Neuschwanstein/Zugspitze

I had a professor who said the answer to everything is "it depends".

It depends. I think it can be done either way, but you will be rushed. You would have to start in Munich very early.

There are very early trains that could get you out to the castles before the ticket kiosk opens, so you could get the first English language tour of the day.

If you go by car, are you going to pick it up the night before? One company's rental offices at the Hbf open at 7 AM. How long does it take at the rental office? According to Michelin, it's a 1h45m trip, if all goes well, from Munich to Hohenschwangau. You probably can't get there before 9 AM, more likely 9:30-10:00.

Fortunately, the tour of Neuschwanstein does not take that long, and you have to follow the tour. You'll be done with the tour and back down the hill in a little over an hour. As long as you don't linger in the shops and don't want to go into Füssen to see that town, you should be out in plenty of time.

It's about an hour's drive to GaP, 2 hours by bus directly from the bus stop next to the TI office in Hohenschwangau. You probably can't catch the 9:53 one. The next connection is at 11:41, going through Füssen Bhf and Reutte, then by train to GaP at just before 2 PM.

The train to the Zugspitze leaves from the GaP Bahnhof. You change to a cog rail train at Grainau. Since it's already afternoon, I would recommend that, to save time, you get off at Eibsee and take the cable car (Seilbahn) to the summit. I think the last trip down is around 5 PM.

However, considering the cost of the RT trip up the Zugspitze, almost €50 for an adult, I would want to spend more time up there.

From Fuessen, you could take an 1 1/2 hr. train ride south into Austria and through the towns of Reutte and Lermoos to the Zugspitzbahn in the town of Ehrwald, Austria. From there you take a cable car to the top of the Zugspitze. The only difference is you are going up from the Austrian side. Check out the website: http://www.zugspitze.at/ Use the DeutscheBahn site to check out train schedules: http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en. If you go in the summer, the daylight hours are a lot longer. One other thing to consider is that you never know what the visibility will be like in the afternoon on the Zugspitze. It often clouds up. Your best visibility is generally in the morning. You could go to the Zugspitze first and then backtrack. Just a thought. Have fun!

I considered the reverse order (Zugspitze-Neuschwanstein), but I think the tendency would be to stay up on the Zugspitze and come down too late to get to Hohenschwangau. At least at Neuschwanstein, when the tour is over, they kick you out, and you have to go on. ;o)

Going up the Austrian side is a good idea. First, it takes too long to get to the cable car base station from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Second, there are buses from Füssen to Reutte where one can catch the train to Ehrwald.

I am going to both places myself this May. But having been to Neuschwanstein (just as it was closing) and the Zugspitz before (I am bringmy my children there this time) I can honestly say I could forgo the castle if I was on my own. And from what others have said in many forums and other places an overwhelming amount of people are disappointed at the tour of the N castle (the H next door is better) and not worth the $. Everyone loves "seeing" it and the view from the bridge nearby. So that is what I am planning on doing ...I loved the little town it was in more. My thing with the castle is that it is not as old as one would think and was never truly "lived" in (most of it was never furnished). The Zugspitz you definitely need to go to early in the day. In the spring and early summer (probably fall too) clouds form more. I actually was up there when it was mostly cloudy, yet clear on the top...it was neat seeing distant peaks and the clouds along with the ride and view up on the cable cars. Another thing to take into consideration is the weather...you certainly don't want to go up the mntn in the rain...yuk! So then I might consider the castle tours or see some of the towns around there that we drove thru quickly and were beautiful! I loved the town of Garmisch P. where we stayed and could spend days there. Watch the hours things are open on Sundays...I did not and it cut a lot of my plans short...they DO treat Sundays the way this country did years ago..a day of rest for all (but some tourist sites open, just close early). Enjoy. It is gorgeous there.

I am going to both places myself this May. But having been to Neuschwanstein (just as it was closing) and the Zugspitz before (I am bringmy my children there this time) I can honestly say I could forgo the castle if I was on my own. And from what others have said in many forums and other places an overwhelming amount of people are disappointed at the tour of the N castle (the H next door is better) and not worth the $. Everyone loves "seeing the sight of it" it is really impressive; and the view from the bridge nearby. So that is what I am planning on doing ...I loved the little town it was in more. But I will run even faster if it is mobbed - crowds alone would ruin it for me. My thing with the castle is that it is not as old as one would think and was never truly "lived" in (most of it was never furnished). I almost see it as a staged place...because that is what it actually was to Ludwig. The Zugspitz you definitely need to go to early in the day. In the spring and early summer (probably fall too) clouds form more as the day goes on. I actually was up there when it was mostly cloudy, yet clear on the top (ask the hotels or local ticket places)...it was neat seeing distant peaks and the clouds along with the ride and view up on the cable cars. Another thing to take into consideration is the weather...you certainly don't want to go up the mntn in the rain...yuk! So then I might consider the castle tours or see some of the towns around there that we drove thru quickly and were beautiful! I loved the town of Garmisch P. where we stayed and could spend days there. Watch the hours things are open on Sundays...I did not and it cut a lot of my plans short...they DO treat Sundays the way most of this country did years ago..a day of rest for all (but some tourist sites open, just close early). Enjoy. It is gorgeous there.