Frequently asked questions about Neuschwanstein Castle

There are two routes and they do not sell the same thing. Official admission comes from the official online shop of the Ticket Center Hohenschwangau or on site at the Ticket Center, and there for the same day only. Offers with a guide, a carriage ride or a transfer are sold by tour operators through booking platforms; they include admission plus a service. The difference is set out in the ticket comparison.

Yes, but only for the same day and only while the contingent lasts. The Ticket Center releases a limited number of additional tickets daily from 8:00, and on busy days they are gone by late morning. If you travel without a ticket, have a plan B.

As soon as your travel date is fixed. Every tour is a separate contingent, and in high season the attractive morning times are taken weeks in advance. If the slot you want has gone on the official route, look at the operators' offers: they work from their own contingents.

That is set by whoever sold you the ticket. Official tickets follow the terms of the Ticket Center Hohenschwangau; an operator's offer follows its own cancellation terms from the booking step. Either way, a timed ticket is tied to its time, and being late is not grounds for a refund.

The official tariff, the booking fee and all four combination tickets are on the prices page with amounts and a checked date. Operator prices change daily and therefore do not appear in the text but live with the offers.

Not at Neuschwanstein Castle: children and young people up to their eighteenth birthday enter free. They still need their own ticket, and when booking online the booking fee applies to the free ticket as well. Combination tickets that include Hohenschwangau Castle set their own child price instead.

Visitors aged 65 and over, students, disabled visitors and groups of 15 or more. Proof is checked on site, so bring it.

If you want to see both castles or the museum on the same day, yes. Combination tickets are valid for one visit date only, so you need two admission slots far enough apart. And watch the cut: the Wittelsbach Ticket combines Hohenschwangau with the museum and does not include Neuschwanstein.

Because the castle can only be seen on a guided tour and every tour has a fixed place in the rhythm. The ticket is valid for a castle tour at one particular time. Anyone arriving late is excluded from the tour they booked.

The Ticket Center Hohenschwangau asks visitors to be in the village of Hohenschwangau at least 1.5 to 2 hours beforehand, and at least one hour before a slot at Hohenschwangau Castle. That window covers parking, collecting tickets where that applies, the climb and the entry check.

About half an hour through 14 rooms. Staff guide in German and English; audio guides cover 17 further languages.

Mornings in the main season between late March and mid-October, when the castle is open from 9:00 to 18:00. In the winter half-year the hours are shorter (10:00 to 16:00) but the crowds are smaller. Afternoon slots are the quieter ones even in season, though the light is less kind for photographs.

By car on the A7 to the end of the motorway near Füssen, or via the B12 or B16; the village has private, chargeable parking only. By train to Füssen and then by bus to the stop Hohenschwangau Neuschwanstein Castles. From Munich it is about two hours by road.

On foot it is about 1.5 kilometres with a considerable gradient, roughly 30 to 40 minutes. The horse-drawn carriages from Hotel Müller stop 450 metres below the castle; the shuttle bus from the Alpsee car park P4 ends at the Marienbrücke above it, leaving 500 metres downhill. The detail is under plan your visit.

No. Both run all year but without a fixed timetable and without reservations, and neither is operated by the palace administration. The shuttle bus does not run when the roads are covered in snow or ice. Plan the walk as your fallback.

The palace administration publishes its own information on this, and the question should be settled with the Ticket Center Hohenschwangau before booking. The climb, a tour across several floors and the ban on prams and child carriers cannot be solved once you are there.

No. Photography and video are not permitted inside, not even for private use. Exterior shots for private use are free and need no permission.

No luggage: cases and bags stay in the car or the coach. Prams and child carriers cannot be taken inside either. The right to carry out checks is reserved, so allow for that time in your buffer.

Fourteen finished rooms. Building stopped after Ludwig II died in 1886, a large part of the planned rooms stayed a shell and is not part of the tour. Since 2025 the castle has been UNESCO World Heritage together with Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee.

No. This site belongs to Cruise Media GmbH and compares the ticket routes independently; we earn on bookings passed to our booking partner, not on the official sale. The castle is run by the Bavarian Palace Administration, and official sales run through the Ticket Center Hohenschwangau. More under about us.