Füssen: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Day Trips
Thirty listings and 28,228 reviews, and one of them starts in Füssen. Munich to the ticket office is about three hours: two on the train, fifteen minutes on the bus, forty on foot up the hill.
Füssen is where the coach parks, not where the day begins. Of the 30 listings this site tracks for the two castles above the town, 26 declare Munich as their starting point, one more gives a Munich street address, and exactly one starts in Füssen. That is worth knowing before booking a room here, because it means most of this catalogue cannot be joined from the town it visits. What Füssen sells instead is the last hour of the journey: a fifteen minute bus from the station to the ticket office at Hohenschwangau, and then a hill. The train from Munich takes about two hours and is direct only at weekends.
The train is the RB 68, run by the Bayerische Regiobahn. On most departures it is not direct: the timetable for 7 April to 31 October 2026 sends passengers across the platform at Buchloe, and in some slots at Kaufbeuren instead. The exception has a name. The Neuschwansteinexpress runs on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only, leaves München Hauptbahnhof at 08:03 and arrives in Füssen at 10:12, two hours and nine minutes with nothing to do in the middle. Departures are roughly hourly from half past four in the morning.
The other thing that shapes a day here is that the two castles keep different clocks. Hohenschwangau closes at 16:30 in summer and Neuschwanstein at 18:00, while the ticket office that serves both shuts at 16:00. Someone who reaches the valley at two in the afternoon holding a combined ticket has already lost one of the two, and it is always the same one. The order of a Füssen afternoon is not a preference, it is a timetable. In winter it gets shorter still: from 16 October both castles close at 16:00 and the ticket office at 15:30, so the last entry anyone can buy on a winter day is bought before half past three, and that is the number to plan a train around rather than the closing time.
What follows is the arithmetic of arriving and the arithmetic of the afternoon. Every leg with its fare and its clock, what the two castles and the museum by the lake ask of a day, why Linderhof is not a bus ride from here whatever the map suggests, and the decision that saves the most money in this valley, which is whether to go inside at all. The catalogue that goes with it is a Munich catalogue, and the prices reflect the road more than the doors.
Choose a destination in Füssen
-
Neuschwanstein Castle
Entry is a thirty minute guided tour of fourteen rooms at a time printed on the ticket, live in German or English and on an audio guide in seventeen other…
20 experiences -
Linderhof Palace
The smallest ticket in Bavaria's royal circuit and the biggest bill on this site: 11.00 EUR at the gate for a 25 minute guided tour, 18.00 with the Venus…
17 experiences
Castles Experiences in Füssen
A Driver Rather Than a Guide, and the Pickup Can Be the Airport
Private transport with free time at both castles rather than a guided tour: hotel, address or airport pickup, luggage help, and a driver who waits for you.
A Main Course and a Drink Are in the Price, and Pickup Can Be Füssen
Lunch at a historic Bavarian restaurant is part of the day, main course and a drink, and the pickup can be Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Füssen. Sales final.
A Neo-Romanesque Face on a High-Tech Castle, and the Floor He Never Finished
Three castles in a day with skip-the-line entry booked even at short notice, and a route out of Neuschwanstein through the unfinished floor and the kitchen.
Book the Castle Tickets Yourself; the Courtyards Cost Nothing
Door-to-door in a premium car with an English-speaking driver. Entry tickets are not included and must be booked online; the courtyards cost nothing.
Fourteen Rooms, 200 Metres Above the Gorge, and a Hall of Mirrors
A private day with skip-the-line entry at both castles: the fourteen decorated rooms at Neuschwanstein, and the Hall of Mirrors at the one Ludwig completed.
In Snow There Is No Shuttle and No Bridge, and the Carriage Takes You Down
A private day that says plainly what winter costs: no shuttle bus and no Mary's Bridge when there is snow. A horse-drawn carriage brings you back down.
Linderhof Alone, Three Hours in the Grounds, and One Add-On to Choose
The one day out of Munich that skips Neuschwanstein entirely: entry included, a 30-minute guided interior, and up to three hours in the park afterwards.
Ruling Bavaria from the Graswang Valley, and the Tour of the Exterior
A timed entry that is guaranteed, a guided walk of the outside of Neuschwanstein, and Linderhof in the valley where Ludwig II actually governed from.
