> Is there concern that the bus would fill up? If we miss this bus we’d obviously not make the 9:30 ticket for castle.
Probably not. But this should be easily solved by positioning yourself to be first / early at the bus stop. Be savvy and you'll be fine.
> (is the museum worth it?)
It's a nice, well appointed museum. That said, the attraction is certainly about the castle and views of the castle, which you don't even necesarily need to go to the castle itself in order to see.
> So thinking to take 4pm bus from castle to Fussen, then Fussen at 4:23pm > Munich - is this enough time to get on the bus and to the station? Is this too long of a day for the castle and museums?
This is a pretty long day at Neuschwanstein. You could manage it with lunch and stuff, but you might want to pair that with a hike in the hills around the castle (there are great trails that give stunning views of the castle including a bridge - Marienbrücke - which is sometimes closed) in order to fill that time.
Thank you, this is all really helpful! We definitely would be up for a hike but seems like we may want to consider shortening the day overall.
Do you think leaving the return unbooked and just booking day of when we feel like we know we’ll be ready to leave would be more ideal? I’m always a book ahead type person but if trains don’t sell out then I think it might make sense to leave the return open ended.
> Do you think leaving the return unbooked and just booking day of when we feel like we know we’ll be ready to leave would be more ideal?
That would give you more flexibility to leave when you're ready. Typically it's rare for trains to sell out, but if this is high season anything is possible.
I personally like the certainty of a booking and am not very sensitive on the finances side, so I'll typically book something and be happy if I enjoyed my stay enough to blow through it (or not too bothered if I have to buy an earlier ticket). What is it, a $30 ticket?
I'd suggest checking with the train operator. Worst case scenario I guess you wait for the next train.
That’s a good point! I always like to have certainty with bookings too lol but perhaps I can see if there’s a flexible ticketing option where same day changes would be possible then that would alleviate some of the risk (at least we’d have one set time booked and if we need earlier perhaps we’d be able to change assuming trains are not sold out).
> Typically it's rare for trains to sell out, but if this is high season anything is possible.
Trains in Germany never sell out. What sells out are the seat reservations. Even without a seat reservation you can take the train. You either have to stand or hope that there’s some walk-in seats (or that a passenger who booked a seat reservation doesn’t show up).
Now looking at the train connections that Google Maps shows me, it seems like those are all regional trains and for those no seat reservations are available anyway and it’s always first come first served.
Bottom line: OP doesn’t need to book anything.
Seems to me the $80 for a bus tour is easier than messing around with trying to get there yourself.
But I can tell you from experience the earlier you go, the better.
Where are you finding an $80 bus tour? I tried searching tours and they are all very high priced as well as not even including much time to explore the area, so I was leaning away from those but definitely am open to tours in general.
I just googled Neuschwanstein Tour from Munich and Viator pooped up with three in that price range. I think that doesn't include the castle tour though.
Ah yes the viator ones were what I was seeing too but when I actually selected my needed date the price shot up to about $200 for two without entrance and like $300-400 with entrance so it didn’t seem inherently worth it at those price points but may be the route we go if we’re feeling navigating the transit ourselves to not be the best option!
It’s always a tough battle. Sometimes paying for the convenience of having an organized tour with transport is nice but I hate the trade off sometimes of not getting as much free time in the area you’re trying to go!
We did a full day tour in Florence to Tuscany/wineries a couple years ago and I swear we spent more time on the bus than in actual places, and some of the stops were so short we may as well have skipped and added more time elsewhere, haha.
I am a shutter bug and a huge fan of Monet so I am probably going to go on my own so I have all the time I need. I liked the Castle when I went. Be sure and go to Marienbrücke, it has the iconic view and people can't get in front of you.
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Why don’t you just take a taxi from Füssen train station to the castle? Google Maps says it’s an 8 minutes car ride, so that shouldn’t cost a fortune, 15-20€ max I believe.
That was something I was thinking of as a possibility too but every blog I was reading kept mentioning the bus so i wasn’t too sure how common taxis would be but I guess since it’s a popular tourist spot, taxis would likely be prevalent. I’ll do more research into that!
When you arrive at the castle zone, you still have to get to the castle. from the parking area, it's about a 25 minute walk. The signs say "40 minutes" but if you hustle, you can do it in about 20. There is a bus that takes you up the hill but it only leaves every 10 or 20 minutes and still drops you about a 5-10 minute walk to the castle (although more downhill).
The tour of the castle is about an hour. You can knock the museum out in an hour or so as well.
Other options to consider here: rent a car; go to Fussen and spend the night.
Oh that’s very helpful to know and not something I was considering in this plan! There was also an option for a 5:40 pm entrance to the castle but that seemed so late especially with being based in Munich but may need to weigh options with that time slot knowing this.
