Visit Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Linderhof castles – tickets and information

During a stay in the Bavarian Alps, you absolutely must visit at least one castle. Because yes, King Ludwig II of Bavaria left a huge mark on the history of his region with his castles.

A passionate admirer of Wagner, and of the Ring of the Nibelung in particular, a monarch with a hugely creative mind who was, above all, a little in a world of his own, a great fan of royalty and especially of Louis XIV, he had the maddest castles in the country built — Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and the Königshaus am Schachen — and couldn’t do everything he wanted because it was burning a big hole in the state coffers. A Byzantine palace, for example, was on the cards.

And in July 2025, those four castles were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. It’s recognition that took almost thirty years to arrive, since the idea was first floated back in 1997!

Anyway, all this to tell you that these castles are among the must-sees of Bavaria, and that if you haven’t already visited them, then chop chop!

Then, for each castle, I’ll give you the info: is it really worth visiting, how, where to book your tickets, when to get organised… In short, some practical info 🙂

A word on Hohenschwangau, which you’ll see mentioned everywhere alongside the others: it is not one of Ludwig II’s castles, and so it isn’t part of the UNESCO listing. It was his father Maximilian II who had it rebuilt. But Ludwig II grew up there, and it makes for a very good visit — I’ve dedicated a section to it further down.

The good thing is that Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are located in the same village of Schwangau. They face each other, each on its own hill. So it’s really handy to visit them on the same day. And you can also nip over to the Museum of the Bavarian Kings, even if, let’s be honest, it’s not amazing.

Ludwig II’s castles on the UNESCO World Heritage list

It’s hot off the press: on 12 July 2025, in Paris, the World Heritage Committee inscribed Ludwig II’s castles on the UNESCO list. The application had been submitted in early 2024, but the idea had been kicking around since 1997!

The property is officially called “The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee“. Four sites, and four only:

• Neuschwanstein — the fairy-tale castle, the most famous of the four
• Linderhof — the smallest, the most gilded, with its park and its grotto
• Herrenchiemsee — the Bavarian Versailles, set on an island
• The Königshaus am Schachen — the secret chalet at 1,866 metres, the one nobody talks about

Hohenschwangau is not part of it, and that makes sense: it’s the father’s castle. You’ll see plenty of articles get this wrong.

And now, the surprise. You might have thought the label would send visitor numbers through the roof. The opposite happened! Neuschwanstein went from over 1.4 million visitors to just over a million in 2025.

The reason has nothing to do with UNESCO: since the end of the major renovation, groups have been capped at 45 people per tour, permanently. The castle’s management even says that pre-Covid levels will “probably never be reached again”. Fewer people in the rooms is rather good news for you — but it does mean fewer tickets available 🙂

5 reasons to visit the castles of Bavaria

• Neuschwanstein is incredible, and the others are truly superb too
• You get to dive into the somewhat eccentric mind of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
• There’s a really lovely lake right next to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau
• You can easily visit them from Munich, without needing a car
• The setting is top-notch, they’re surrounded by mountains!

Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is what you’d call a fairy-tale castle. Straight out of the (very prolific) imagination of Ludwig II of Bavaria, the man himself never really had time to enjoy it.

The setting is pretty incredible, let’s be clear. On its hill, a white castle you can see for miles, surrounded by mountains and forests. Genuinely magical. I’ve seen quite a few beautiful castles and honestly this one really knocked me for six too.

And even then, I couldn’t visit the interior because it’s tricky! Indeed, if you want to visit the inside of Neuschwanstein Castle, you’ll need to organise it several days or even several weeks in advance if it’s in summer.

When I went, the second week of August, there was nothing available until early September, so three weeks, no less. The second time, I tried to get organised in advance and… impossible too, several weeks ahead!

Just below I’ll point you to all the options for booking your tickets and tours from Munich.

