There are three ways to get to Neuschwanstein Castle without going with a group tour
Flixbus: intercity coach bus; best option if you're traveling from Munich. Really easy to use and hassle free
Train + city bus: this is the best option if you're in Munich. You will need to navigate German public transportation system
Driving: the castle is very car friendly with ample parking space; but gas is expensive in Germany, and add parking on top of it all this is might be the most expensive option but gives you most amount of flexibility
How to take Flixbus to Neuschwanstein Castle
Flixbus is an intercity bus service in Germany that's grown very popular recently. You see their buses on the autobahn all the time
It makes sense to take them only if you're in Munich. They have services to the castle from Munich, Ettal, Oberammergau, Bad Hindelang, and Sonthofen. Of these, Munich is by far the biggest city
Fare is around €11.99 varies depending on when you book and which day of the week you're booking. I've see as low as €9.99 and as high as €15.99 each way
Friday-Sunday: 2 return buses at 5:15pm and 6:05pm
You should book their ticket online through their website: https://www.flixbus.com. It's best to book at least a few days ahead of time. In July-August try to book 1 week ahead of time
Their customer service isn't the best though. Check out their Tripadvisor reviews, where they have a pretty terrible 2/5 rating
After you get off the bus:
The bus will drop you off at the village of Hohenschwangau, which sits at the base of the hill on which the Neuschwanstein Castle stands
Once you get off, you will need to head to the ticket centre first (located here), to either buy your ticket or pick up the ticket you reserved online. Everyone must go to this ticket centre first before heading to the castle!
Once you have your ticket, you can either hike up to the castle (takes 25-45 minutes depending on your fitness level), take a shuttle bus up (€2.5 euro uphill, €1.5 euro downhill; ticketing and boarding point of the shuttle bus is here), or take a horse-drawn buggy (€6 uphill, €3 downhill)
How to take public transportation (i.e. train + bus) to Neuschwanstein Castle
You basically need to take a train to the town of Füssen first, then from there take either local bus 73 or bus 78 to the castle
Step 1: Train to Füssen:
All long-distance passenger trains are run by Deutsche Bahn (DB) in Germany
To find a train, simply go to DB's website (https://www.bahn.com) and look up the train schedule to Füssen from wherever you are
There are direct trains from Munich and Augsburg, but I think from most other towns you will need to transfer
Train from Munich takes 2 hours and cost €29.40 each way
Train from Augsburg takes 1:40-1:52 hours and cost €24.20 each way
Step 2: Bus 73/78 to the base of Neuchwanstein Castle:
After you arrive at the Fussen Train Station, exit the main door of the station
Across the street from the train station is the bus stops for both 73 and 78. When in doubt, simply ask any workers at the station about the bus stop. 73 and 78 are extremely popular with tourists so they will be able to give you the right information for sure
The bus fare €2.5 for both 73 and 78, and you will pay cash onboard to the driver. So make sure to carry some euro coins
For bus 73, you need to take it in the direction of Steingaden / Garmisch-Partenkirchen. For bus 78, you need to take it in the direction of Schwangau. There should be a queue waiting for the bus, but always double check with the driver that it's going to "Schloss Neuschwanstein" (pronounced like this)
For both of these buses, you need to get off at the stop Hohenschwangau / Alpseestraße, which should take less than 10 minutes from the train station. You won't miss it because you will see a lot of shops around you and lots of people getting off
Step 3: Get up to the Castle itself
Bus 73/78 will drop you off in the village of Hohenschwangau, which sits at the base of the hill on which the Neuschwanstein Castle stands
Once you get off, you will need to head to the ticket centre first (located here), to either buy your ticket or pick up the ticket you reserved online. Everyone must go to this ticket centre first before heading to the castle!
Once you have your ticket, you can either hike up to the castle (takes 25-45 minutes depending on your fitness level), take a shuttle bus up (€2.5 euro uphill, €1.5 euro downhill; ticketing and boarding point of the shuttle bus is here), or take a horse-drawn buggy (€6 uphill, €3 downhill)
This is a helpful video I found on YouTube to guide you through taking train+bus to the castle:
How to drive to Neuschwanstein Castle
Should you drive?
This is the option I used and I personally recommend it. The flexibility that driving gives you is quite unparalleled, especially since the countryside area around the castle is simply gorgeous and driving gives you the chance to explore this area more. What's more, driving condition is Germany is fantastic. Roads are in great shape and drivers are very orderly
It's also really easy to rent a car in Germany. Germany lets foreigners rent cars with just their regular drivers' license as long as it's printed with alphabet. If not printed with alphabet (like Russian, Japanese, Chinese, etc.), then you just need to get an get an International Driving Permit, which anyone can get from any country in a few minutes (it's not a test, just a document you get), along with your driver's license. See more details
The downside of driving is cost. Car rental (expensive if you need to drive automatic), gas (very expensive in Europe), and parking (€7 per day) added up together makes this probably the most expensive way to visit the castle
To drive, I really recommend using GPS to navigate. The castle isn't located on any major highway, so you will need to get off the autobahn and drive along some winding roads to get to it. I got a German SIM card for my phone and was able to use Google Maps to navigate all the way from Munich to the castle. If you don't have that, I'd still recommend using Google Maps to plan out your route ahead of time and print it out to take with you
Put in "Hohenschwangau, Germany" into your GPS instead of Neuschwanstein Castle (and not "Hohenschwangau Castle". Just "Hohenschwangau"). Hohenschwangau is the name of the village at the base of the hill on which the castle stands. This is where you need to park your car as there is no public parking uphill by the castle itself. Again, the parking fee is €7 per day when I went, and you need to pay that in cash euros. See more details here about finding the parking lot at Neuschwanstein Castle
After you park your car, you will need to head to the ticket centre first (located here), to either buy your ticket or pick up the ticket you reserved online. Everyone must go to this ticket centre first before heading to the castle!
Once you have your ticket, you can either hike up to the castle (takes 25-45 minutes depending on your fitness level), take a shuttle bus up (€2.5 euro uphill, €1.5 euro downhill; ticketing and boarding point of the shuttle bus is here), or take a horse-drawn buggy (€6 uphill, €3 downhill)