Shuttle Up, Walk Across, Carriage Down, and the Church in the Meadow
Hotel pickup, the shuttle to Mary's Bridge before the castle and a horse carriage back down, plus the Wieskirche. Castle entry is a group tour, by castle rule.
Tickets to Both Included, and a Day Sold as a Budget of Minutes
Skip-the-line tickets to both castles are in the price, and the day is sold as 9.5 or 11 hours of time credit that each optional stop spends down.
You Set the Time and the Address, and the Way Back Isn't the Way Out
A private van collects you wherever and whenever you say, castle tickets already bought, and the return runs a different road past the Plansee or Oberammergau.
A 9:30 Start, Both Castles Inside, and 45 Minutes Uphill to the Bridge
The coach leaves at 9:30 rather than at dawn, and the day covers both castles: Ludwig's own and the one he grew up in, below it. The bridge is a 45-minute walk.
A Mythologist and Opera Singer, and the Train Instead of the Van
Your party alone, a guide with a doctorate in mythology and 32 years of storytelling, and the journey by first-class train rather than by road.
Bought by the Family in 1832, and Both Castle Tours Are Optional
The coach and the guide are included, the castle interiors are not: both tours are paid extras. Free time between them for the Alpsee and Mary's Bridge.
Every Admission Included, the Carriage Too, and 1 Hour 45 to Get There
All the admissions are prepaid and a horse-drawn carriage ride comes with them. Inside, both castles run entry as group tours, as their own rules require.
Leave Before Eight or Queue for the Bridge, and the Lake Where Ludwig Died
A private minivan day that starts early on purpose, past Lake Starnberg and the spot where Ludwig II died in 1886, with stops added or dropped as you go.
Lunch Over the Austrian Border at Reutte, and a Route That Changes as You Go
A private day with a native English-speaking guide, hotel pickup at eight, and lunch across the border at Reutte. Castle tickets are arranged but not included.
Ten to Twelve People, the 9:38 from Pasing, and a Swim in the Alpsee
A group of ten to twelve on the regional train to Füssen, with the castle ticket pre-booked and an entry time the day is built around, not the other way round.
The Coaster or Oberammergau, Never Both, and a Secret Spot if the Bridge Queues
One morning, two options and you pick one: the alpine coaster or an hour in Oberammergau. Lunch at a working brewery, castle ticket paid to the guide.
The Venus Grotto, Reopened in 2025 After Ten Years of Restoration
The grotto with its artificial lake is back after a decade of restoration, and only from 1 May to 15 October. Entry fees to both castles are in the price.
Tickets Guaranteed Even When the Castle Is Sold Out, Then a Christmas Market
The guide sells castle tickets on the day and they hold even when Neuschwanstein is sold out. Back in Munich, leave at 5:30 or walk on to the markets.
Both Entry Fees Included, 28 Seats, and Oberammergau Actually Stops
Neuschwanstein first thing at ten, a half hour on foot in Oberammergau, Linderhof at 3:45, back by seven. Both castle entries are in the price. 28 seats.
Pay the Guide in Cash, Choose One Castle or Both, and See Oberammergau from the Coach
Entry is not prepaid: choose one castle or both and pay the guide in cash. Linderhof at eleven, Neuschwanstein just after four, back after a two-hour drive.
Ten and a Half Hours, Linderhof First, and the Ticket Bought on the Day
A long day from Sonnenstraße: Linderhof in the morning with a tour, the gardens or a coffee, then Neuschwanstein without the queue but without the ticket.
Ratings collected by Viator, Tripadvisor and Civitatis
Munich to the castle door, leg by leg
The castles put the whole journey at about three hours, and it breaks into three legs that behave nothing alike. The train is the long one and the only one worth planning around. The bus is short, cheap and frequent enough that it rarely decides anything. The third leg is the one nobody budgets for, because it is not a vehicle: it is forty minutes uphill on foot to Neuschwanstein, or fifteen to twenty to Hohenschwangau.
