I will be visiting both castles in July and I am wondering...how far away from each other are they...is the distance walkable..?? Also, I am going to reserve my tickets on line...do I still have to wait in the long line up to pick them up..??
Any other info or tips are appreciated.
Thank you,
Andrea
The two castles are right next to each other, however they are both uphill from the ticket station. They did run a shuttle bus from the ticket station up to St. Mary's bridge and then its a short walk up to Neuschanstein. Make sure you walk out to the bridge - it makes for a great photo-op with the castle in the background. When I was there two years ago in October, there was no line at the ticket counter but of course it was shoulder season.
Hi Andrea,
They are "next" to one another. It is walkable. From the ticket booth Neuschwanstein is one direction and Hohenschwangau is in the other direction. There is a bus that takes you up to Mary's Bridge and from there you walk downhill to Neuschwanstein. There is also a horse and carriage that will take you up to Neuschwanstein but leave you below it with a bit of an uphill walk.
We took the bus up, walked along the bridge, walked down to the castle, took the tour, walked down and took the carriage back to the ticket booth/parking area.
Hohenschwangau is much easier to walk to than Neuschwanstein. Not nearly as steep. You can also take a horse and carriage to Hohenschwangau.
If you have time, there's a very good luge ride (sommerrodelbahn) and cable car about 1 mile from the castles.
www.tegelbergbahn.de/227.0.html
www.tegelbergbahn.de/208.0.html
Paul
Yeah, but if you take the bus or horse carriage up, you miss the brautwurst stand on the way!
"do I still have to wait in the long line up to pick them up".
In my experience, No. They're pretty efficient at the ticket center. After all, they're Germans. We arrived without reserved tickets, and it only took a few minutes to get our tickets.
I think it takes 20-30 minutes from the ticket center to Neuschwanstein, depending on how fast you walk. Hohenschwangau is much closer, only a few minutes walk from the ticket center.
Andrea,
You can call and book tickets or reserve them online, the tours are really fast...unlike most castles, there is really no time to walk around and soak it all in...here is an English link to Neuschwanstein, hope it helps:
They are near each other. The distance is all walkable. I get my tickets for both castles first thing in the morning, take the bus up the hill to Neuschwanstein, walk further uphill to Marien Brucke (Mary's bridge) then down to Neuschwanstein for the tour. I then walk down the hill from Neuschwanstein and walk the short uphill to Hohenschwangau for that tour.
Taking the bus for that first uphill leg saves a lot of energy.
I've never taken the horse cart but it looked like fun.
