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Skip-the-Line: Neuschwanstein Castle Tour from Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau, Germany

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Overview

Visit the popular Neuschwanstein Castle on this guided walking tour. A “skip-the-line” ticket allows for quick access to the inside of the medieval masterpiece. One of three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, it would eventually become the inspiration for the castle in Disney’s "Sleeping Beauty." After the tour, enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride down to the village of Hohenschwangau and take a leisurely stroll around scenic Lake Alpsee.

Explore Neuschwanstein Castle on a skip-the-line walking tour
Learn about King Ludwig II while visiting rooms like Minstrel’s Hall
Enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride from Neuschwanstein to Hohenschwangau
Spend time at leisure in Hohenschwangau and stroll around Lake Alpsee

What's Included

Professional guide
Shuttle bus to Mary's bridge (as long as the bus is operating)
Horse-drawn carriage ride downhill from the castle foot (as long as they are operating)
Tickets for the tour inside NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE with skip the line service
Skip the line service for the castle tickets

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Alpseestraße 1, 87645 Schwangau, Germany
Meeting point is at P3 at 9:10 am. GPS (Alpseestrasse 1, 87645 Hohenschwangau). Please wait next to the P3 sign. Your guide will meet you there.

Start time

09:10 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Ticket Redemption Point

Alpseestraße 1, 87645 Schwangau, Germany

What To Expect

The highlight of your tour is Neuschwanstein Castle, a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace nestled on top of a rugged hill high above the village of Hohenschwangau, in southwest Bavaria. This stunning fairy tale palace was the inspiration for Disney’s "Sleeping Beauty" castle and it’s one of the most popular of all the castles or palaces in Europe, drawing 1.4 million visitors each year.

Skip the typically long lines to get inside and enjoy a walking tour of this medieval masterpiece. Explore rooms like Minstrel’s Hall, the Byzantine Throne Room, and many more. Learn about the castle’s architect, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and explore the terraces, grounds, and gardens outside as well.

After the tour, enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride down to the village of Hohenschwangau. Take a walk around beautiful Lake Alpsee and enjoy the rest of the day on your own.

Alpseestraße

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Schloss Neuschwanstein

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
A maximum of 9 people per booking
Good walking shoes required
Participants must be able to walk up and downhill as well as stairs
Near public transportation
In harsh weather conditions the bus to Mary's bridge might not be operating and you'll have to walk to the castle

No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Please note that we have only our meeting point in Hohenschwangau Village
Your confirmation is not the ticket for the castle, it will not be accepted at the castle or the ticket center. Your guide will give you the official tickets for the Neuschwanstein castle.
Please note that as long as the shuttle is not running, we will have to walk up to the castle.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

134 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 134 reviews

Exceptional Castle Experience

Janey_B, Apr 2024

Our guide was exceptional, giving a bit of history, pointing out highlights, making seamless transitions, a wonderful experience. Loved the culminating horse carriage ride, too!

best experience in Neuschwanstein

Stacy_W, Nov 2023

very interesting storie and well explained Amir is very sensitive to everybody and dont lost time it was my dream to visit it and he participated to do the best moment for me and my family

Fascinating history & views for days!

lshooter, Nov 2023

We loved all the historical information we learned from Amir as well as the photo opportunities prior to arrival in the castle. It was a haul from Munich but well worth it. And despite an unexpected fire alarm that caused us to evacuate for about 45 minutes, we had a great time. Highly recommend the early tour before the crowds.

Excellent Tour!!

Eric_v, Oct 2023

Caroline was a wonderful guide! Her descriptions and historical knowledge were delivered with delightful humor and were a joy to listen to! We had a great deal of fun and Caroline was instrumental in that!

Enjoyable Day at the Castle

Robert_D, Oct 2023

This tour was well organized and our guide Amir was very knowledgeable and made the tour very interesting and fun for everyone, We would highly recommend it!

Best way to see the Castle! Hands Down!

Abigail_L, Sep 2023

Caroline was a dream!! Witty, dry and so fun to listen to. I thought her knowledge of castle and Ludwig was far more interesting than anything we learned in the castle!! My husband won some trivia and that won us over! The bus ride up was helpful and we loved the carriage ride down. I wish she could have done the entire tour.