Now then, do you absolutely have to visit the interior of Neuschwanstein Castle? Here’s what I’ve been able to read in terms of reviews:

• it’s very beautiful, very nicely decorated
• the tour isn’t cheap: €21 in 2026, plus a €2.50 booking fee
• it’s very quick, between 20 and 30 minutes
• and the groups come one after another

So here it’s really up to you. I’d say yes: worst case you lose €20 and 30 minutes, and best case you thoroughly enjoy it!

But since the surroundings are magnificent, as we’ll see, even if you don’t have tickets you should still come to see the castle from the outside, really.

• Ticket purchase via the online box office
  • Info and booking
• Buy via the alternative ticket seller
  • Info and booking
• Tour from Munich
  • Info and booking
• Recommended accommodation nearby
  • Hotel Muller, at the foot of the castles
  • Ameron Neuschwanstein Alpsee Resort & Spa, magnificent

Getting up to Neuschwanstein Castle

First off, to get from the car park to the castle, you need to allow quite a bit of time:

• 40 minutes on foot (and it’s uphill)
• 5 minutes by bus (€3 the journey) then a 10-minute walk
• so in any case, you need to give yourself plenty of time to get there

The bus drops you at a great spot because from there you can reach the finest viewpoint over the castle: Marienbrücke, a bridge a 5-minute walk from the bus stop.

The view over the castle is incredible. Yes, there are quite a few people on the bridge, but it’s brilliant.

Carry on a little further, 5 more minutes, and you get another lovely view with absolutely nobody around.

On the way from the bus stop to the castle, you get a superb view of Hohenschwangau Castle with the mountains behind. Honestly, it’s brilliant!

For the way back, we’ve still got the same two options:

• go down by bus, €3, quick, plenty of departures
• walk down; in 20 minutes you’re back at the car park and honestly it’s lovely! the stroll is through the woods, in the shade

Booking your ticket for Neuschwanstein Castle

If you’d like to get tickets for Neuschwanstein Castle, here are all the options:

• book online on the official box office, but you need to get organised in advance
  • info and booking
• buy the tickets on site; there are a few tickets early in the morning that are available for the same day. You need to go to the official box office, which is below Hohenschwangau Castle. You have to arrive early, but nothing is guaranteed
• get the tickets from a reseller. Some agencies sell tickets on platforms like GetYourGuide or Viator. The tickets are more expensive, but the lead times are shorter, so it can be really handy if there are no tickets available soon
  • info and booking

Visiting Neuschwanstein Castle from Munich

If you’re in Munich and you’d like to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, it’s possible, it’s convenient and it’s not especially expensive for the full day. Agencies take care of everything

• It’s €70 + the €21 entrance ticket (guided tour included)
• it lasts a good full day, around 10 hours
• you get visiting time at the castle, around it, and down in Schwangau
• info and booking

If you already have your tickets but you’d like to come by bus, then it’s easy because Flixbus runs daily journeys between Munich and Neuschwanstein, for a good fifteen euros or so. There are other bus journeys, so I’d advise you to compare to find the right one. But it’s doable!

• Find your bus journey to Neuschwanstein

There’s a nice combined option too: visiting Neuschwanstein and Linderhof from Munich in a single day. It’s a touch full-on, but it can work well:

• tour of Linderhof Castle
• tour of the village of Oberammergau
• visiting time in Schwangau
• and tour of Neuschwanstein Castle
• all for €75
• info and booking

And just below I present to you the gem: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and also Hohenschwangau, from Munich. THE most popular and sought-after tour!

Visiting Hohenschwangau Castle

Hohenschwangau Castle is located right opposite Neuschwanstein. From one you get a superb view of the other.

This castle wasn’t created from scratch by Ludwig II, but was completely renovated on several occasions. Originally, as its architecture suggests, it was a 14th-century fortress that gradually fell into ruin.

During a siege by Napoleonic troops, it was notably used to house soldiers before being sold off for a pittance to be demolished. And in the end… nothing! It eventually came into the hands of King Maximilian II, who renovated it completely. Ludwig II, in fact, would spend his childhood there.