The paid alternatives on that last leg are private businesses and no part of any ticket. The shuttle leaves from the Alpsee car park and drops passengers above the castle, which still leaves a steep quarter of an hour walking back down to the gate. The horse carriage costs twice as much going up as coming down. Neither can be reserved in advance, neither runs to a published timetable, and the castles say plainly that neither one guarantees arrival in time for a booked tour.
| Leg | How long | What it costs | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Munich Hbf to Füssen, train RB 68 | 1h58 to 2h10, roughly hourly | Bayern-Ticket 34.00 EUR, plus 10.00 per companion up to five | Direct only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays |
| Füssen station to Hohenschwangau, bus 73 or 78 | About 15 minutes | 3.00 EUR single, 8.90 day ticket, 14.00 family | Covered by the Bayern-Ticket, free with the KönigsCard |
| Ticket office up to Neuschwanstein, on foot | About 40 minutes, uphill | Nothing | The only way up that ice cannot cancel |
| Ticket office up to Neuschwanstein, shuttle | Every 20 minutes or so | 3.50 EUR up, 3.50 down, 5.00 return | Stops above the castle, 15 steep minutes back down |
| Ticket office up to Neuschwanstein, carriage | About 15 minutes, uphill | 8.00 EUR up, 4.00 down | No fixed times, no reservations, no guarantee |
| Ticket office up to Hohenschwangau, on foot | 15 to 20 minutes | Nothing | Shorter climb, earlier closing at the top |
A town almost nobody leaves from
The catalogue is unambiguous about how this valley is sold. Thirty listings, 28,228 reviews behind them, a median duration of 570 minutes, and 27 products that run eight hours or more. One listing gives Füssen as its departure point. Anyone planning to sleep in the town and buy an organised day from here will find that almost nothing in this catalogue fits: those products start on a Munich pavement in the morning and end on the same pavement at night.
That is a description, not a complaint. A coach day out of Munich exists because the alternative is two hours of train each way plus a bus, and because the operator arrives holding entry slots that an individual visitor has to compete for. It is also why Germany reads as expensive against the rest of this site: 570 minutes here against a median of 240 across all 63 categories.
The reverse plan works better than people expect. Sleeping in Füssen turns the same two castles into a morning instead of a day, and the bus that links the station to the ticket office costs 3.00 EUR and takes about a quarter of an hour. What a hotel room in Füssen will not buy is an entry time, which is the one thing the coach operators bring with them.
The village, and the ridge above it
From the valley the scale misleads. The castle sits on a spur under a grey wall of rock that dwarfs it, and the road that serves it stops down at the ticket office. Everything above that point is a footpath, a shuttle that private operators run when the weather allows, or a carriage.
This is where afternoons go wrong. The official advice is to be at the ticket office in Hohenschwangau 90 minutes to two hours before the time printed on the ticket, and the reason is not queueing theory. It is the climb, plus the ticket window, plus the walk from the bus stop. Someone who plans backwards from the entry time and forgets the hill arrives late, and a late arrival at Neuschwanstein is not moved to a later group.
Two castles, one afternoon, and the one Germans keep recommending
The two castles above the village are not versions of each other, and the first difference is length. Hohenschwangau is a 45 minute guided tour. Neuschwanstein is a 30 minute walk through fourteen rooms. The combined ticket costs 43.50 EUR and the operator's own estimate for doing both is three to four hours on site, or four to five with the museum by the lake added.
Asked which one to enter with time for only one, German forums keep answering the same way:
If you are there and want to visit a castle, and only have time for one castle, buy a ticket for Hohenschwangau. Its the much more beautiful castle from the inside. In Neuschwanstein, nobody ever lived. While it was under construction, they lived in Hohenschwangau.
That is one of several replies saying the same thing in a 2026 thread on r/AskGermany, and it is not unanimous. Visitors who toured both and came away preferring the famous one are in the same thread, and they are not being contrary. What both camps agree on is the sequence. Hohenschwangau shuts at 16:30 and Neuschwanstein at 18:00, so an afternoon that attempts both in the wrong order ends up buying one castle and a walk.
The free half of this valley
The most expensive decision in Füssen is whether to go inside at all, and it only works in one direction. The exterior, the paths and the Marienbrücke are free. No ticket, no booking, no time slot; the only money that changes hands is for the car park. Someone who came for the photograph and the walk can have both for the price of the bus.
The inside cannot be improvised in the same way. The entry time is fixed, the counter in the village sells only what is left of that same day, and the castle sells nothing at its own door. That asymmetry is the useful way to plan a day in this valley: the free part waits, the paid part does not. Book the interior weeks out, or build the day around the parts that need no ticket at all.
