Neuschwanstein and the Marienbrücke from Hohenschwangau

The walk starts at the Alpsee car park (P4) below Hohenschwangau. It climbs the Neuschwansteinstraße, a paved road closed to motor vehicles and bicycles, past the stop of the horse-drawn carriages to the open ground below the castle gate, where Neuschwanstein stands above you. A paved track then leads on, past the top stop of the shuttle bus, to the Marienbrücke, the bridge across the Pöllat gorge, with the view back to the castle and down to the Pöllat waterfall. From the bridge a rough forest track, named Rodelbahn on the map, winds down through the trees and rejoins the road near the start.

It is 3.8 km round with 175 m of ascent; allow about 1½ hours. The grade is Easy: the climb is steady rather than steep, and much of it is on asphalt. OpenStreetMap tags the forest track as rough and not for pushchairs, so a pushchair is better taken back down the road.

You can see the castle from outside without a ticket, but the courtyard and the rooms need one, and tickets are sold only at the Ticket Center in Hohenschwangau. The path through the Pöllat gorge below the bridge is closed because of rockfall, and the page that says so gives no date for reopening; this walk does not use it. The bridge itself is closed when there is ice and snow, and the Hohenschwangau ticket centre's website shows each day whether the way to it is open.

The car parks in Hohenschwangau are charged: OpenStreetMap tags P4 as fee-paying, and the palace administration says only paid private car parks are available in the village. Füssen is the nearest railway station, with a bus to the stop Hohenschwangau Neuschwanstein Castles. Carriages and a shuttle bus also climb the hill, run by independent firms; the shuttle does not run on snow or ice.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.