Hohenzollern Castle

Amazing! This is my favorite castle. This is exactly what you picture when you think of a fantasy castle. The shuttle bus will drive you up to the entrance for free. Enter during your allotted time on your ticket. During Christmas time they have it all decorated beautifully. They even do light shows.

Visited during the Christmas holiday season. It was busy but just had to wait a little for the shuttle. I wasn't too interested in the holiday light show and just wanted to tour the castle. It was incredible but a smaller tour area than I expected.

Hohenzollern Castle is breathtaking. Visiting during the Christmas season (advance bookings required) made the experience especially magical, like stepping into a storybook. The festive décor, twinkling lights, exceptional staff, and seasonal touches created a wonderfully transportive atmosphere that felt both elegant and joyful. The castle itself is beautifully preserved and stunning in every direction. This is a landmark that will linger in our memories long after our departure. Gorgeous, atmospheric, and truly special, particularly at Christmas!

Visiting Hohenzollern Castle was one of those experiences that really stays with you. As we made our way up and started walking around the outdoor observation areas, the view simply took my breath away. The valley stretches out endlessly, and from the castle walls it feels like you’re standing above the world. It’s the kind of view that makes you stop, breathe, and just take it all in. The castle itself is just as impressive as the scenery. It stands tall and majestic, with an atmosphere that carries centuries of history. Walking through it, you can almost feel the presence of the people who once lived there and the important role this place played. Every hallway and corner has a story, and when you step back outside to those sweeping views, it all ties together beautifully. I’ve seen a number of castles in Germany — each with their own charm — but Hohenzollern stood out in a way that felt different. It wasn’t just about the architecture or the history alone; it was the combination of both with its stunning location on top of the hill. That mix of breathtaking scenery and deep history makes it one of the most memorable castles I’ve ever visited. If you’re traveling in the area, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s the kind of place you’ll remember long after you leave.

I loved how they still kept history alive for viewing and provided a free app guided tour. The shuttle to the castle from the parking lot, gift shops and bathrooms in both the castle and parking lot, and restaurants made the tour convenient. But the best parts were the view of nearby lands and beautiful artifacts.

Unfortunately I came here without a ticket. The castle tickets were sold out for a month ahead when I came. Recommend checking that out before coming... It looks really amazing though!

One of the biggest castles in Stuttgart. This is well-maintained, and the shuttle bus is a great option for the elderly and those with mobility issues. But you will get the best experience if you walk to the castle from the bottom.

If you’re considering spending 26 euros on Hohenzollern Castle, save your money and pay just 5 euros for nearby Schloss Lichtenstein instead – it’s absolutely worth every cent! Hohenzollern will leave you regretting your evaporated cash. You can see the entire castle in under an hour. The interior is practically empty – mostly just some Christmas decorations and nothing else! I believe visitors come to this famous castle seeking traces of its glorious historical past, not to pay 26 euros to see a makeshift Christmas market setup. Compared to other German castles, it’s embarrassing. Neuschwanstein charges 25 euros but at least offers guided tours and beautifully preserved furnishings. The Munich Residenz has so much to see that I spent two full days there and still didn’t finish, and the ticket is very affordable. But Hohenzollern? It can’t compete with any of them. Its only “strength” is having the most expensive ticket in the league, while offering pitifully little content, no guided tours, no proper visitor flow – basically nothing at all! Terrible value for money. I was tricked into coming here by AI Studio’s recommendation and even proudly “secured” a 3-4pm time slot in advance, feeling lucky when I saw many walk-ins being turned away on the drive up the mountain. Little did I know I was the biggest fool of all! Those 26 euros would be better spent on a decent meal than wasted on this empty shell of a castle. Highly disappointing – avoid it!

After a solo tour of Schloss Lichtenstein, we arrived at Burg Hohenzollern to find that they're in full Christmas Markets season. The place was crowded and lively and quite busy. You'll park in a lower parking lot adjacent to the gift shop. A shuttle van will bring you almost to the entrance of the castle. From there, it's a bit of a walk. It is barely handicapped accessible though the castle itself is not at all wheelchair friendly and many rooms require transiting a number of stairs. The current castle was built between 1846 and 1867 in a Gothic Revival style and influenced by the Châteaux of the Loire Valley. The exterior is regal, dominating the hill it resides on. Inside, each room is decorated with period furniture and artifacts that were owned by Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. The vault in the basement contains the Crown of Wilhelm II and a uniform that belonged to King Frederick the Great. No photographs allowed in that room but the rest of the castle, absolutely. [Review 21244 overall - 248 in Germany - 209 of 2024.]

Beautiful castle! Pretty views from the top. But getting there from Stuttgart was really breathtaking as well. We took public transportation which is not recommended. It took 3 hours one way to get there by trains and bus. If you have a car it takes an hour. I would say it was worth it, but we were exhausted by the end of the day. The castle had a cafe that actually tasted pretty good.