Excellent Guide

Martin_H, Sep 2023

Caroline was a fantastic guide. She was engaging, knowledgeable and funny. It was quite a good experience and I’m very happy we were paired with her.

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Debra_M, Sep 2023

Besides the beautiful castle, Amir was wonderful and informative. He was a real treat. Loved our time.

Tour Operator Good - Castle Disappointing

Peter_G, Jul 2023

The tour guide was very interesting and knowledgable. It was GREAT to have the shuttle bus up the hill. Everything ran on time. The four star is for the castle itself. It is a total tourist trap and doesn't even have a lot of the original work still inside. If you must see the castle, this tour is great. If you can skip it, I would.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you Peter for rating us. Happy to hear you enjoyed your tour with us. The castle itself is not run by us and there is nothing we can do about; still a tour without a visit to the inside would not be complete - and most people are very happy we get tickets for it, always. Sad you took off one star from our tour instead of rating us and Neuschwanstein separately.

Our tour guide was great....

Scott_K, Jul 2023

Our tour guide was great. Best part was the gorgeous views of and from the castle, just a breathtaking area

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you very much!

Wonderful tour, worth the cost

Susan_H, Jul 2023

Our tour guide, Caroline was delightful. Very informative and presented in an easy to understand, friendly manner. The 9:10 tour was a good plan. Not at all crowded but you could see lots of people arriving as we were leaving. The view of the castle from the bridge was stunning and the castle itself is beautiful. Lots of steps to climb but so worth the effort.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you very much for spending time at the castle with us!

Wonderful local tour and guide!

jfsimmerman, Jun 2023

This was an amazing tour!! The guide was so knowledgeable and so funny. We heard some great stories we would not have known if we were not on this tour. The actual tour of the castle was nice but rather short but all the stories beforehand made it come alive when we were inside on the tour (not controlled or administered but the tour guide). The carriage ride at the end was a nice ending to the day. Highly recommend this tour!!

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you so much for joining our tour, very happy to hear you had such a good day.

Perfect English and cool tips

Olena_T, Jun 2023

Perfect logistics, transportation and tickets provided. At the same time it is very relaxing. The greatest advantage was beautiful English of the guide. I was expecting to hear heavy accent but the English clear and easy to understand. Interesting and rare facts that you won’t hear through the audio guide in the castle. Carol, the guide, also shared some tips that allowed us to get access to the balcony in the castle and the view point that otherwise we would have skipped.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you Olena, happy you had such a great experience with us.

Amazing

Rita_M, Jun 2023

The castle is amazing and would recommend it to anyone the tour leader eas very nice and knows what she is on about

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Dankeschoen Rita! Glad you enjoyed the day here.

Fantastic tour! Amir is wonderful.

Dawn_K, Apr 2023

After being unable to get tickets on our own, I booked this tour through Viator. Turns out the mishap with our original ticket plans was a blessing! Amir was an amazing guide with an astonishing level of knowledge of history. We got great pictures and found things we never would have without the insider help. I highly recommend this tour!!

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Perfect, thanks for sharing. And yess for Amir.

Good but way too long

Theodore_F, Aug 2022

The tour was good but too much talking and the facts were off. The guide was personable but it could have been delivered in 20 minutes.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Very personal review - a tour is talking nonstop from start to end. As much info as possible is what most people ask for;)) and I do not think our facts were off.

Amazing!

Amy_H, Oct 2021

Amir/Viator made it easy to tour the castle. He gave us many details that were not included in the 30 minute tour. When our plans changed he helped us secure tickets for the next day! The bus dropped us near the top, horse carriage down…amazing tour!

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you for coming!

Amir was excellent guide....

janet_l, Sep 2021

Amir was excellent guide. We appreciate the history and explanation of the castle. He was also very fun.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you very much!

Good experience

Luis_B, Sep 2020

A perfect guide , funny and professional. Very good experience. All explanation are bases in a deeply knowledge of hisrory

Longer time but great

Rebekah_L, Feb 2020

Everything that was included was excellent! Just wish there was more time at the end Of the tour to look around at the gift shops. Instead we only had about 10 mins to look at 2 gift shops before meeting the guide to catch the horse drawn carriage. Our tour did run a little behind, but 30 to 45 mins would have been better. As for our guide, he was great! I defiantly recommend!

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