What is the best Tours to take to Neuschwanstein Castle and what to wear in Munich

I'm an experienced German traveler, having spent over 160 days there (all on my own, never on a tour) since 2000, including about 100 of them in Bavaria, and including 3 trips to Füssen and the castles (plus another one in 1988).

I will not recommend any tours, because every one of them I've seen is a complete rip-off. For close to 90€, they do provide transportation to the castle, which you can get for 34€ with a Bayern-Ticket. Other than that, all they do is baby-sit you. The price of the tour of the castle, given only by the castle's own guides, is not included. Tickets to the castle are available from them at only slightly more than the going price.

So, if you want to do it on your own, I'll be happy to provide you with all the advice I can, but I won't aide and abet their scam.

Even though the castle was included on our RS Munich, Salzburg, Vienna tour 10 years ago, the guide for the castle was an employee of the castle. It seems highly unlikely that they allow private guides inside the castle. I don't want to discourage you from visiting the castle if it's important to you, but the best part is the view of it outside from Mary's Bridge. The inside was very underwhelming, and the history has little depth and isn't all that interesting.

Enjoy your RS tour. It will be fantastic!

just for clarity - it isn't a castle, it is a palace built 4 and a half years after the American Civil War ended as show bling for the ruler who then died. Never been used as a castle, not really much used as a palace.

inside is pretty blah unless you are really crazy for Wagner. operas.

if you really want to see it because of Disney or posters that would be something I would encourage. It is rather different. Just be aware of what the inside is like - or more specifically, what it isn't like.

It seems highly unlikely that they allow private guides inside the
castle.

They don't.

Any tour, whether they train or bus you from Munich, uses Neuschwanstein's "in-house" tour, so no one can claim a better castle tour than the one you can get on your own.

I have to admit I personally am in the "there are better places to spend your day" camp, but we each have our own items that catch our interest and the OP wants to go here. I don't think she was specifically asking about the tour inside the palace itself, but rather the whole package. She would like ideas for a tour that would handle transportation and logistics between Munich and the Castle. She was hoping for an engaging guide.

I have not taken such a tour since I went from Garmisch-Partenkirchen when I visited. My best suggestion, unless someone comes on with personal experience, is to look at "Get your Guide" or "Viator" for lists of day tour operators and read reviews carefully.

A day tour won't be the same type of experience as the RS tour, but it can still be a good experience.

For what it is worth, I will always suggest Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. Easy to get to (a 10 minute tram ride from the central station), authentic, and far more interesting inside. https://www.schloss-nymphenburg.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm

Sorry that no one really answered your questions but gave their opinion for not doing it and their favorite alternative. We have toured the castle but as part of our RS tour years ago. I went thru a few years of past forum comments to see if anyone had suggested any tour. The only thing I saw was Mike’s Bike Tours, most suggested doing it on your own especially since the castle supplies their guides. So I’m not sure you’re going to get an answer to that question. As far as the weather and what to wear, if it’s warm, capri’s and tees (RS tours are usually very casual) but it’s hard to predict in early May so I always bring layers.

I would not bother touring the castle. For us, it was a huge disappointment and waste of our valuable time.

I’ve been to Schloss Neuschwanstein 3 times in the last 50 years, twice by personal car and once on a “tour” by train with my husband and young daughter. However, that was 20 years ago so I can’t recommend a vendor, but I can suggest how to vet the tour offerings and what you might expect.

“Tour” is in quotations because mine (and I’m guessing current tours from what I’ve read on Tripadvisor and Viator) wasn’t/isn’t what you might expect. You need to read the fine print to understand the physical demands and how much walking and how much you would be on your own. As a poster above suggests, the tour I was on was very much like baby-sitting or logistical hand-holding with some history thrown in.

Here’s how it went. We met our English-speaking guide at the train station, he got all of the individuals and small groups traveling together settled on the train. After the train left the station he walked from group to group and gave us each a nice history talk. We lucked out, there were very few groups that particular day so we got a good amount of his attention. At the station in Füssen, he got us all on the city bus that took us a few stops to the official tourist information kiosk/ticket booth at the bottom of the hill. The guide left us there and told us what time to be back at our meeting point. We then walked the half-hour trek up the hill at our own pace, joined our appointed timed castle tour and had time left to walk up the hill further to Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge) on our own before making our way back down the hill. The guide met us, got us back on the city bus, then on the train back to Munich and we didn’t see him again.

If your goal is to be with a group led by a guide for the entire time, my guess is that won’t happen on a large group bus or train tour from Munich.

In addition to what’s included in the price make sure to read the “accessibility” and “additional information” tabs on vendors’ sites. No tour bus will deliver you to the castle front door. You will either walk 30 minutes uphill; pay extra for a shuttle that takes you above the castle for you to walk downhill 15 minutes; or pay extra for a horse drawn carriage ride which I understand takes you to within a 15 minute walk of the schloss.

As far as what to wear on your trip - I’d pack layers. We often travel to Europe in the spring and I’m always prepared for whatever - cool and rainy to sunny and warm, sometimes even hot. I have a good Columbia brand rain shell that I can layer over a sweater (or two) if the weather turns wet. And I pack at least one light-weight blouse and a tank top to wear if temps are in the 80’s.