Please sign in to post.

Ludwig's castles: neuschwanstein from Salzburg

Hi all,

I want to go to see Ludwig's castles in neuschwanstein from Salzburg. I have to return to Munich that night. Which of the following is a better option?

a) Take an early morning train from Salzburg to Munich (reaches 8:17am), take the train to Fuessen from Munich (leaves Munich 8:52am). Is the 35min layover too tight? Come back by train from Fuessen to Munich.

b) Travel to Innsbruck from Salzburg and then get to Fuessen. Is there any public transportation (bus/coach to Fuessen from Innsbruk?) Then go to Munich at night from Fuessen by car.

Secondly, if my train is supposed to reach Fuessen at 10:55am, what time should I book the tickets to enter the castle? 1:30pm?

I hear the tours are only 35mins long -- does that mean after the tour you can still hang around inside the castle or do they usher you out and the rest of the time is spent looking at the castles from the outside.

thanks much..

Posted by
19052 posts

The only train I see arriving in Munich from Salzburg at 8:17 runs on Sat. and Sundays only. On a weekend day, you would be able to use a Bayern Ticket for the entire trip, no matter how early you wanted to start.

Thirty-five minutes should be plenty of time to make the connection in Munich, IF you know where you are going. There are two Flügel Bahnhöfe (wing stations) built onto the north and south side of the main station in Munich. According to the schedule, you will come into the southern Holzkirchner Flügelbahnhof on track 5. Go into the main part of the station, around the end of the tracks, and through an opening in the north wall of the main station into the Starnberger Flügelbahnhof. Your train leaves on track 31. DB says the walk will take 15 minutes. There should even be enough time to stash your bags in a locker.

Posted by
19052 posts

Lots of questions. Last answer first. The Neuschwanstein tour ends in the gift shop. The gift shop is on one of the lower, unfinished floors of the castle. You can spend as much time as you like there, but you can't go back into the castle.

Posted by
19052 posts

If you arrive in Füssen at 10:55, the bus leaves from the far side of the parking lot on the other side of the station building at 11:05. There is plenty of time to catch it. There will be other people going to the bus; follow the crowd.

The bus arrives at the Hohenschwangau bus stop at 11:13. The ticket kiosk is just a few yards up the street from the bus stop, on the right, on the way to Neuschwanstein. When we were there in September, we bought tickets at the kiosk; I don't remember much of a wait in line.

I think you could pick up tickets and be at the castle by noon

On the other hand, don't rush it. Just up the hill, still on the right, is a large white hotel - you will see horse-drawn carriages in front of it. Have a leisurely lunch at the restaurant in the hotel; it is reasonably priced.

If you still have time after lunch, you can walk up the steps to Hohenschwangau castle and see the outside.