Best Time of Day for Neuschwanstein?

very early when the ticket booth opens. You will get the ticketts for hohenschwangau, the childhood castle that he lived in at the lower level and usually and hr or two later for Neushwanstein.

I have been there in early march and went early like 10 AM but my ticket for N. was at 2 PM and I gave up the tickets without visiting it. There are some cafes, hohenschwangau and marienbrucke to spend some time and that's it.

it is worth the wait, so be patient.

I would concur - the earlier the better. You can purchase tickets online, so all you have to do is to pick them up the day of the tour. As the day goes on the crowds increase and take a lot of the fun out of your visit.

Try to go as early as possible. When I went (September) there were lots and lots of people and we had to wait a long time.

It was gorgeous and I thought it was worth the wait.

Also, it was a very foggy day and it was very ethereal driving up to these two castles shrouded in mist. I'll never forget how it looked! :)

Enjoy your trip! :)

I've only been in the months of March, September and November. So for July, I cannot comment. What I can say is to me there is no bad time. I don't recall an overly long wait time on any of my trips. If there were, I probably spent the time talking to other travelers I met in line. I enjoy the beauty of the surrounding area and always look forward to the Marienbrucke. Take your time and have a liesurely day exploring the castles and surounding environs.

Follow-up to SL's question. We will be there on a Monday this summer too(Checked and they are open Kent...good warning!).

1) Would probably buy online tickets and try for 9:00 tour. How long to comfortably tour both castles so as not to feel rushed, but also not stay all day? We want to catch at train around 2:00PM for elsewhere. Is this doable? Bus leaves Hohenschwangau at 13:40 for Fussen to catch train.

2)If booking online, it looks like you get to specify the time you want to enter (For us it would be 9 AM as we're staying in Hohenschwangau the night before). If they can't give you that, do they still charge you and give you a later time? Also, how far out should we book?

Thanks!

Hey Kent! From DB website for a Monday in May: Bus leaves Hohenschwangau at 13:40, arrives Fussen Bahnhof at 13:47. Walk 3 minutes to Fussen and depart on the 14:05 RB to Marktoberdorf. We are going to Rothenburg and my hope is to do the Night Watchman's tour that night at 8 PM. (Rest of day travel is on Regional trains so we can use Bayern ticket. 3 of the connections have 3-5 minutes between trains, so I'm a bit nervous of those). This would put us in Rothenburg at 18:49. Does this make you more or less nervous? :-)

This is the most ambitious day of our trip and it does make me a bit nervous as we want to do both. We are coming up from Berner Oberland and after one night in Rothenburg will slow down for 5 days on Rhine and Mosel.

That's what makes me a bit nervous and wondering if we're pushing it too much. Three 3-5 minute connections is tight though I've never done German rail (and my wife and I will be traveling with only backpacks). Worst case, we miss a train and get to Rothenburg late and miss the Night Watchman (which we want to see with all the raves we hear about)

I guess the deciding question is...is 4 hours (presuming we get a 9 AM time in the castle) enough time to enjoy both castles without doing our best Chevy Chase "Vacation" impersonation? If not, then we have to make a decision as to which is more important for our first time in Europe. Then we'd have re-figure part of the trip as we'll be traveling from Lauterbrunnen to Hohenschwangau and then another long travel day from there to Rothenburg.

I thought about sending you a PM, as I didn't want to hijack SL's thread, but thought others in my situation may benefit from our dilemma.

We went to the Castles in mid-October. We got there when it opened and were on the first Neuschwanstein tour and Hohenschwangau afterward. When we left, the place was packed with buses and crowds.

Your schedule is tight. Most of the time if German schedules say it's possible, it is. I hope there aren't many tight chokepoints on your schedule and you have a backup plan in case something goes wrong. Don't forget you need to eat. It might be a good idea to have some healthy snacks in your bags in case you don't have a chance to stop.

Thanks for the info Brad! This is the only part of our trip where it's a bit hurried. I think my wife and I will talk some more tonight and see if we want to change it or go as is.