Salzburg to Neuschwanstein

If you stay in the attractive town of Oberammergau you will be about 40 minutes from G-P and about 80 minutes from the "castles" stop. The direct (and free-of-charge) bus ride uses line #9606. See schedule and Guest Ticket at link below

There are of course other things to see and do in the region, both on the #9606 line as well as the other lines at the link.

https://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/oberammergau/en/Media/Artikel/Free-bus-and-train-rides

Here is a map focused on the area's train and bus lines so you can get oriented.

Oberammergau is accessible by train from Salzburg via Munich. Use the DB site for schedules.

N'stein and H'schwangau are categorized incorrectly by the English language as castles - they are actually palaces. With their roots in the much more recent past than Germany's castles (think Middle Ages for those,) they were built and used as residences for royalty, not as castles.

Oberammergau is a great base for both sites, as Russ mentions. Lodging may be a little hard to find in September this year, though, due to the town's once-per-decade passion play running through Oct 4.

Thank you. I haven’t booked my trip yet but I think I can do this part of it after the Passion Play has completed - so it wouldn’t be as difficult to get a hotel.

Russ - I'm reading about the free buses from Oberammergau and am wondering how one obtains the guest card that is mentioned. Is that given to all overnight guests in the area?

Lynne: I've browsed the German pages and it sounds to me like all hosts in Oberammergau issue the electronic guest card right at the inn or hotel - guests are actually charged a small local tax that subsidizes the card. A more select group of hosts offers the Königscard (ker-neeks-cart) (which also covers transport, and which hosts probably charge you for in their standard overnight prices.) Either card will get you the transportation we discussed. As of 8 months ago, certain trains were added to the travel privileges on these cards. For the trains you need the card, your passport, and an official slip of paper your hosts provide.

This page is in German, but it shows the specific TRAIN routes you can also use; travel beyond the last travel points and you will need normal tickets for such travel:

https://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/content/download/25205/328330/version/1/file/BB+Flyer+DB_98x210_din_lang_plus_3mm+Beschnitt_NEU.pdf

The wording in German does not completely confirm that EVERY host offers the electronic guest card. So if it's not clearly included in the host's website materials or at your booking site, in order to be sure, I suggest you just send an email to the establishment and ask.

I suspect that even if a given host does NOT offer this card (and doesn't charge you the tax) that the local tourist office would provide you one for whatever the cost of the tax is (probably €2 or less.) That happened to me once in the Black Forest region where a similar guest card was supposed to be available at every place. Guess I chose a host who was uncooperative with the local tourist office.

Thank you Russ!