Our last day in Munich, we have the full day left for sighsteeing. (The first day is a half day for some sightseeing and beer gardens, 2nd day is day trip to Dachau and back for some more beer gardens/food/sightseeing.) Is it possible for us to make a day trip to the N. Castle(possibly with a pre-arranged tour) on this last day in Munich and still make it back to catch our night train from Munich to Prague that leaves around 10:30pm? Or would it be a better use of our time to just make the best of our day remaining in Munich with some more sightseeing?
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Kristen,
It should be easily possible for you to take a day trip to Neuschwanstein and make it back in time for your night train. I used Radius Tours for the trip to the Castles, and as I recall we were back in Munich by about 18:00 or so. I also used Radius for the Dachau tour, and the Guides for both tours were awesome!
If you take an organized tour of Neuschwanstein, they'll take care of all the transportation details and the reservations for the Castle tours. Note that the actual tour of the Castle is provided by Castle staff. No photos are allowed inside the Castle, however you can take photos from the Castle looking outwards.
Good luck and happy travels!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
You can easily make this trip on your own. If you only want to see Neuschwanstein castle, buy a €27 Bayern-Ticket and take the 9:51 train from the Munich Hauptbahnhof. There is a simple, cross-platform train change at Buchloe, and you arrive in Füssen at 11:55. The bus to Hohenschwangau is included in the Bayern-Ticket. The bus leaves at 12:05 from the far side of the parking lot next to the Füssen station and arrives in Hohenschwangau at 12:13. The kiosk where you pick up your tickets is a few hundred meters away, up the hill and around the corner from the bus stop.
Depending on the time of year, you can probably get your tickets when you arrive, but you can reserve ahead at www.lisl.de/?id=548. Make your reservations for a couple of hours after arriving at Hohenschwangau to give time for lunch and the 30 minute walk up the hill to the castle.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
If you want to get to Hohenschwangau a little earlier, in addition to the Bayern-Ticket, buy individual tickets to Geltendorf for €6,60 each and use the 8:52 train. The 8:52 train from Munich Hbf gets to Geltendorf after 9 AM, and the Bayern-Ticket is valid for the rest of the day. The 8:52 train is direct to Füssen, no change in Buchloe. With the bus connection, you will get to Hohenschwangau at 11:13.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
After touring the castle, you can take the bus (about every hour) back to Füssen and look around there for a while before returning to Munich. There is a train leaving Füssen at 7:05 PM, with a change at Buchloe, arriving in Munich at 9:38. That should give you plenty of time to retrieve your luggage from a storage locker at the station and still make your 10:30 train.
Posted by
OP
Dallas, Texas, USA
25 posts
Thank yall so much!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
BTW, do you know what a Bayern-Ticket is? You can read about it on the website, www.bayern-takt.de. The site can be displayed in English.
Although Neuschwanstein (not Neuschw-EI-nstein) is kind of corny and touristy, it is sort of the penultimate attraction in Bavaria. I would skip Dachau rather than Neuschwanstein.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10605 posts
I went to Dachau and Neuschwanstein and enjoyed both. Well, I don't know if "enjoyed" is the best way to describe our trip to Dachau, but I felt it was a very intense and important part of the trip. We went with a tour company (can't remember the name off the top of my head) that was given by native English speakers and it was well worth it. Our guide was very knowledgable and brought so much more to the day than we would have gotten out of it by ourselves. The tour office is at the Munich train station. I think I may have read about the tour company in Rick's Germany guidebook. I think you wouldn't have any trouble making the trip to the castle and still catching your train that night.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
ANDREA,
You're probably referrring to Radius Tours, as they have an office in the Munich rail station. As I mentioned, I also took their tours to Dachau and Neuschwanstein, and both were fantastic. The Guides (Steve & Maxine) were excellent!
While the tour of Dachau was somewhat intense, I had the impression this wasn't as bad as similar locations (Auschwitz, Matthausen).
One of my lasting impressions of Neuschwanstein was the number of souvenir shops, both throughout the Castle and on the way down the hill! I have to wonder if that's the reason photography is banned inside the Castle?
Posted by
GAYLORD, Mi, USA
11 posts
We took the English-speaking tour of Dachau that they provide on-site daily. Our tour guide was fantastic--British, I believe--and even the kids understood him. I agree that I learned so much from him that I would not have learned from the displays. The displays were so interesting, though, and we wished we'd given ourselves MORE time at Dachau--at least 4 hours. We ran out of time to see the film. A fellow American tourist told me that she thought the audio guide was great.