Füssen & Neuschwanstein Castle, germany
Attractions Guide

Southwest of Munich near the Austrian border, you'll find the lovely town of Füssen, and the village of Hohenschwangau, which hosts Germany’s most famous castle, the Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle.

In order to reach Füssen from Munich, you’ll need to take take 1 or 2 trains from Central Munich Station (depending on the time and day), which takes about 2 hours. From Füssen it’s a very short bus ride of about 10 minutes to reach the castles of Hohenschwangau.

Pre-Book Your Tickets

Due to its extreme popularity, it’s highly recommended to purchase your tickets to Neuschwanstein Castle in advance, in order to avoid waiting in long lines to purchase tickets. Because the castles are only open to visit as part of a guided tour, visitors must choose time slots, and if you wait until you arrive to book a tour, you might get a much later tour time, or the tours may even be completely sold out.

Füssen is a small city which literally borders Austria on its southern side. Despite being founded during ancient Roman times, you’ll find most of the buildings in Central Füssen to be of beautiful medieval architecture. In Füssen’s city center you’ll find many hotels, restaurants, cafes, and shops.

Füssen is even home to its own small castle, Hohes Schloss, or the High Castle of Füssen. Within this charming gothic castle you can admire a Bavarian State collection of Gothic and Renaissance fine art.

Perhaps the most beautiful attraction in Füssen is the Benedictine Monastery / Abbey of St. Mang, which was built in the 9th century. The St. Mang’s Abbey houses strikingly elegant baroque interiors, as well as a history and violin museum, and a medieval crypt which contains the oldest fresco in Germany.

Lechfall Waterfall

The most picturesque views of the St. Mang’s Abbey can be seen from just across the bridge along the Lech River, which flows through Füssen. From this viewpoint, you can walk west for about 10 minutes to reach a small but beautiful Lechfall Waterfall along the Lech River.

The best viewpoints of Lechfall can be admired from the the Maxsteg bridge which spans across the river just below the waterfall. Also impressive is the view over the small Lechfall Gorge seen from the other side of the bridge.

The village of Hohenschwangau is located below the tall mountains at the northern edge of the Alps, next to a beautiful alpine lake known as Alpsee. This gorgeous lake is surrounded by hills covered in lush dense forests, making it quite breathtaking. You can even rent a paddleboat to enjoy this scenic lake if you like. There’s also an array of hiking trails which encircle the lake and travel up into the hills and mountains above Alpsee.

Apart from a few restaurants and hotels, Hohenschwangau also hosts the Museum of the Bavarian Kings. Inside this museum you can learn more about the Bavarian King Ludwig II and his father King Maximillian II before touring inside their castles. This museum is attached to a charming and photogenic medieval hotel, called the Hotel Alpenrose, which sits along the shore of Alpsee.

On a small hilltop overlooking Hohenschwangau and Alpsee is the beautiful Schloss Hohenschwangau Castle, the childhood home of Bavarian King Ludwig II, who commissioned the much more famous Neuschwanstein Castle. In comparison with Neuschwanstein, the Hohenschwangau Castle is much more modest, however it is still a very impressive castle which you must book a tour for, either ahead of time or at the nearby ticketing office if you wish to see inside it.

Within the Hohenschwangau Castle are many well-preserved original rooms with highly ornate decorations and historic furnishings. Among the highlights within this castle are the medieval-style murals and the huge oversized pool table.

The majestic Neuschwanstein Castle is the most famous castle in Germany, and also one of the most popular attractions in Europe. Neuschwanstein Castle is so beautiful that it is even the castle that inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle.

In order to reach the Neuschwanstein Castle, you’ll need to hike up a hill (or take a short but crowded tram ride), since the fairytale-like castle is built on a hilltop above Hohenschwangau surrounded by dense forests. You can only visit inside Neuschwanstein Castle via a guided tour, for which there is limited availability, so be sure to book your ticket ahead of time.

Castle Interior

Inside the Neuschwanstein Castle are some of the most incredible rooms of any castle in the world. Although the castle was built in the 19th century, no expense was spared in recreating the interior of an idyllic medieval castle with extremely intricate details in every room, and meticulously crafted handmade furnishings.

This castle is truly the height of medieval-inspired opulence, especially its extravagantly decorated Throne Hall room, and its stunning grotto, a highly-realistic artificial cave with a large pool, located in the middle of the castle.

The only downside to visiting Neuschwanstein Castle is that no photos are allowed inside, but you wouldn’t have time for pictures anyways as you marveled at the incredibly fine details in every room. After your tour you can step out onto the terrace, where you are allowed to take photos of the picturesque Alpsee lake beneath the hills, framed behind the stone columns of the balcony terrace.

A large network of trails through the forest-covered hills and mountains exists around Neuschwanstein Castle for tourists to explore. Many of the iconic views overlooking Neuschwanstein Castle amongst the beautiful Bavarian landscape can be found along these trails. Just below the castle is the Skywalk Neuschwanstein, providing close-up views of the castle.

Continue up to the Panoramablick Schwangau to admire the backside of the castle rising up out of the forest. This viewpoint is next to the Hohenschwangau Viewpoint, which is named for its amazing views overlooking the Hohenschwangau Castle rising above the village below.

Marienbrücke Bridge

A bit further up the mountain is the Marienbrücke Bridge, which spans over a gorge and the beautiful Pöllat Waterfall. From this bridge you can enjoy the most iconic view of Neuschwanstein Castle, with its long side rising up above the forests, framed against the rural landscape behind it.

Mountain Views

Continue even further up the mountain to the Neuschwanstein Viewpoint, from which you can admire the Marienbrücke bridge with the castle seen behind it. This viewpoint is only about 12 minutes up the mountain from Neuschwanstein, and beyond this are many more hiking trails providing alternate viewpoints and different perspectives overlooking the castle.

From Marienbrücke bridge above Neuschwanstein Castle you might like to continue the steep ascent up to the top of Tegelberg Mountain, which provides far-reaching majestic views over the area. Atop Tegelberg is also a cable car which connects it to the valley of Hohenschwangau below.

Of course another option is to walk over to the Tegelbergbahn cable car from Hohenschwangau (about 1.6 miles or 2.5 km), take the cable car up to Tegelberg, and descend down the steep mountain to the viewpoints overlooking Neuschwanstein Castle. The distance from the station atop Tegelberg to the Marienbrücke bridge viewpoint is about 2.5 miles (4.1 km).

Along the cable car ride up to Tegelberg you can enjoy incredibly beautiful views overlooking both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles rising above the forests and Alpsee Lake, a highly photogenic sight requiring a zoom for good photos.

From Tegelberg you can even walk along the ridges to other nearby mountains, the most popular short distance hike being to Branderschrofen Peak, which is about 1.2 miles (2 km) round-trip from Tegelberg Station. Branderschrofen Peak offers breathtaking panoramic views over the neighboring mountains and the valley below.