Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwangau ticket timing

you should know, if you have bad knees, that no matter how you get up to the place where the carriage or bus drops you there is still a fairly long and still steep rest of the way to the Neuschwanstein entrance. And lots of stairs on the "tour".

and then back down. My knees can manage up somewhat but down is tough.

IN OUR EXPERIENCE, PRE-COVID, [oops, caps,] we didn't have much choice of the times, as availability is so limited, and the tickets sell out so fast. I hope someone here has a way to get tickets ahead of time when availability is good. Or- buy from a private tour company, perhaps.
We tried to buy online ahead of time, starting at the correct time, but the tickets were all sold out for online purchases within minutes. So- arrived at 8:00am, and stood in line for one hour just to get what's left- the best we could do was a three hour gap between castles.

If I had to do it all over again, I would:
skip it entirely; OR
just do H. Castle and skip N'stein entirely. I read that St. Mary's Bridge has been closed, which is where most folks get their best pix. THE N'Stein tour is under 30 minutes and IMHO, just not that well done. H. Castle tour is rather interesting.

There is a bus to the top, but that involved a 45 wait in line in the sun, and as others said, there is still walking and steps after that. Plus, you stand in line waiting for your timed-ticket admission.
There is also a walk from the parking lot, or city bus stop, to the ticket site, and a walk from the ticket site to the bus/horse carriage stop that goes up the hill.

If there's an easier way, I have no idea .....

Per the ticket website, they highly recommend getting on site (probably to the ticket office?) at least 1.5 hours before your first tour. From Fussen, it's a super short drive (as you've no doubt seen), so that should be easy for you guys. I was curious about timing for the tours, though, too. What's super cool is that when you go to the website to buy tickets, you first pick the type of ticket (sounds like you want the Kings Ticket to see both castles), then click the number of tickets, then punch in your date. Then, say you pick your Hohenschwangau time first. The times to tour Neuschwanstein adjust. It's like they built in the times for the tour and getting around that area. If you're going in August, there should be plenty of tickets available. There seem to be more English tours in the morning, but if you have all day to hang out there, have a picnic, and just relax, you shouldn't have a problem.

And per a traveler on the RS Facebook forum, she was sent her ticket once she booked it online (print or on your phone) and then went straight to the castle vs. in the before times when you would make a reservation but have to pick up your actual ticket at the ticket office.

Hopefully that helps! Have a great trip!

Thank you for your replies! On the off chance I might get an answer, I also emailed the Ticket Center at Hohenschwangau. Today I got back a very thoughtful and thorough explanation of the whole process. To help others who may have similar questions, I've copied and pasted the meat of their answer:

1) For the tickets we recommend to book as early as you can in our online shop under the link: https://shop.ticket-center-hohenschwangau.de/Shop/Index/en/39901. You can then choose between audio guide tours in English and English guided tours with a person.*
2) Between Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau tours you should leave at least 2 hours/2 and a half hours, according with which castle you would like to start. If you start with Hohenschwangau, then it is better to leave 2 and a half hours. If you start with Neuschwanstein, 2 hours. When you will select the time of the tour for the first castle in our online shop, the program will show you automatically the next tours available for the second castle. The distance between the castles is the same, so you will take the same time to reach them. Mary´s Bridge is unfortunately still closed for renovation works. We don´t know exactly when it will open again, but if it will be again accessible when you are here in Hohenschwangau, usually you can calculate for it half an hour or longer, depending on your interests.
3) Yes, of course. If you leave the time necessary between the tours of the castles, you will manage to do Neuschwanstein as second castle. We recommend, as a suggestion, to be at the carriage for Neuschwanstein one an a half hour before the tour starts at the castle, so that, even if there will be a long queue, you will be on time for the tour.
4) Unfortunately you can´t book the carriages in advance because they are private. You just have to catch them spontaneously at the day of your visit.*

Happy Travels!

just to further clarify about the carriage...

as the official reply said, they are private, and if they work to a schedule I've never seen one. When they are there people pile on until it is full, then the rest wait until another comes. The art of queueing has diminished even in England, past masters of the art, and was not in evidence when we were there. Don't expect first come first served.

Also, to refer to the conveyance as a "carriage" is fairly grand compared to what is used. I would call it horse and wagon.

Just visited both castles a few days ago.
We had 10:50 am tickets to Neuschwanstein and 230 pm tickets to hohenschwangu.
Worked out fine. We booked separately on official ticket website.
Took the shuttle bus at 10 am to Nstein (3 euro) and walked 15 minutes from shuttle drop off point. down to castle entrance.
Entry to inner courtyard is 15 minutes before and electronic gates announce when to enter.
After, walk down 10 minutes on main path and take the horse carriage down (3.50 euro?)
Eat lunch somewhere.
2:00 pm we took the horse carriage ride up to hohenschwangau. (Can’t remember prices) 230pm entry.
After, walked down stairs 15 minutes to near ticket office.

Note: with the horse carriage ride up to nstein you still still have to walk uphill 15 minutes. Recommend taking bus shuttle and walking down to castle.

Great information! Thank you for sharing!