Getting from Garmisch to Neuschwanstein castle

I don't know what you call mountains, but the area between Garmisch and Füssen is just gentle hills. But there is no need for a tour or a drive. There is a bus, RVO 9606, that leaves the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bahnhof multiple times a day and goes via Oberammergau to Hohenschwangau, a few hundred yards from the ticket kiosk. Round trip with an RVO Tagesticket (day pass) is €9,50/adult.

Thanks for the information. I did not locate the name hohenschwangau on the bus schedule site you included. Does it have a different spelling in German or am I just missing it? This will be much easier than renting a car.

I noticed that too, and I don't know why. It has been on past schedules, but they've left it off the schedule this time, along with a lot of other stops in the Füssen area. For the 9:40 bus, the Bahn website (which does show bus routes), shows 18 stops between Steingaden Feuerwehrhaus, at 11:16, and Füssen Bhf, at 11:55, including "Hohenschwangau, Schwangau (Schlösser)" at 11:46. That 9606 route is just one of many between the Bahnhof in Füssen and the castle bus stop in Hohenschwangau. Pay attention to the last run on workdays. The last bus leaves Füssen Bahnhof at 17:05 and stops in Hohenschwangau at 17:13 on its way to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

"I don't know what you call mountains, but the area between Garmisch and Füssen is just gentle hills." Oh come on, Lee. The Allgäu Alps are mountains by just about anyone's definition! By the way, the road between GaP and Füssen that runs through Austria travels mostly along the valley floor. Except around Reutte, the changes in elevation are minor.

Tom, You really ought to go there sometime and see for yourself. They're not going over the Zugspitze. The road doesn't go through the mountains; it mostly follows the river valleys. Yes, there are some really high peaks (4000 ft) between Garmisch and Füssen, but the road goes around them to the north along a pretty flat plain. Wildsteig might be the high point at 2900 ft. Garmisch is 2322 ft, Oberammergau is 2745, Füssen is at 2650 ft. Reutte, by the way, is 2790 ft. West of there, the road from Füssen to Immenstadt goes through Oberjoch at 3865 ft, and the road coming down from Oberjoch to Bad Hindelang is a mountain side switchback and definitely mountainous.

I guess Tom and I aren't really disagreeing, just looking at the same thing from different perspectives. True, there are some pretty formidable mountains NW of GaP, between there and Füssen. It looks like the peaks of some of those mountains are over 7000 ft, but not nearly as high as the ones across the valley to the south. But the good news is you don't have to drive over them. One of the roads from GaP to Füssen goes over a low pass between Oberau and Ettal at about 2800 ft, then down into Oberammergau, and around the north end of those mountains, never getting to 3000 ft. If you go east to Reutte, you go over Fernpass, at 4000 ft. I've been over Fernpass on the train and never knew it was a pass.

Thank you Tom and Lee. It sounds like the bus is our best option but driving will also be okay if necessary. We are from the Midwest USA so mountains just aren't what we're used to driving. We also want to make it easy on ourselves and be able to watch the scenery not the roads. Since you both know the area any suggestions on hotels or b&bs keeping in mind that we may not have a car?