The third thing in the valley, and the ticket nobody quotes
There is a third attraction down at lake level, the Museum der bayerischen Könige, and it changes the arithmetic of a short day more than it changes the sightseeing. On its own it is 14.50 EUR. Bundled with Hohenschwangau it becomes the Wittelsbach-Ticket at 36.00 EUR, and that is the combination almost nobody sells and some people should buy: the castle the Germans recommend and the museum, with no timed climb up the other hill in it.
The full set is the Schwanenticket at 56.00 EUR for all three, with a 7.50 EUR booking fee, and the operator's estimate for it is four to five hours on the ground. Add two hours of train each way and that is eight to nine hours before a single delay, which is why the coach products in this catalogue sit at ten and a half and do not try to add anything else.
One warning about the names, because the internet has not caught up. The combined ticket is now called the Königsticket and the three-attraction one the Schwanenticket. Pages still selling a Königsschlösser-Ticket or a Schwanenritter-Ticket are quoting a price list that has been renamed, and it is a reliable sign that nothing else on that page was checked either.
What the calendar does to a Füssen day
Two things change with the season here, and neither is the temperature. One is how many hours the castles are open once you have spent four of them travelling. The other is whether the ways up the hill are running at all.
| Month | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The round trip from MunichAfter 15 October the castle day shrinks to six hours and the counter shuts at half past three. With two hours of train each way, a winter day trip leaves about four usable hours in the valley, against a nine hour castle day in July. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| The climb from the ticket officeThe shuttle only runs when the road is clear of snow and ice, and there is no carriage to Hohenschwangau in winter. When both stop, the forty minute walk is the only way up, on a slope that ices. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Seasonal dates from hohenschwangau.de and neuschwanstein.de, read on 5 September 2026.
The winter version of this day is not a worse version of the summer one, it is a different plan. Four usable hours in the valley is enough for one castle and the walk, and it is not enough for two castles, a museum and a bridge. It is also the honest case for the coach in winter: a fixed departure and a driver who does not miss the connection at Buchloe are worth more when the working window is four hours than when it is nine.
Getting to the Füssen castles, answered with numbers
How do I reach Neuschwanstein from Munich without booking a tour?
Train RB 68 from München Hauptbahnhof to Füssen, one hour and fifty-eight minutes to two hours and ten, roughly hourly, with a change at Buchloe on most departures. Then bus 73 or 78 to Hohenschwangau, about fifteen minutes and 3.00 EUR. Then forty minutes on foot, or the shuttle at 3.50 EUR. The castles quote about three hours for the whole thing, one way.
Is the Bayern-Ticket worth buying?
It is 34.00 EUR for the first traveller and 10.00 for each companion up to five, so 74.00 EUR for a party of five, and it covers buses 73 and 78 as well as the train. The catch is the clock: on weekdays it is only valid from 09:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from midnight. That happens to fit, because the one direct train of the day, the 08:03, only runs on the days the ticket starts at midnight.
How much time should I allow at the two castles?
The operator's own estimate is three to four hours on site for both, and four to five if the museum by the lake is added. The guided tours themselves are short: about 45 minutes at Hohenschwangau and about 30 at Neuschwanstein. The rest is the climb and the wait, which is why the advice is to be at the ticket office 90 minutes to two hours before the entry time.
Can I stay in Füssen and book one of these day trips?
Almost certainly not. One of the 30 listings tracked here starts in Füssen; 26 start in Munich and one more gives a Munich street address. Staying in the town is a good way to see the castles and a bad way to buy this catalogue, and the two facts are worth separating before booking either.
Is there a bus from Füssen to Linderhof?
Linderhof's own arrival page names two bus connections, line 9622 from Oberammergau and line 9624 from Oberau and Reutte, and no service from Füssen. The palace sits in a different valley, which is why pairing it with Neuschwanstein in one day is a road product: seven of the ten most reviewed listings here do both, five of them inside 630 minutes.
What changes if it snows?
Three things. The castle day shortens to 10:00 to 16:00 from 16 October, with the ticket office closing at 15:30. The shuttle up the hill runs only when the road is free of snow and ice. And there is no horse carriage to Hohenschwangau in winter at all, which leaves the fifteen to twenty minute walk as the way up to that one.
Data verified on. Times and fares from brb.de, the Transdev RB 68 timetable, dbregiobus-bayern.de, bahn.de and hohenschwangau.de. Catalogue figures from the 30 listings tracked here.