Vistr Neuschwanstein Castle from Munic

You can take rail from Munich to Fussen. A train change is made a Buchloe. This is an easy switch as it is a small station.

How is easiest way to go from train to castles? If train goes to Fussen, are there "cheap" buses to Newschwansten from there?

It has been several years ago. However, we took a train from Munich to Fussen and then a bus from Fussen out to the castles. The connections were easy and timely. Rick's book may give more definitive directions but I do not have a current copy of his German Travel Book. We, too, visited in winter and it was absolutely beautiful with the snow on the mountains.

"are there "cheap" buses to Newschwansten from there?"

The buses are inexpensive, only a few Euro. They leave from in front of the Füssen Bahnhof a few minutes after the train arrives. If you use a Bayern-Ticket, use of the bus is included.

"The RailEurope map shows that their trains do not go to Fussen".

"Their Trains"? RailEurope does not have any trains. They just resell tickets for European railroads. There are certainly trains to Füssen. Maybe RailEurope chooses not to sell them

Actually, RailEurope does sell tickets from Munich to Füssen Bahnhof, but their prices are absurd, and they don't include the bus to Hohenschwangau.

www.germantravel-info.com/fuessen.htm

I made this trip last month. Its just as Chuck says. We went to the info booth at the train station in Munich the day before we wanted to go. They provided us with times and schedules and I believe we used the Bayern ticket for this trip. The bus from the rail station to the castles is a regular city bus and costs about that much, ie a few Euros.

If you used a Bayern-Ticket, you wouldn't have had to pay for the bus to Hohenschwangau, it's included with the Bayern-Ticket.

Agree with what was said above. Here is a Die Bahn access page to check schedules:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Change the Means of transport to only local transport to get the cheaper fares; e.g., the Bayern Ticket.

This looks better than train - Anybody with experience or comments?
"Two Castle Tour" Bus Option - How to See Castles Neuschwanstein and Linderhof in One Day

Departure (daily except Mondays and holidays throughout the year AND daily during the summer months, April through October) at 8:15 a.m. by bus from Munich. Return around 6:30 p.m. Ask at the EurAide office about lower prices with youth or just the general EURAIDE discount (EURO 42) that we offer to travelers. Tour operated by Autobus Oberbayern. Extra fees of EURO 17 (total) per adult to actually enter the two castles.
Bus Per person: 42 + 17 Euro for 59 Euro total (about $82 each) >>> $246 for three,

Well, having visited the castle today, here are some tips I think may be important. We did this as a day trip from Munich, via rental car; a 90 minute drive. I would get the Bavarian Castle Pass. If you are seeing Linderhof and Neuschwanstein and perhaps Nymphenburg in Munich it will pay for itself. I would also make a reservation for the castles on their website. You save time from having to wait line. As in Rick's book, take the bus up to Neuschwanstein and then take the horse carriage down. Give your self time to go to Mary's Bridge as well as Pollat Gorge for great views. While Linderhof is beautiful, most of the statues in the area were covered by wooden boxes because of weather. The grotto was also closed because of weather. If you have any other questions please ask.

There is bus service from Hohenschwangau (the same bus, actually, as the one which brings you out from Füssen) to Linderhof via Oberammergau, so the train to Neuschwanstein, bus to Linderhof, bus to Oberammergau, and the train back to Munich would be possible. It might be a little more hectic than the Autobus Oberbayern tour, but you would have more flexibility as to how long you could stay in each place and it certainly would cost you a lot less than $246.

However, if you just want to add another castle, you can stay in the Füssen area all day and also tour Hohenschwangau castle, which was built by Ludwig's father and was Ludwig's boyhood home.

Aaron...did you drive into Austria and then back into Germany to visit Linderhof and Neuschwanstein on that Austrian road that more or less parallels the border? Just curious as to its condition in rainy or snowy weather and if it is a good shortcut. I'm also having to drive to the castles in early December(I only wish I could take the train) If anyone else has any insight into that roads condition or that general areas driving conditions in an average early December, I'd appreciate that as well too.

Thanks

That road (I assume you mean the route that runs by Reutte then up to Ehrwald and Garmisch-Partenkirchen), even though it looks like it goes up into the mountains, never leaves the valley floor. Barring a heavy snowstorm that might close it for a few hours, you should have no problems. This is also a major winter resort area whose economy depends on keeping the roads open, especially during the Christmas holiday.

Tom and James...thanks guys, your info was exactly what I was hoping to learn. I posted earlier on my not-so-smartphone and now that I have my maps in front of me I see the route I was referring to is labeled St2060 near Linderhof that enters Austria and is then renamed Ammerwald, then Am Plansee till it reaches Bad Kreckelmoos where it appears that I can take 179 back up to the German border.

This is the only day out of a 3 week visit to Germany and Eastern Europe that I have no choice but to drive a car...it's our first day, I have a small film unit with me and how I got talked into this I'll never know. Thank you very much for this local knowledge.

OK, that route does ascend into the mountains a little higher. I've never driven it, but I doubt you'll save time driving that way.

I drove this road three times earlier this month. In good weather and daylight it takes 45 to 60 minutes to drive from Ettal to Neuschwanstein. If you drive it at night it takes longer because of all the deer that come out.

That was the road we took to drive from Neuschwanstein to Linderhof. I second that it took about 45 minutes to drive. Very beautiful and well kept road; there was no snow on the road from a storm in a couple of days ago. The GPS calculated this route and was 30 minutes faster than back tracking. After leaving Linderhof, it was a quick 45 minutes back to downtown Munich.