In the end, with all its renovations and the fact that it was lived in until quite late (early 20th century), the castle’s interiors are more modern, less “royal” than his others.

But the exterior is surprising! I really liked it, its yellow/ochre colour and its shape somewhere between medieval and neo-Gothic.

Is Hohenschwangau Castle worth visiting?

So, like a lot of people, we visited this castle because we hadn’t been able to get tickets for Neuschwanstein (it’s mad, I can now write that in one go without any typos). We thought we’d find the same thing or roughly so.

Except that, as I mention, the interiors are less royal, but you get the same type of tour:

• it’s fairly quick
• it’s not super interesting (very honestly), but it’s alright
• the interiors are a bit too modern to really soak up the History
• it’s expensive

So all this to say that you shouldn’t expect something as wow as Neuschwanstein, that it can be interesting, but the exteriors are lovely, you can still do this tour. As for the guided tour, meh. I’d say it’s better than nothing, that it’s not a waste of time.

How to buy tickets for Hohenschwangau Castle

Here are the details of the tour

• it lasts 30/40 minutes
• the price is €23.50 (no less)
• there are groups one after another
• tickets are bought on the official box office

There’s no need to book long in advance, the day before or two days before will do. There’ll always be space, sometimes even at the castle box office for the same day.

4 recommended places to stay in the region

Visiting Linderhof Castle

The superb Linderhof Castle isn’t located in Schwangau like its two companions, but in a small, secluded spot, which gives the estate all its charm.

Linderhof is a different kind of castle. Created by Ludwig II of Bavaria, once again, it’s a tribute to Louis XIV (whereas Herrenchiemsee would be his version of Versailles) with magnificent architecture and, above all, grandiose interiors. Bling, gold, sparkle.

And superb gardens! Around the castle, you get two elevated viewpoints, with fountains, large pools, water jets, and sculptures everywhere.

Is it necessary to visit Linderhof Castle?

Honestly, yes!

So okay, you can visit the gardens, which cost nothing apart from parking, and that’s already good because they really are lovely. But the interior is genuinely beautiful, royal as you’d imagine. And above all, it doesn’t cost especially much, you get your money’s worth in my view.

What’s more, there aren’t many people doing the tour, far fewer than at Neuschwanstein. A few people in the gardens, and even then it’s fine.

For the tour, it’s best to book a few days in advance in the high tourist season (that is to say August). And if you don’t want to visit the interiors, then the exterior is free, it’ll only cost you the price of parking.

And above all, the big news: the Venus Grotto reopened on 11 April 2025, after ten years of works and €58.9 million spent! It’s this artificial grotto that Ludwig II had built for himself to listen to Wagner in, with its underground lake and its shell-shaped boat. It had been closed for so long that many guidebooks still list it as inaccessible. Reckon on €18 for the castle + grotto ticket, versus €11 for the castle alone. Honestly, take the grotto.

Watch out, however, for the Moorish Kiosk: that one is under wraps, invisible even from the outside, and reopening isn’t expected before 2028.

• Ticket purchase via the online box office
  • Info and booking
• Tour from Munich: Linderhof and Neuschwanstein
  • Info and booking
• Recommended accommodation nearby
  • the typical guesthouse Hotel Alte Post in Oberammergau

Visiting Herrenchiemsee Castle

This one, we saved for a second trip, and it’s a lovely surprise.

Herrenchiemsee sits on an island, in the middle of the Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria. Even the approach is a pleasure: you board at Prien-Stock, about fifteen minutes by boat, and the island gradually reveals itself.

Once there, a change of scale. Ludwig II wanted his Versailles here. Well, almost: the castles’ administration insists that he wasn’t after a faithful copy, but a “temple of glory” dedicated to Louis XIV, whom he revered. And he thought very big indeed.

The result is pretty mad. The Hall of Mirrors at Herrenchiemsee is longer than the one at Versailles — around 75 metres versus 73, and 98 metres if you count the Halls of War and Peace. With 33 glass chandeliers that Versailles doesn’t have. The Ambassadors’ Staircase, for its part, reproduces a staircase at Versailles that was destroyed in 1752, reconstructed from engravings.

