One of southern Germany’s most famous attractions is the Bavarian fairy-tale castle, Neuschwanstein. The castle welcomes almost 1.5 million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe! Walt Disney used Neuschwanstein Castle as his inspiration for the Walt Disney Studios logo and the Sleeping Beauty Castles at Disney Parks around the world.
Visiting Neuschwanstein was on my bucket list for a long time. When I started planning my first trip to southern Germany, I knew that I had to visit the idyllic castle. Upon my research, I found out that there is a second castle just below Neuschwanstein called Hohenschwangau. For security reasons, the palaces can only be visited during a 35-minute guided tour, so you can easily visit both castles in the same day. I highly recommend visiting both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau!
In this post, I’ll give you a rundown of our day visiting Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. This will include how to get tickets, the history of both castles, and additional attractions you should see when you visit.
Tickets
Since Neuschwanstein is one of Europe’s most popular attractions, I suggest that you reserve your tickets online in advance. You can reserve your tickets here: https://www.hohenschwangau.de/1392.0.html.
Tickets are available for Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, and the Museum of Bavarian Kings. You can also buy combination tickets. Once you have selected which ticket(s) you would like, you will fill out a reservation form with a preferred tour date and time. Unfortunately, you will have no control over what tour time(s) you are given.
Once your ticket reservation is confirmed and processed, you will receive an email with your tour time(s). We bought tickets for Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau and requested a 9:30 am tour time. We were selected for the 9:50 am tour of Neuschwanstein and the 11:45 am tour of Hohenschwangau.
You must pick up your reserved tickets at the ticket office an hour and a half before your first tour time. This will give you plenty of time to make your way over to the castle you are visiting.
Marienbrucke
I am very glad that we were able to tour Neuschwanstein before Hohenschwangau on one of the first tours of the morning because Neuschwanstein is the more popular castle out of the two. This also allowed us to be the first few people to arrive at Marienbrucke – the infamous bridge that gives you the postcard view of Neuschwanstein. If you are visiting Neuschwanstein before Hohenschwangau, head to Marienbrucke before your tour!
Getting There
From the ticket office, you can take a shuttle bus that will bring you right to Marienbrucke. The bus only costs a couple of euros.
Make your way to the centre of the bridge to enjoy the breath-taking views. Luckily, we had perfect weather on the day of our visit!
Neuschwanstein
Getting There
From Marienbrucke, it’s a 15 minute downhill walk to the Neuschwanstein entrance.
At the ticket office, you can take a 20 minute private horse and carriage ride to a designated area for a fee. After the carriage drops you off, it is a 5-10 minute uphill walk to the castle entrance.
You can also walk up to the castle from the ticket office, which takes 40 minutes.
History
In 1864, Ludwig II became King of Bavaria at age 19. Ludwig was known for being highly introverted, eccentric, imaginative, and creative. During his trips around Europe, he marveled at how the French had glorified their culture through architecture, art, and music. It became his dream to accomplish the same for Bavaria.
In 1868, Ludwig set out to build a private refuge far from the capital, Munich. He chose to build the palace high on a hill overlooking Hohenschwangau castle, where he spent his childhood summers. His new castle would be a romantic interpretation of the Middle Ages, and the musical mythology of his friend, Richard Wagner. He described Neuschwanstein as a “temple of friendship,” dedicating the castle to the life and work of Wagner. Sadly, Richard Wagner died in 1883 without setting foot in the building.
As you can imagine, building Neuschwanstein was very costly. Even though his debts soared and Bavaria was falling into financial ruin, Ludwig insisted on continuing the construction of his beloved Neuschwanstein.
On June 10th, 1886, the Bavarian government decided to overthrow the king, declaring him mentally ill and unable to rule. The government took Ludwig into custody at Berg Castle and Dr. Bernhard von Gudden, chief of the Munich Asylum, was to look after him. Three days later, on June 13th, Ludwig II and Dr. von Gudden went for a walk around the castle grounds. A few hours later, both men were found dead, their bodies floating in the shallow water of Lake Starnberg. To this day, it has not been confirmed how both men died. Although Ludwig’s death was officially ruled a suicide by drowning, the official autopsy report showed no water in his lungs. Ludwig was also a very strong swimmer and the water where his body was found was shallow. Dr. Gudden’s body showed blows to the head and neck and signs of strangulation.
At the time of Ludwig’s death, he slept only 11 nights in Neuschwanstein, which was far from complete. Prince Regent Luitpold, Ludwig’s successor, had the castle partially completed and opened to the public only six weeks after the death of the king. From then until World War I, Neuschwanstein was a stable source of revenue for the royal family and the construction debts eventually diminished.
Tour
Neuschwanstein’s interior is elaborately decorated in the style of the Middle Ages. Think lots of dark wood, gold, and motifs of medieval legends.
With your tour guide, you will start on the 3rd floor of the palace. Here you will see rooms such as the beautiful Throne Hall and the King’s Apartments. There is even a Grotto and a Conservatory!
Next, you’ll move up to the 4th floor where you’ll see my favourite room, the Singer’s Hall.
The tour will end in the historic palace kitchen on the ground floor.
NOTE: Unfortunately, they do not permit photography in either of the castles.
Pöllat Gorge
Since we had some time to kill until our tour of Hohenschwangau, we decided to hike down from Neuschwanstein along the Pöllat Gorge. I am so glad that we did!
From Marienbrucke, you will see signs for the hike. This hike is moderately difficult (rocky at times) and takes about 45 minutes.
On this hike, you will have an amazing view of Marienbrucke from below with the Pöllat waterfall cascading just under it. So beautiful!
The end of the hike will bring you back to the ticket office area, where we then began our walk up to Hohenschwangau.
Hohenschwangau
Getting There
From the ticket office, you can walk up to Hohenschwangau in 20 minutes.
From the ticket office, you can also take a private horse carriage for a fee. It will take 10 mins and brings you directly to the castle.
You cannot take the shuttle bus to Hohenschwangau.
History
In 1833, King Maximilian II of Bavaria began constructing a neo-Gothic palace known as Hohenschwangau Castle. Finished in 1837, Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia, and their two sons Ludwig (the later King Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King Otto I of Bavaria).
King Maximilian died in 1864 and his son, King Ludwig II, succeeded to the throne. King Ludwig enjoyed living in Hohenschwangau, however mostly in the absence of his mother, who he did not get along with.
Tour
I personally liked the interior of Hohenschwangau better than Neuschwanstein. It is much brighter and more colourful. It also has a lot more history and stories since it is older than Neuschwanstein.
You’ll see rooms such as the Banquet Hall, the Oriental Room (bedroom of King Ludwig II’s mother), and the Tasso Room (king’s bedroom). The Hohenstaufen Room served as King Ludwig II’s music room and has a piano that was probably played by Richard Wagner when he visited.
Through the castle windows, you’ll have an amazing view of Lake Alpsee! This is the only photo I was allowed to take in the castle.
Lake Alpsee
Turquoise, crystal-clear Lake Alpsee sits just below Hohenschwangau. You can walk there directly from the castle (about 10-15 minutes downhill) or from the ticket office/parking lots.
There is a walking path around the entire lake and we had a picnic lunch on one of the benches on the path. It was heavenly! I highly recommend heading to the lake for the perfect ending to your day visiting Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.
I am totally obsessed with King Ludwig II’s life story. I’m so happy that I got to see his famous fairy-tale castle, as well as the beautiful castle where he spent his summers during childhood.
I highly recommend visiting both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein if you ever have the chance!
To read my blog post, “A Guide to Visiting Linderhof Palace,” click here.
