We just returned from visiting Neuschwanstein Easter break. We waited until late in the week to go, as the weather was too snowy early on. Plan your trip for a day that you will be able to see the castle from afar! It is definitely worth it. We took the train from Munich using the Bavaria Ticket, a great deal. It is about 2 hrs to Fussen. The bus stop is directly across from the train station and the schedule is posted. There were buses waiting , and the "BT" is valid for the bus as well. So it took 2.5 hrs to get to Hohenschwangau. I opted to not get tickets ahead of time, as I wasn't sure about timing of the trip. There was NO line at the ticket counter except for our group coming off the bus.(If you are traveling in high season, I would definitely buy the tickets in advance as I hear the ticket line alone can be a 2h wait. I would buy a time 3hr after leaving Munich.) We bought the combination tickets for both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, which we highly recommend. We had approx an hour before the tour at Hohenschwangau, so fed our kids wurst at one of the stands. (Btw, regarding bathrooms....easiest is to get your kids to go on the train before disembarking. The train station bathroom is turnstile with 1/2 Euro cost. However, both castles have nicer facilities with optional donations.) When hiking to Hohenschwangau, go up the road passing by the lake & come down the stairway. We were given a 2 hr interval between the 2 tours, which I questioned. It turned out to not be too bad - we ended up waiting only about 20 min for our 2nd tour. We are pretty fit, so the hike up the road to Neuschwanstein took us only 20 min instead of the 40 min. Use this time to cut off and hike to Marienbrucke - when you get up to the castle veer right past the castle. There is a path which was actually blocked off because of the snow on the ground. We climbed around the gate, after asking those returning who told us it was fine. There was a little snow covering on the very first part of the path and then it was clear. It takes about 15 min to get to Marienbrucke and is most definitely worth it! Gorgeous views of the castle, weather permitting. The tour of Neuschwanstein is good but a little disappointing. You do feel rushed; they only stop every 3-4 rooms, so you don't get much time to look around. I understand the rush in peak season, but it would be nice to have a slower tour in the off-season. Overall the tours last about 30 min +/- 5. I had hoped to hike back down the hill via the Pollards Gorge path, but this was closed and more ominous. Definitely would look for this, tho, in the late spring/summer months when the snow has melted. We did have to wait 40 min for the bus back to Fussen; you might consider looking at the posted bus schedule to time your departure. We just read our books and it was okay. Lastly (sorry this is so long, but hope it does help), we decided to wait another hour and eat in Fussen before catching the train back to Munich. We headed back out of the train station to our right; there is an Italian restaurant about a block up on the left on the corner which we saw from the bus. While we had to wait about 20 min for our food; the pastas and salad were excellent and obviously cooked to order. However, they don't accept credit cards. So, in summary, I was very happy I didn't book a bus tour. It is expensive and long (10.5 hours); the cost does NOT include admissions to the castle. You do go to Linderhof but not Hohenschwangau.

In reading the other reviews already posted about visiting the castle, I completely agree that it is a wonderful day trip and an incredible castle not to be missed. I did want to add to the reviews by posting some practical information that isn't really mentioned here or on the castle website.

We visited the castle as a day trip from Zurich by car and it was supposed to take 3 hours. It took us 7. There is apparently a tunnel very close to Hohenschwangau/Fussen leading in to the Austrian Alps. We chose to take our day trip on the starting day of the German Easter holiday and it took us 3 hours to go 10 km as we reached Fussen because of the back up at the tunnel. So if you are driving in, please do your research on German holidays and plan accordingly. You can prepurchase tickets online and specify a time, but if you are driving to the castle you may miss your scheduled time if the traffic backs up. Better to purchase your tickets in the town if you have any doubt. The only down fall of purchasing tickets when you arrive is that the tours leave at scheduled times, so you may arrive and have to wait 3 or 4 hours for your tour to start. Luckily the small town is cute to walk around in, there are tons of restaurants and a little shopping to pass the time

The town itself is a bit hilly....we were traveling with someone who has hip problems so the inclines were made apparent to us. From the town, parking lot, and ticket center you have 3 options to reach the castles.......you can walk 30-45 minutes uphill to the castle, take a carriage ride (the lines are quite long to wait for this), or you can take a bus. The carriage ride puts you still at a steep 5 minute walk up hill, and the bus a steep 15 minute walk up hill. The tour itself has you winding thru the castle climbing 5 flights of stairs up and back down again. We were on one of the last tours of the day and were hoping for a carriage ride to take us back down. They stop running the carriages before the castle closes, so we were out of luck and had to hike back down. So if you are mobility-impaired in anyway, please consider all of this.

The tour itself lasted 35 minutes and was with a mandatory English speaking guide. The guide was obviously German with a heavy accent and the echoes in the rooms were quite strong so much of the explanation was lost between the echo and the accent. I would strongly suggest reading some history on the place from the castle website before going; it makes the tour even better.

I visited the Castle in March of '05. Snow covered the ground and we got caught in a snowstorm coming back into Munich. It was beautiful!!! I had dreamed of visiting for such a long time and it left we wanting more! The hike up to the castle was wonderful. And the views of the Alps from the top were spectacular, breaktaking! Some of the best views I've seen in Europe. The tour of the castle was equally good although it left we wanting to see more. And on the ride down we took a horse drawn carriage. Wonderful! A must see!

We ordered our tickets online ahead of time. We scheduled an early afternoon tour. We took the train from Munich, and then the bus from Fuessen. The entire place was covered in snow...it was unbelievably beautiful.

We had some trouble in the bathroom. My worst nightmare came true! You had to pay to use the bathroom...30 euro cents...3 dimes. Unfortunately, we did not have exact change...I gave it all to fellow at the ticket window! and the change machine behind the door was out of order!! I found myself trying to explain this mystery to other tourists who did not speak English or German...and many decided to climb under or over the turnstyle to use the facilities...after putting 50 euro cents in the change machine, and not getting any change in return.

We took the horse carriage to the top...it was bitterly cold...and the busses were not running due to the snow. We were left off with a good 10 minute walk up to the castle. We took our time walking up the hill. We stopped for some fried dough "snowballs" YUMMY and to take in the view. My younger son enjoyed playing in the snow along the way, and my older son took lots of pictures. It was a blast...although very cold!

When we finally made it in to the castle, we climbed so many stairs that I was still trying to catch my breath when our tour guide was talking. It was a lovely castle, the crowds were not unbearable, but the Maria bridge was closed. We were a bit disappointed, but also exhausted, so we headed back down the mountain and had a meal at the Muller hotel restaurant. My only complaint here was that when I finally got to use the restroom, my teenagers ordered 2 shots of VODKA, and the waitress had brought it out to them!! There was a shot left when I returned to the table - so I gave it back to the waitress, but I still had to pay for both.

We poked around Fuessen before heading back to Munich.

What a great day!