The craziest bit? He sank 16.6 million Mark into it, more than Neuschwanstein and Linderhof combined. Work stopped dead at his death in 1886, and the north wing was even demolished in 1907. And he himself only stayed there once, about ten days in the autumn of 1885.

A historical bonus you don’t expect: it was here, in August 1948, that around thirty experts drafted the German Basic Law. It was at Herrenchiemsee that the primacy of the article on human dignity was decided. A museum on the island tells all of that, and it’s included in the ticket.

Is it necessary to visit Herrenchiemsee?

Yes, but allow the half-day, or even more. It’s the castle that requires the most organising of the four.

Good to know before you set off:

• The ticket is a single one: the “Gesamtkarte Insel” covers the castle, the Ludwig II museum and the former monastery. There’s no longer a castle-only ticket. €14 from 18 May to 18 October 2026, €11 thereafter, free up to age 18
• The boat isn’t included: €11.50 the adult return, €5.70 for 6-15 year-olds, departing from Prien-Stock
• You can’t book the boat online, and on board it’s cash only — bring cash, it’s the classic trap
• Departures roughly every 30 minutes from 9am to 3pm in summer
• From the landing stage to the castle, allow 20 to 25 minutes on foot according to the official brochure — the administration’s planning page, for its part, says up to 45 minutes. When in doubt, allow plenty! The horse-drawn carriage does the trip for €5 one way (€2 for 5-14 year-olds)
• The tour of the apartments is compulsorily by guided tour, 30 to 40 minutes
• The garden fountains only run from early May to 3 October

The Königshaus am Schachen, the fourth castle nobody knows

Here’s the great forgotten one. And yet it’s on the same UNESCO listing as Neuschwanstein, and I bet you’d never heard of it!

The Königshaus am Schachen is found at 1,866 metres of altitude, in the Wetterstein massif above Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From the outside, it’s a simple wooden chalet. Nothing that hints at what’s inside.

Because upstairs, there’s the Turkish Hall. An entire room covered in gold, with a fountain in the middle, embroidered divans, incense burners and coloured glasswork. Ludwig II had it copied from a room in a palace in Istanbul, discovered in an English engraving from 1840. And every 25 August, his name day, he would come up here to celebrate it — with servants dressed in oriental costume, tasked with smoking the hookah to complete the setting.

An Ottoman hall high up in the mountains. Only he could have come up with that idea!

A small detail in passing: it wasn’t a hunting lodge. Ludwig II hated hunting.

The catch, and it’s a big one: you can only reach it on foot. No road, no mountain lift. Reckon on 3 hours of climbing and 6 to 7 hours there and back, starting from the Schloss Elmau car park or the Garmisch Olympic stadium. I haven’t done it, so I won’t spin you any nonsense about the trail.

Good to know before you set off:

• Open from 29 May to 27 September 2026 only
• Guided tours every hour from 9am to 5pm, 30 people maximum
• €6 entry, free up to age 18. Six euros for a UNESCO site, it raises a smile when you’ve just come from Neuschwanstein!
• Neither booking nor card: cash compulsory at the till on site
• There’s a mountain inn next door, the Schachenhaus, with rooms and dormitories — handy if you want to split the day in two
• And an alpine garden belonging to Munich’s Botanical Garden right next door

Which ticket to choose for Ludwig II’s castles?

This is the annoying part, because the Bavarian ticketing system is a real little maze. Let’s look at it calmly.

First thing to know: the “Kombikarte Königsschlösser” no longer exists in 2026. It’s been scrapped. You’ll still see it recommended on plenty of sites, don’t go looking for it.

What exists instead is the Mehrtagesticket, a 14-day pass at €40 (€80 for the family version, two adults plus their children under 18). It covers more than forty sites belonging to the Bavarian state, including the four UNESCO castles, Schachen included.

