I finished this post years ago and never published it – silly me! If any of you are making your way to Munich, you HAVE to stop by and check out this real life castle. Read on for more details!
The absolute highlight of our short trip to Munich was making it out to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, or Swan Castle, that the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland was based off of. This castle was built in the 19th century by King Ludwig II of Bavaria (“Mad” King Ludwig) on top of a rocky mountain in southwest Germany, a short 2.5 hour train and bus ride from Munich. If you plan a trip out to Germany, do not miss a visit to this breathtaking castle!
Before you go, at least two days in advance, make sure to reserve your castle tour tickets online here; our tour was 1:30 PM and we got there around 12:20 PM, which gave us plenty of time to get our tickets one hour prior as required. The beauty of reserving tickets is that you collect your tickets in a separate “reserved” line and that you get an earlier tour time.
How to get there
From Munich, we first went to our nearest S-Bahn and purchased a Bayern ticket, which was 28 Euro for two people and covered every aspect of our transportation that day within one region of Germany, from the subway to the train to the buses. Using that ticket, we took the S-bahn to Central Station (station name in German is Hauptbahnhof) and hopped on a train to Fussen, which took around 2 hours. Once we arrived at Fussen, we (along with the rest of the train!) headed next door to bus 78. If you don’t know where to go just follow your train neighbors. Bus 78 took us to Hohenschwangau, the village at the base of the castle, and it is a short 10-15 minute walk to the ticket center. We were first in line in the reserved ticket queue and soon we were on our way up the 40 minute hike to Neuschwanstein!
Once you’re there
We had some time before our tour officially started so we enjoyed the panoramic views of Hohenschwangau from around the castle. We were blessed with clear skies and sun, so we were able to see all throughout the kingdom (yes, it felt like I was living in a fairy tale). The tour itself was about 45 minutes and took us through the whole castle. My favorites were the Singer’s Hall, the throne room with the huge chandelier which weighs 2 tons, and the Swan Room with hundreds of swans, the state bird of Bavaria, embedded in the wallpaper, curtain drapes, and even the door handles! You hear the whole story of King Ludwig and how he met his tragic death just 2 weeks after moving into Neuschwanstein Castle. Since the castle was barely lived in, it is so well preserved and beautiful. I was also struck by how modern the castle was; it already had running water!
After our tour we hiked about 10 minutes to Marienbrücke, a suspension bridge 300 ft up in the mountains that offers you a beautiful view of the castle and its surroundings. From that spot I took the cover photo for this post! That was truly a once in a lifetime view, and even though I was scared of heights, I braved it out there for the experience. Try to go on a clear day so you can see the castle perched on the rocky hill in all its glory!
totally visited this castle after seeing it in your Instagram grid. Was very worth it! Thanks for the recommendation!
Awesome Jen! I’m so glad you visited!