A Neo-Romanesque Face on a High-Tech Castle, and the Floor He Never Finished

Theresienwiese

The stops are chosen for the tour, but this is your own excursion: if you want longer somewhere, or somewhere else entirely, say so and the day is rearranged around it. The guide runs the day from a Mercedes or VW minivan. The road out passes the Theresienwiese, the field where the Oktoberfest is held, and then the motorway south.

Starnberger See

A short stop at Lake Starnberg, the second largest lake in Bavaria, and the guide points out the place in the water where Ludwig II died on 13 June 1886.

Schloss Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein, begun in 1869 and dedicated to Ludwig's favourite composer, Richard Wagner. No building in Germany is visited more often. The neo-Romanesque facade is misleading. The king who commissioned it wanted a modern building behind it, and that is what he got. The guided tour runs 35 minutes through the finished rooms of the king. The 15-minute walk to the exit goes through one of the floors that was never completed, past the unusually modern kitchen and the bathroom that was planned but never built. Skip-the-line tickets are included in the price.

Mary's bridge ("Marienbrücke") - THE TOP VIEWPOINT - built…

The Marienbrücke, built in 1866 by Ludwig II, is the viewpoint. It is reached by shuttle bus from the car park, for a small fee, or on a 40-minute walk uphill. From the bridge the castle entrance is 20 minutes downhill, past one more good vantage point.

Poellatschlucht

The Pöllat waterfall, seen from the Neuschwanstein courtyard and from the Marienbrücke (waiting times possible for departures after 8 a.m.; the bridge closes in snow and ice). The Pöllat is a wild river 10 km long that rises not far from the castle.

Schloss Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau, the neo-Gothic summer residence of Maximilian II, the father of Ludwig II, with its painted interiors and the childhood room. A skip-the-line admission is reserved for you for the 45-minute guided tour. Entrance fees are charged per adult, reduced for children aged 7 to 17 and lower again for under-sevens.

Costo extra

Plansee Lake

Between Neuschwanstein and Linderhof there is nearly an hour of driving on the best of the roads. The Plansee, ringed by high Alpine peaks, is the part people remember. Depending on traffic, or in winter on avalanche risk, an equally good route on the Bavarian side is used instead.

Schloss Linderhof

In a remote Alpine valley, Ludwig II built the grandest and most private of his castles. The 30-minute guided tour covers the rooms, decorated in French Rococo. The skip-the-line ticket is charged per adult; children under 18 have free admission. The park holds more than the palace. The Venus Grotto reopened in April 2025, costs a small extra charge, is reached by a very steep path of about 0.3 miles, and is closed in winter.

Costo extra

Oberammergau

Oberammergau stages its Passion Play once every decade, a tradition that goes back to the 17th century. The guided walk through the town takes in the Passion Theatre and its convertible stage, and the guide explains the painted house fronts, the Lüftlmalereien. There is time afterwards in the old centre, where the shops sell souvenirs and the woodcarvings the village is known for.

Ettal Abbey

Ettal Monastery was founded at the start of the 14th century, and its Gothic-Baroque church is the reason it is on this itinerary. The Benedictines here run a grammar school and brew the Ettal monastery beer, which can be drunk on the spot with Bavarian food in one of the inns.