My husband and I are traveling to Germany in early December; I'm trying to find the best way, if any, to see all 3 of Ludwig's main castles Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein and Linderhof; would be nice to include Wieskirche (church) and Oberammergau (for wood carving/painted houses). Would it be easiest to stay in Munich or Fussen? Is there a suggestion for private of group tour from either place? Most tours look like they only include 2 out of 3 castles.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6353 posts
Are you wanting to see them all in one day? We did Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein as a day trip from Munich. I see no reason to do a tour except for the transportation piece. You will get a tour with each castle admission. We used Bayern tickets to get to Fussen from Munich, for a really inexpensive day. It was easy. We took the train to a bus.
We went in January and it had just snowed. The town and castles looked magical. Downside would be that we couldn't walk to the bridge for the famous view of Neuschwanstein.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5391 posts
Trying to do all of these places in a single day is probably only possible if you rent a car. Obviously, starting in or near one of these places will cut the necessary time considerably. Keep in mind the short daylight hours in December, and it's roughly a 2 hour trip by car or train between Munich and Fussen.
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
1410 posts
You'd actually do better to stay in either Oberamergau or Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Getting around with a car from those towns is easier than from Fussen. You can do all three of the castles in one day, especially if you forgo the interior tour of Neuschwanstein and just take your photos from the bridge or Hohenschwangau. If you stay in Munich you can easily find a tour that will take you to the castles and back, but most of them do not include Hohenschwangau, which has a much better interior than Neuschwanstein; because it was actually lived in.
Neuschwanstein in the winter is only worth the time (my opinion) if it's a clear day, which is not often. it's a 20-30 minute, uphill, walk from there to Hohenschwangau. Linderhof is beautiful in the snow, but you really need to wear the right shoes and clothes, as the main attraction is the gardens, not the Schloss itself, although that's quite nice too.
I took relatives on their first visit this year to Linderhof, Oberamergau, and Ettal all in a day in June, and we still had time to wander around Garmisch afterwards.
As noted, you will have @8 hours of daylight (such as it is) in early DEC, and should expect grey, wet, weather.
Posted by
21 posts
Its easy to take a train from Munich (buy a Byern ticket) and you can see Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. We saw only Neuschwanstein and it was beautiful inside! Really worth going in (some people say dont go inside). I would suggest staying in Fussen as it is such a charming little town! I wish we had more time there! Since you want to visit both castles, then you should stay in town overnight. Enjoy!