Visit ludwigshurg palace i.e. Burg Lichtenstein, it's much more worth it than over-hyped fake neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein is about a 2.5 hour drive from Stuttgart. Although its exterior and setting are magnificent, for me the tourist hordes completely destroy the experience, and the short half hour tour of the interior isn't worth it.

Ludwigsburg ( http://www.ludwigsburg.de ) Palace (in http://www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de )15 minutes away from Stuttgart has the longest (1.5-2.5 hour) and best palace tours of anywhere I've been in Europe, and I've seen quitter a few. There is enough to see and do there to last you several days, and they even have a program where children can dress in period costumes. The extensive gardens include a fairytale one which is fun for the whole family. It is Germany's largest palace in its original condition, that is all buildings and furnishings. There is also a deer park, a small area of century old rides like a carousel, and some birds and animals in the gardens.

For fairytale like castles, there are two excellent ones: Lichtenstein ( http://wwe.schloss-lichtenstein.de ) has a magnificent setting atop a rock on the edge of a cliff, it's small which should appeal to a child, is entered by walking over a drawbridge, and there is a rope's course next door where your children can do things high above the ground and also visitable caves; and Burg Hohenzollern ( http://www.burg-hohenzollern.com ) which sits atop an outliying peak of the Swabian Alb and has true historic significance as it is the family seat of the Hohenzollern family of Romanian and Prussian kings and German emperors. Of these three fairytale-like castlescastles (including Neuschwanstein), I much prefer Lichtenstein which we have frequently revisited.

Stuttgart itself has the Old Palace which is built in the form of a Renaisance Castle and which now holds the Wuerttemberg Museum which has historic items that span a greater range of yime than any other museum of local objects in the world, from mankinds first art and musical instruments from 35,000 yearsd ago through the time when it became a Kingdom in the early 1800s. They also have a special floor of children's exhibitions.

There are also many other nearby castles and palaces that can be visited. The nearby Swabian Alb mountains have by themselves over 400 castles and palaces.

For other things to see and do, have a look at my posts in the thread http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187275-i116-k6068438-Stuttgart_as_a_base-Germany.html .

I guess that will simply depend on who you ask: For most Germans Neuschwanstein is a kitschy mock-up of a real castle, for visitors it is the number one iconic building they want to see when in Germany. I would find better things to do and more interesting castles to visit (if I was into castles at all...) but that is for everyone to decide and depends on personal interests.

thank you. i truly appreciate your suggestions. reading your posts has made me excited to explore stuttgart.

I have been to both. I my family comes from area around Neuschwanstein so the first time I went you could walk around castle on your own. The next several times tours kept getting shorter. I was very disappointed. I liked hohenschwangau castle better.

I really liked Ludwigsburg the best of all the castles I have visited. It is a very good tour. If you like gardens there are gardens you can visit for a fee. We did not allow enough time for this. The sites marcopolko gave you have good information.

We had one day to visit Neuschwanstein and what a horror. It was a public holiday weekend, and both Germans and tourists from all of the world were there. It was impossible to get inside, so we tried to manage through the crowds to look around the grounds. Not my best day in Germany. Lovely to look at outside, if you choose time and day wisely.

I love castles, and wished we had spent the time elsewhere.

I considered a trip to Dachau for all of ten minutes and decided to visit Fussen. Better choice for us. Perfect day.

We had one day to visit Neuschwanstein and what a horror. It was a public holiday weekend, and both Germans and tourists from all of the world were there. It was impossible to get inside, so we tried to manage through the crowds to look around the grounds. Not my best day in Germany. Lovely to look at outside, if you choose time and day wisely.

I love castles, and wished we had spent the time elsewhere.

I considered a trip to Dachau for all of ten minutes and decided to visit Fussen. Better choice for us. Perfect day.

I have to say I enjoyed Neuschwanstein and as you are so close to the main attraction why not visit it.

It is quite a long ride, but it is a nie one as well. I took the 8am train so that I could use the Bavaria Ticket from Ulm ith the first possible train. The timetable proposed a route via Kempten - Pfronten and then a bus, which was a very picturesque route.

If you are going to Neuschwanstein, be sure to reserve your tour tickets on line ahead of time. Otherwise you risk waiting in a very long line of people waiting for same-day tickets.

As a previous poster said, Fuessen is a nice town and also worth a visit. It's where you change from the train from Munich, to the bus to Hohenschwangau.