Hiking to Neuschwanstein Castle and avoid the crowds

• 17. June 2018

(Last Updated On: 1. July 2022)

Neuschwanstein Castle is one of Germany’s most visited attractions and it is located in South Bavaria close to a village called Schwangau. You will find this castle on almost every second post card from Germany. This popularity leads to the fact that people from around the world are travelling each day to this place. Thus, this place is during the summer months very crowded and if you would like to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, you need abide by time schedules because of the masses of people.  In this article I will give you an alternative way to visit this place. I’am speaking about hiking. So, read on, folks.

Advantages of hiking to Neuschwanstein Castle

1. Get closer to Germany’s nature. What would you usually do by visiting a tourist site? Either you would rent a car or take a bus tour to get there. You would visit the attraction for an hour or two and then you would leave. But when you hike, you get closer to the place you wish to go. You will see more details of the local nature and get  (in my opinion) a better travelling experience.

2. See Neuschwanstein Castle from a perspective which other visitors don’t see. When you hike to Neuschwanstein, you will see this castle from the view which only few visitors know about it. Look at the cover picture of this article. I made it as I was hiking to Neuschwanstein and I am sure that the most of the people are not getting to that point where I’ve been. With this article you can get to this place too, folks.

3. You will do something for your health. Of course, if you don’t do any sports, you will not improve your health just from one time of hiking. But speaking generally: mountain hiking is a good method do improve your body’s condition in several matters. As Neuschwanstein is located in a mountainous region, you will improve your endurance and strengthen your leg muscles.

But now let’s take a closer look to the trail itself.

Trail data:
Type: mountain hike, circular trail
Length: appr. 9 km (5,6 miles)
Duration: appr. 6 hours (3 h ascent, 3 h descent)
Level of difficulty: middle
Requirements: free from giddiness, good condition (not suitable for absolute beginners), hiking boots. There are some via ferratas, so you could wear a climbing equipment. But it is not strongly required. E.g. I walked this hiking trail without any special equipment.
Best time: middle of June to late autumn (before the first snowfall)

Approach and starting point of the hike

You will start at the parking place of the cableway station close to the small town called Schwangau (Schwangau is the place where Neuschwanstein Castle is located).

To get to the parking place, enter in your GPS-System: Tegelbergbahn. If you need to enter the exact address: Tegelbergstraße 33, 87645 Schwangau
Costs of parking: 4,- EUR for the whole day. Please note: the parking machine accepts only cash in form of coins (no bills, no credit cards etc.)

The trail itself

1. The ascent

When you are parked at the cableway station, go back to the road you came from and go to the right. Very soon you will see some yellow signs. You need to follow the sign with this information: “Tegelberg über Gelbe Wand Klettersteig”, which means in English: Mountain Tegelberg via fixed rope route “yellow wall”.  Check out the photo of the sign:

After about 3 hours you will arrive at the top of the mountain and reach the mountain station of the cable way. There is a mountain inn, called “Tegelberghaus“. There you can drink and eat something, before you start your descent and walk to Neuschwanstein Castle

2. The descent

First you need to go back the same way you came from. It will last about 20 minutes until you see the sign “Marienbrücke” which means “Mary’s Bridge”. The descent will last in total about 3 hours and the closer you get to Mary’s Bridge the more you will be rewarded for your exertions. Because you will see some great gorges, green mountains and at a certain point: an impressive view of Neuschwanstein Castle from the birds view and two alpine lakes which are very close to the castle as well. This view is what I was talking about at the beginning of my article, and you can be sure that when you see it, you will know that your experience was better than the one just to get into the car and drive to the castle, believe me.

Finally, you will reach the Mary’s Bridge and can take pictures of Neuschwanstein Castle. Be prepared for crowds there, folks. After that, you will go down the hill for about 30 – 40 minutes until you arrive the visitor centre of Schwangau. There you have the possibility to spend some time at the “Alpsee”, the lake close to Neuschwanstein, and to cool your tired feet in the teal coloured water of the lake.

If you don’t want to spend any time at the lake, you can just go back to the parking place of the cableway station. For this, walk to the right as soon as you arrive at the visitors center. The best would be to turn on your GPS. You will need about 30 minutes to the parking lot of the cable way station.

Okay, folks, that’s it. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will respond as soon as possible. I wish you a good time in Schwangau