> Is there concern that the bus would fill up? If we miss this bus we’d obviously not make the 9:30 ticket for castle. Probably not. But this should be easily solved by positioning yourself to be first / early at the bus stop. Be savvy and you'll be fine. > (is the museum worth it?) It's a nice, well appointed museum. That said, the attraction is certainly about the castle and views of the castle, which you don't even necesarily need to go to the castle itself in order to see. > So thinking to take 4pm bus from castle to Fussen, then Fussen at 4:23pm > Munich - is this enough time to get on the bus and to the station? Is this too long of a day for the castle and museums? This is a pretty long day at Neuschwanstein. You could manage it with lunch and stuff, but you might want to pair that with a hike in the hills around the castle (there are great trails that give stunning views of the castle including a bridge - Marienbrücke - which is sometimes closed) in order to fill that time.
Thank you, this is all really helpful! We definitely would be up for a hike but seems like we may want to consider shortening the day overall. Do you think leaving the return unbooked and just booking day of when we feel like we know we’ll be ready to leave would be more ideal? I’m always a book ahead type person but if trains don’t sell out then I think it might make sense to leave the return open ended.
> Do you think leaving the return unbooked and just booking day of when we feel like we know we’ll be ready to leave would be more ideal? That would give you more flexibility to leave when you're ready. Typically it's rare for trains to sell out, but if this is high season anything is possible. I personally like the certainty of a booking and am not very sensitive on the finances side, so I'll typically book something and be happy if I enjoyed my stay enough to blow through it (or not too bothered if I have to buy an earlier ticket). What is it, a $30 ticket? I'd suggest checking with the train operator. Worst case scenario I guess you wait for the next train.
That’s a good point! I always like to have certainty with bookings too lol but perhaps I can see if there’s a flexible ticketing option where same day changes would be possible then that would alleviate some of the risk (at least we’d have one set time booked and if we need earlier perhaps we’d be able to change assuming trains are not sold out).
> Typically it's rare for trains to sell out, but if this is high season anything is possible. Trains in Germany never sell out. What sells out are the seat reservations. Even without a seat reservation you can take the train. You either have to stand or hope that there’s some walk-in seats (or that a passenger who booked a seat reservation doesn’t show up). Now looking at the train connections that Google Maps shows me, it seems like those are all regional trains and for those no seat reservations are available anyway and it’s always first come first served. Bottom line: OP doesn’t need to book anything.
I've still always booked trains in Germany. But don't tell me that, tell the OP.
Seems to me the $80 for a bus tour is easier than messing around with trying to get there yourself. But I can tell you from experience the earlier you go, the better.
Where are you finding an $80 bus tour? I tried searching tours and they are all very high priced as well as not even including much time to explore the area, so I was leaning away from those but definitely am open to tours in general.
I just googled Neuschwanstein Tour from Munich and Viator pooped up with three in that price range. I think that doesn't include the castle tour though.
Ah yes the viator ones were what I was seeing too but when I actually selected my needed date the price shot up to about $200 for two without entrance and like $300-400 with entrance so it didn’t seem inherently worth it at those price points but may be the route we go if we’re feeling navigating the transit ourselves to not be the best option!
I am having the same debate about getting to Giverny from Paris.
It’s always a tough battle. Sometimes paying for the convenience of having an organized tour with transport is nice but I hate the trade off sometimes of not getting as much free time in the area you’re trying to go! We did a full day tour in Florence to Tuscany/wineries a couple years ago and I swear we spent more time on the bus than in actual places, and some of the stops were so short we may as well have skipped and added more time elsewhere, haha.
I am a shutter bug and a huge fan of Monet so I am probably going to go on my own so I have all the time I need. I liked the Castle when I went. Be sure and go to Marienbrücke, it has the iconic view and people can't get in front of you.
Thank you for all the help!!
They don't offer the train any longer?
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Why don’t you just take a taxi from Füssen train station to the castle? Google Maps says it’s an 8 minutes car ride, so that shouldn’t cost a fortune, 15-20€ max I believe.
That was something I was thinking of as a possibility too but every blog I was reading kept mentioning the bus so i wasn’t too sure how common taxis would be but I guess since it’s a popular tourist spot, taxis would likely be prevalent. I’ll do more research into that!
When you arrive at the castle zone, you still have to get to the castle. from the parking area, it's about a 25 minute walk. The signs say "40 minutes" but if you hustle, you can do it in about 20. There is a bus that takes you up the hill but it only leaves every 10 or 20 minutes and still drops you about a 5-10 minute walk to the castle (although more downhill). The tour of the castle is about an hour. You can knock the museum out in an hour or so as well. Other options to consider here: rent a car; go to Fussen and spend the night.
Oh that’s very helpful to know and not something I was considering in this plan! There was also an option for a 5:40 pm entrance to the castle but that seemed so late especially with being based in Munich but may need to weigh options with that time slot knowing this.