Füssen Walking Tour

By Vicky · Published Dec. 13th, 2022 · Updated Mar. 13th, 2023

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This walking tour through Füssen ticks off all the main sights in the historic town and is a perfect addition to visiting the nearby castles.

Location

This walking tour starts from Füssen Train Station. It’s roughly 2-2:30 hours on the train from Munich. If you come by car, bear in mind that there is no free parking in Füssen.

Füssen Walking Tour Map

Get the route by downloading the .gpx or .kml file below. For navigation with Maps.me on your mobile phone, simply download the .kml file and open to add it to the Maps.me bookmarks.

Top Sights in Füssen

On this self-guided walking tour you’ll see the main sights and attractions of Füssen. 2-3 hours is enough time to walk around the town of Füssen.

This is a self-guided walking tour around Fussen. If you speak German, there’s a great Guided Walking Tour in German* of the town.

Introduction to Füssen

Füssen is a town near the famous castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. If you arrive by train from Munich, you’ll change at Füssen train station to catch a bus over to the castles. It’s worth spending a couple of hours in Füssen itself to explore the Altstadt. You can also walk from Füssen to the castles (and back) if you’re feeling energetic.

If you only want to see the castles and don’t want the hassle of catching the train, there are several day tours from Munich. However, these tours don’t allow you to explore the town of Füssen or do any hiking in the area.

Füssen Walking Tour Route

This walking tour starts from Füssen Train Station.

Directions: From the train station head towards the large roundabout and past it to the next road junction. The tourist information is here on your left (open weekdays 9am-5pm, Saturdays 9am-noon). Turn right up the pedestrian street opposite the tourist information to enter the old part of Füssen.

1. Füssen Altstadt

Füssen Altstadt* is fairly small but there’s a nice pedestrian centre with quaint little shops and some nice cafes and little squares. Of particular note is the old Apotheke, a lovely historic building on the main street. Wander down the main street until the fountain and little square at the far end, just below the castle.

Directions: From the fountain, turn left and take the first road on the right. This leads up towards the castle, and you can enter through a little gate to walk along the castle walls. Keep on going through a grander gate and into the inner courtyard of the castle.

2. Hohes Schloss

Key Information: Open Apr-Oct, Tue-Sun,11am-5pm. Open Nov-Mar, Fri-Sun, 1-4pm. Entrance is €6 per adult, or a combined ticket including the Fussen Museum is €9.

The Hohes Schloss is a late-Gothic, huge white castle that dominates the town from its prominent position on a hill. The most impressive part of the castle is the tromple-l’oeil paintings in the inner courtyard. It’s free to walk all the way up to the castle and into the courtyard, but you have to pay to go inside. Displayed within the castle is a collection of Bavarian State Paintings, Inside, you can also visit the clock tower and battlements, from which there are great views over Füssen town.

Directions: Head back down from the castle, and into St Mang Abbey via a small door in a little courtyard below the castle. Head around the building to the front to visit Füssen City Museum.

3. St Mang Abbey & Füssen City Museum

Key Information: Open Apr-Oct, Tue-Sun, 11am-5pm. Open Nov-Mar, Fri-Sun, 1-4pm. Entrance is €6 per adult, or a combined ticket including the Castle is €9. The Abbey is free to enter.

St Mang Abbey is a large church with a slightly cold, austere interior. Füssen City Museum* is in a different part of the former Benedictine Cloister, accessed from the Altstadt. In the city museum, you can see some preserved Baroque rooms of the Abbey, the St Anna Kappelle and the Romanesque cloisters. In the 16th century, Füssen was a centre of violin making, so you can also see many of these instruments on display.

Directions: After leaving the courtyard of the museum, turn right. From here you can see the colourful church of the Holy Spirit at the end of the road. Take the first left up some steps and along a small street. This route follows a section of the old city walls. When you reach a cute courtyard, head right and you’ll soon be at the next stop.

4. Franciscan Monastery of St Stephen

Before visiting the monastery itself, take a peak into the gardens through the gate. Opposite, you’ll see a tower – this is one of the last remaining towers in the old walls, which lead off from the tower on either side. The Franciscan Monastery of St Stephen is on a hill, so there are some nice views over the town from here.

Directions: From the church, head down the steps and to the river. Continue along the riverbank and underneath the bridge, before bending right to walk up to the bridge itself.

5. Lech Bridge & Magnus Blick

The Lech Bridge is a nice viewpoint over the Lech River. This river starts near the small town of Lech in Austria, then flows north through the Alps, past Augsburg, and joins the Danube just after flowing through Rain am Lech. There’s a cycle path along the entire route and a walking trail along it from Füssen to Lech in Austria. On the other side of the river, known as Magnus Blick, there’s a great view back over St Mang Abbey.

Directions: From this viewpoint, head right along the road using the large pavement. You’ll pass an old, partially renovated factory area on the right, with the wooded Kalvarienberg on your right. At the top of this hill is a wonderful viewpoint – it’s 0.7km with 100 metres of climb up if you want to take this detour.
Continuing along the road, the road bends the corner and you’ll come to another bridge across the river.

6. Lech Waterfall & Gorge

From the bridge, you can see both the Lech waterfall* and the gorge on the other side. The waterfall is manmade, but the gorge is mainly natural and formed roughly 10,000 years ago when the ice caps melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Upstream of the waterfall the Lech River is quite wild, with the surrounding valley forested and steep.

Directions: Cross over the bridge and follow the path up through the field. Turn right back into town, heading left at the large Euro Park Hotel. Walk along the small road leaving the suburb through a gap in the roads and you’ll soon see a bridge above. Pass under the bridge, then take the path left to walk up and over the bridge into the Baumgarten.

7. Baumgarten

The Baumgarten (Tree Garden) is on a slight hill so has some nice views over the surrounding countryside. There’s also an old spring and fountain made out of stone at the far end, behind which you can see the edge of the Hohes Schloss.

Directions: Walk through the garden and leave down the steps to the right of the stone fountain. Then turn left along the cool paved path cut through the rocks. Continue downwards to the road and head right towards the centre of town. You can now wander around the Altstadt to explore a few more of the streets. Brunnengasse is a nice street to walk on – the first on the left after the central fountain. When you’re ready, return to the train station, perhaps walking up to the Ziegelberg Viewpoint if you still have the energy.

8. Ziegelberg Viewpoint Hike

If you have some extra time, for example while waiting for a train, you can walk up to Ziegelberg Viewpoint Hike. It’s not too far and on a clear day you can see across to the high Alps. You walk through quite a pleasant little park, and you can also see over to the lakes on the opposite side of the mountains.

This is the end of the Füssen Walking Tour.

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If you’re visiting the castles, combine this Füssen Walking Tour with a great loop walk from the castles to Füssen. For other hikes nearby, check out the day walk up Säuling Peak or the two-day walk from Hohenschwangau to Schloss Linderhof. For more walking tours and hikes in Germany, see our Germany hiking page.

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