

• Munich (Nymphenburg Palace), where King Ludwig II spent his childhood and was coronated. Much more to see here than at Neuschwanstein. Wonderful place. No day trip required at all.

• Prien (Herrenchiemsee Palace), Ludwig's most impressive palace of all IMO, on an island in Lake Chiemsee with the Alps as a backdrop. Direct train from Munich to Prien = 1 hour. Then you shuttle to the dock for a short ferry crossing. You can do Herrenchiemsee as a day trip from Munich, OR you can do it on the way to Salzburg, as Prien lies directly on the Munich > Salzburg railway. Prien station has lockers for your bags.

Personally, I would streamline this stay and split my nights between Munich and Salzburg, probably 3/4 or 4/3. And from SALZBURG, I would take a day trip into the mountains. Berchtesgaden (Germany) is a great - and easy - day trip from Salzburg. Bus 840 gets you there in less than an hour. The same bus will drop you at the Koenigssee (lake) or at the base of the Jennerbahn lift.

Bus 840 schedule: https://www.koenigssee.de/cdn/uploads/840.pdf

Another day trip or half-day trip from Salzburg might be Hohenwerfen Castle, in Werfen (Austria,) a genuine fortress from the Middle Ages - with a falconry exhibition - that is only 40 minutes from Salzburg by direct train.

so instead we are going to rent a car so we can do things at our own pace. But with this in mind, would it be better to leave Munich 5/16 and stay one night somewhere nearer to the castles, then continue on to Salzburg?

It's not clear from your sentence. But if you are driving to Salzburg (Austria), you will pay an outrageous surcharge to drop the car off in a different country, -- that's if the German rental car company will even let you drop it off in Austria. Sixt allows you to do that. Some rental car companies don't. Some charge a border crossing fee.

You should check this and the cost from the rental car company to be sure.

You will also need a vignette to drive on the Autobahns in Austria.

Thanks so much for all the advice!

Derek thank you for pointing out the issues that would come with dropping off the car in Austria for some reason that hadn't even occurred to me! I'm leaning toward doing the rental car, but still doing it as a day trip from Munich.

One other thing, if I do add a night to Salzburg, would you take a day from Munich, or from Budapest? Here is what my whole trip is looking like right now for context:

5/6 - 5/9: Wurzburg
5/9-5/10: Rothenberg ob der Tauber
5/10 - 5/12: Nuremberg
5/12-5/17: Munich
5/17 - 5/18: Salzburg
5/18 - 5/25: Budapest (5/18 will be at least half a travel day, 5/25 is travel day only)

Or honestly now I'm thinking of skipping Nuremberg and adding that time to Munich since there are so many places nearby to daytrip to? I'm so torn!

Nuremberg is better than Rothenberg, and skipping that to add to Munich would, IMHO, be a mistake. Myself, I'd take a close look at what I want to see in the specific areas and then prioritize them. I could easier cut a day from Budapest vs. Munich, but that's just me. I've spent weeks in most of the places you list, over the past 30 years. This year I've got three days in Wurzburg (AUG), two in Nuremberg (JUN), Tree in Munich (JUL), four in G-P, and about another 10 days in and around Bavaria, off and on. I lived there (near RodT) for three years, and there's always more stuff for me to see.

Did you know that Rothenburg ob der Tauber had 45% of its buildings destroyed in 1945 and what is seen today was reconstructed after the war. Bamberg, a larger city, is the real deal as it was essentially untouched by WW2. Today Bamberg is the most authentic city in all of Germany with a completely intact historic center after centuries of history. I would visit Bamberg for two nights after your visit to Wurzburg and then continue from there to Nuremberg. Bamberg is east of Wurzburg and north of Nuremberg.