Neuschwanstein / Hohenschwangau Conundrum

if it's in your route consider Wartburg Castle near erfurt. Wartburg is the inspiration for neuschwanstein. Martin Luther hid there was excommunicated and translated the new testament there. it was the inspiration for the epic poem partial and his quest for the holy grail. the have lovely 19th century rooms like neuschwanstein but no one hurries you through. English tour 1:30.

I have been in summer and it is very crowded with visitors. I would settle for outside walk about and views if u can not get adv reservation on another day.
It can get quite hot so go early whatever u decide.

There will definitely be long lines just to get to the ticket window to get the next available slot to enter the castle. Yes, you can spend the 2-3 hours making the journey UP to the castle and visiting Mary's Bridge (with all of the other hordes of visitors). You can even hike across Mary's Bridge up higher onto the mountain to get better view of the castle from a distance.

Personally I would book Hohenschwangau and be content seeing the inside of it and only the outside of Neuschwanstein.

I think most people here would advise you to just see the outside because the inside tour is pretty short anyway. However, I will say that I loved the inside tour because it is such a unique building with an interesting story. Not a real castle and not as long a history as many places you could visit, but I found it fascinating all the same. I would try to get there early in the day to get to the ticket line before it opens, and I would be willing to wait the 2-3 hours for my tour. There is a beautiful walk up to the castle. Everyone's view is different, so I guess it matters how important it is to you. Enjoy your trip! It will be lovely either way, I'm sure.

With a car, you can also easily get to Linderhof Castle. If skipping the wait for Neuschwanstein helps make that happen, then it's a good trade-off.

And be warned -- day-of tickets DO sell out, possibly early in the day. We were there on a March weekend and they were sold out by 1 p.m. -- crowds like Disneyland, long lines for bus and carriages.

I second Laura's recommendation for Linderhof. I have been to Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangua and Linderhof. Linderhof is absolutely beautiful --- grounds and inside. In July, just walked up to the ticket booth and bought tickets on the spot with no wait. Caught an inside tour very soon after and then wandered the grounds at our leisure.

The stress and crowds at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangua are unbelievable. Of the two, I enjoyed the inside tour of Hohenschwangua the most.

We were at Neuschwanstein as part of the RS GAS tour on Wednesday, June 7. The line to buy tickets was over an hour long when we arrived (around 10:30am) and by the time we left (before 1pm), tours were already sold out for the day.

The outside of the castle is stunning. To me, the inside was a little too overdone. Only 1/3 of the interior is able to be toured and the tour is a little less than an hour long. While I'm glad we got to see it, in hindsight I would have been ok with just the hike to get there and the view from St. Mary's bridge (which shouldn't be missed). However, I will say this.....there is a view of the valley and of Hohenschwangau that is breathtaking from the balcony just outside of the cafe inside of the castle. That was worth the price of admission all by itself.
There's a lot to do and see on the grounds if you find yourself having to wait for a while between the time you buy your ticket and the time of your tour.

We stayed in Fussen because my daughter wanted to see Neuschwanstein Castle. I loved Fussen-interesting museum, good place to walk around-but was not impressed by this imitation castle.(Real castles were built for defense).

Thank you for all of the great feedback! Much appreciated.
We decided to reserve a tour of Hohenschwangau so we're confirmed for that. We'll assess the ticket line when we get there, but at least we're all set for that tour. And, if we only see Neuschwanstein from the outside, that seems like the best part to me (well, besides the crowds! ha)

Thanks!

A large portion of the exterior of Neuschwanstein was covered in scaffolding in June. I would guess it will be that way for quite a while.

I am a completist so I liked seeing the Wagerian murals and Ludwigs bedroom but I think the most exciting thing about that castle is the setting. I preferred the interior and history of Hohenschwangau. I also enjoyed the museum of Bavarian kings but I'm a German history nut.

Linderhof is beautiful and Ludwig spent more time there. It's well worth it.

We just went to both today :). I loved both of them. Here is one thing I noticed... when we got off the train in Fussen, there was a little office there where they were selling tickets. The line was really short (I waited in it to ask if that was where we picked up our reserved tickets). People were buying tickets right there for Neuschwanstein. Then, when we got to the base of the castles to the official ticket office, the line for day of tickets was truly outrageous. But people were there, and they were getting tickets (and yes, it was for a few hours later). This was at 1:00 pm. If you go, it would be worth going into fussen and seeing about getting tickets right at that small ticket office at the train station.
Have a great trip - it was a fantastic day for us!!

Did both castles 2 years ago. We hiked around the area too which was nice. But Neuschwanstein on the interior I was a little disappointed in. Some of the rooms were nice, don't get me wrong. But the tour we only went in like 12 rooms. Not that many compared to the size of the castle. Yes a lot is unfinished but expand the tour into other parts of the castle. if I would do it again it would be to just go inside Hohenschwangau and hike around for the views.

As has been suggested.....

Skip the NSWN ticket, just make the walk up and enjoy the castle, grounds and gorge bridge.

Then head to Linderhof and get a ticket to tour the grounds and, if not sold out, the Palace. I'm just glad we toured last summer and visited the Grotto before they it closed for construction.

Do this and you will get you the best of both locations.

Enjoy.

Here's an insider tip: Go to the little town at the base of the castles. There are 3 things - the two castles and the Museum of the Bavarian Kings. At the MOTBK, you can buy combo passes for that museum and the other attractions. When we went, there were 5000 people in the main line, and 3 in the MOTBK line. We used the shorter line, and had tix in 10 min. I would go very early, however.

We were just there and even though we had advance tickets, we opted to skip the tour of Neuschwanstein and do other things with our day. We hiked to the bridge and beyond, took a walk through the forest on a trail below Hohenschwangau, and had a beer at one of the outside areas down by the lake. It was PACKED and the line to buy tickets was massive. The castles are a beautiful thing to behold, but you can IMHO get 90% of the same experience just by making the hikes and taking in the outside of the castles and surrounding areas. We made the loop through Austria and swam in the Plansee, walked up to Linderhoff and looked at the outside, and then stopped in Ettal for a meal and a monk brewed dark beer and a peek inside the church.