The Castles of King Ludwig II - Bavaria

For the 2 June 2009 long weekend we decided to set off by car from Milan to visit the castles of Bavaria. To drive on the Austrian motorways you must buy a vignette right after the border; for 10 days it costs € 7.6. Fuel in Austria is cheaper than in Italy. We stopped for 3 nights, divided as follows:

1 night in Frasdorf (8 km from Prien am Chiemsee)

2nd and 3rd night in Schwangau (1 km from the famous castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau).

For our overnight stays we favoured guesthouses and b&bs. The one in Schwangau (Pension Weiher) was really lovely and the lady very kind; I feel I should recommend it given the good value for money (€ 56 for a double with private bathroom and breakfast) and its closeness to the castles (no need to move the car). If you intend to visit Herrenchiemsee (€ 7 each), Linderhof (€ 7 each) and Neuschwanstein (€ 9 each) it is worth buying the family ticket, which lasts 14 days and is valid for a family of 5 (we were only two but it was still convenient) and costs € 36 in total. The family ticket also allows entry to other places; you'll find the full list here:

Parking is paid; the cost varies depending on whether you park a motorbike/car/camper; for a car we spent € 2.50 at Linderhof, € 3 at Prien am Chiemsee, € 1 at Steingaden (where the Wieskirche is) for the first hour and € 0.50 for the following ones. Keep some coins to hand, because in several places (where you don't pay an entrance ticket) you pay to use the toilets. As for food, for two meat main courses, two desserts and two small beers... ours are medium (50 cl), you spend around € 40 for two. Water is very expensive. Restaurants close fairly early in the evening. Generally they fill up from 19:00. I hope these few lines can help you get an idea of the costs of the trip; if you need other info just contact us, you can see the photos on our website:

Have a good trip

Julia e Vincenzo