timing for Neuschwanstein Castle - and transportation questions...

Point one: make sure you reserve castle tour tickets in advance for high season/weekends. Online reservations at least two days in advance. We rode the train from Munich with a group of students who had made a last-minute decision to visit the castles; they sprinted off the train, but by the time we made our elderly way up to the ticket office at about noon, all tours were sold out for the day so I don't know if they were able to get in.
Bayern tickets are the way to go -- covers ALL your travel for the day (no need to buy separate return tickets to Munich) including bus from train station in Fussen to the castle area, but not the transportation up to the castles (many people walk) Bayern tickets are great bargains for groups.

The actual time in the castle will be quite short. You are escorted room to room by a guide. I am guessing the tour takes 20 minutes tops.

According to the official site, www.hohenschwangau.de, "Die Schlossführung dauert ca. 35 Minuten." (the tour lasts about 35 minutes). That seems consistent with what I have experienced.

It takes about 2h20 to get from the Hbf in Munich to the bus stop in Hohenschwangau, but that depends on your getting to the Hbf just as the train leaves. Assuming you are using a Bayern-Ticket and going on a weekday, when the Bayern-Ticket is not valid until 9AM, you can 1) get to the station using an MVV inner zone tickets, which will also cover you to Pasing, which the 8:43 train gets to at 9:00, after which you can use the Bayern-Ticket for the rest of the day, the train and bus will get you to Hohenschwangau at 11:13. It's a 10 min walk up the hill to the ticket kiosk, so it you have a ticket for Neuschwanstein at 1330 (1:30 pm), On the other hand, 2) if you wait until 9:52 to leave from Munich Hbf, you'll get to the ticket kiosk around 1330, so reserve you castle tickets for 1430 (2:30 pm).

thank you so much for your responses and information - this has helped us so much in our planning!

Hi Lee -
Thank you so much for the detailed information - I have one more question for you. We are wanting to do your option 1 (get the earlier bus, then use the Bayern tickets at Pasing. Do we need to get off the train at Pasing and do a transfer, or can we just stay on the train and then use the Bayern tickets after that?
Oh, and one more question - is there an advantage to getting either the Bayern or MVV tickets earlier or are they the same price regardless of when we purchase them?

thank you so much for your help with this!!

Jen

Do we need to get off the train at Pasing and do a transfer, or can we just stay on the train and then use the Bayern tickets after that?
Oh, and one more question - is there an advantage to getting either the Bayern or MVV tickets earlier or are they the same price regardless of when we purchase them?

Simply stay on the train originating from the Hbf (RE 57700, dep. 8:53). There is no advantage in pre-booking Bayern or MVV tickets. Just get it from any DB or MVV / MVG ticket machine on the spot (i.e. at the Hbf or the station you are boarding a S-Bahn or U-Bahn etc.). Please note: RE 57700 is bound to Krumbach; you have to transfer from it at Buchloe (arr. 9:39) to RE 57340 bound to Fuessen. Look up details at the DB website.

Look up details at the DB website.

DB website (in English). Depending on the date, the 8:53 train from Munich might go several places (on May 18, it ends in Buchloe).

By the way, the opening page of reiseauskunft does funny things with the time. The tens digit is not shown, for 11:00, it displays 1:00. If you scroll through the times, you can see what it's supposed to be. When it goes 0:00 to 1:00 to 2:00 to 3:00 then to 0:00, that's midnight. The 8:00 following that is 8 AM.

Once you hit search and it displays schedules, if the time is not right, click "change" and, from then on, the time will be displayed correctly.