Is it worth it? Let’s do the maths with the 2026 prices: Neuschwanstein €21 + Linderhof with the grotto €18 + Herrenchiemsee €14, that comes to €53. So the €40 pass wins the moment you do those three within the same fortnight. If you only visit two of them, it’s not worth it.

Three pitfalls to be aware of:

• Hohenschwangau isn’t in the pass. The castle belongs to a private foundation, not the Bavarian state. For that one, you need a separate ticket
• The pass isn’t sold at the Schachen till. If you’re planning to climb up there, buy it beforehand, elsewhere
• At Neuschwanstein, the pass doesn’t guarantee you entry: you still have to collect a free timed-slot ticket at the Ticket Center, and there may be none left

And if you just want Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau? Then it’s the Königsticket you need, at €43.50 for both castles on the same day. Be careful not to confuse it with the old card of an almost identical name: they’re two completely different things.

The detail nobody mentions: there’s a €2.50 booking fee per ticket, including on children’s tickets, which are otherwise free. For a family of four, that’s €10 that appears at the moment of paying.

FAQ and practical info on Ludwig II’s castles

The questions that come up most often, with the answers up to date for 2026.

Do you need to book your tickets for Neuschwanstein?

It’s not compulsory, but it’s strongly recommended. There are still tickets on sale on site for the same day, from 8am at the Ticket Center, but they often sell out before midday in summer. The only official site is shop.ticket-center-hohenschwangau.de, everything else is a reseller. And arrive 1 hour 30 to 2 hours before the time printed on your ticket.

Are tours offered in French?

Not as a guided tour, no. At Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, the guides speak German and English, and French only exists as an audio guide. At Linderhof, it’s German and English only, with no French audio guide. Only the Schachen offers tours in French, and only for groups of at least 15 people.

Can you take photos inside the castles?

No, it’s forbidden in all the castles managed by the Bavarian state, even for private use. Drones are forbidden too across all the estates. The exteriors, on the other hand, are entirely free — and that’s where the best photos are anyway!

How much does entry to Ludwig II’s castles cost in 2026?

Neuschwanstein €21, Hohenschwangau €23.50, Linderhof €11 for the castle alone or €18 with the Venus Grotto, Herrenchiemsee €14 in season, and the Schachen €6. Add a €2.50 booking fee per ticket. It’s free up to age 18 everywhere, except at Hohenschwangau where free entry stops at age 7.

Can you visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau on the same day?

Yes, and it’s even advisable: they face each other in the same village. The Königsticket combines the two for €43.50. Do allow the whole day even so, between the two climbs, the imposed time slots and the 30 to 45 minutes of each tour.

How do you get up to Neuschwanstein Castle?

No option drops you right in front of the castle, there’s always some walking. On foot from the Ticket Center, allow 30 to 40 minutes of steep climbing. The shuttle leaves from the P4 car park (€5 return) and drops you 10-15 minutes’ downhill walk away. The horse-drawn carriage costs €8 up and leaves you 450 metres to cover on foot.

Is Linderhof’s Venus Grotto open?

Yes! It reopened on 11 April 2025 after ten years of works and nearly €59 million. Many guidebooks and blogs still list it as closed, that’s out of date. It can be visited from mid-April to mid-October only. The Moorish Kiosk, for its part, remains under wraps until 2028.

Is the Marienbrücke bridge open?

Yes in 2026, and no works are announced. It’s from there that the classic photo of Neuschwanstein comes. It closes occasionally in winter in the event of snow or ice: the official Hohenschwangau site publishes its status, updated every day. Worth checking on the morning itself if you’re going out of season.

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In conclusion

There we go, I think you now know everything!

I’ve tried to tell you honestly what I thought of each castle, what’s good or essential to visit. That said, they all belong to the history of Bavaria, and some are even more surprising than others. But what’s certain is that it’s not time wasted. It’s touristy yes, but it’s unique!

⭐️And you can discover the most beautiful spots in the Bavarian Alps