My friend and I arrived in Fussen, just a couple miles from Neuschwanstein, in the late afternoon. We walked to the hostel, but it was all full. We then called several hotels, but they were all either full or more than we wanted to spend. So, we ended up wandering around Fussen until everything was closed and then we walked up to the castles. We explored Hohenschwangau (another castle) as much as we could when it was closed, then walked to the bridge overlooking Neuschwanstein. We waited there until the sunrise, running, skipping, and hopping back and forth across the bridge to keep warm. We got to see both castles completely devoid of other people. This is probably the best and craziest way to experience the castles.
At around 2:00pm we finally took a bus back to Fussen, drank some beer, and slept on park benches.
over 5 years ago