I came here only because they designed Eichenwalde from this castle, and after reading that it would take almost 2 hours from Stuttgart I opted to renting a car since the German Autobahn is actually quite easy to drive on and only took an hour. I was able to get the nice castle shots from a distance which on the Zollerhalde hill lets you do that for free and then its just a short drive to the base of the castle, parking was 2 euros and you either have to pay 7 euros for RT on a shuttle or take a long walk up to the castle and since it winter I took the shuttle. The actual castle was alright since its privately owned its not as ornate as other castles, nor does anyone live here either since its very cold. The english tour guide really didn't speak english too well so best to do your wikipedia reading before hand. You won't be able to enter the castle without the tour guide so yeah there is that. But you get to see the history of Prussia and where it all started from which is kinda cool. I'd highly recommend driving here since transportation is very limited and theres nothing else to do around this area otherwise. If your an overwatch fan though I would recommend it, otherwise if your in the area and have nothing else to do sure come and visit.

Went during winter magic, roughly November to 9 January, and would highly recommend. The castle lights and projector show really add to the seasons ambience. The restaurant was fantastic, no wait, we went after touring the grounds about 2000. The soup and venison was delicious and warming. The beer on tap was a must sample.

What a beautiful castle! We saw it on the top of the mountain and were completely in awe. To get there you park in the castle parking lot for 2 euro and then we opted for the hike to the top. It is a challenging uphill trek so be warned, if you have bad joints I would recommend the shuttle to the top. It is a rewarding hike though with beautiful scenery once you get to the top. You get to go into a couple of the interior rooms which was nice. We went on German unification day which is a holiday so we didn't need a tour guide to walk through. There were several English signs explaining what things were throughout which was very nice. Definitely a must do if you are in the area!

This is a very enjoyable place to visit. The walk up and down is a little exercise that earns you a beer in the beer garden. The tour is very well done. The views are SPECTACULAR. And the castle itself is quite remarkable.

verzeihen Sie mir, ich bin nicht fließend Deutsch So I'll just do my review in English. I visited Deutchland for my birthday the second week in November and decided to concentrate my trip around München. Learning there are many great castles around Deutchland I chose to visit Hohenzollern and I came on my birthday. What a sight! You will literally spend all day here it's a big castle with lots of history. The walking tour is amazing! They have what I guess is a Bier Garten so you can even grab a bite to eat which of course I did. If you're having trouble deciding which castle in Germany you would like to visit, Hohenzollern is a treat you won't be disappointed. A special vielen danke to Hohenzollern for being open and available to the public and to Deutchland for being such an awesome country. My birthday was unforgettable

You won't get lost driving to this castle. It is set atop a mountain and hard to miss. It is gorgeous. You can park near the bottom and it costs 2 euro. There is a shuttle that will take you to the top, but it is a little pricey. The walk isn't bad and it gives you a nice work out. It is worth the trek to get up to the top to see the impressive castle. There are fees to see the grounds and a fee to go inside on a tour, but sometimes the entry (grounds fee) is free. Most of the tours are in German, but there are English tours offered as well. To save time from having to wait for a later tour try calling the information desk to find out about when it is offered if you do not know any German. The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes. If you do not want to pay for a tour or do not want to wait for one, you are able to visit the 2 on site churches and dungeon for free. There is also a small cafe area on the castle grounds that offers some snacks and drinks. In the summer they have more food available. The gluhwein is only available during the weekend. There are restrooms at the castle and by the parking lots. There is also a nice gift shop located by the information desk and a small shop by the parking lots, as well as a small restaurant. If you need more choices, there are a cluster of restaurants nearby. This is one of my favorite places that I have visited on my trip here and I definitely recommend checking it out. It is only about 30 minutes from Stuttgart.

We visited Hohenzollern on 1 of the warmest days of the summer. Our tour guide told us it was one of the warmest days in the 40 years she had lived in Germany! When entering the castle you are put into a small room to put on slippers. Keep in mind - if you have any sort of handicap - just let your tour guide know and you won't need the slippers. However, the small children in our group had to wear them! The interior of the castle and the tour are well worth the hike up the hill. (If you have someone with a handicap that can't walk up - they will give you a ride up!) It is "Hogwarts" like in my opinion. Or better yet - Hogwarts is similar to Hohenzollern! The tour of the interior was fantastic. They gave you the history and how they built the castle - which was interesting. At the end of the tour you can go to a room that has the jewels and they tell you about other jewels that had been stolen. It was quite an interesting history lesson! If you have the chance - check it out. It's definitely worth the visit and stunningly beautiful!

We arrived early and had much of the scenic views and castle to ourselves (and a handful of other visitors) for the first hour. Gorgeous views and a fantastic experience. It was an open tour day, meaning docents were in the various inner rooms giving additional information and answering questions. The docents were fabulous and very kind to explaining everything to us in perfect English. Truly worth the visit!

Nice view when you are on top!! I was impressed. I love the little bus ride up to the castle. We hit the jackpot, we were there the weather was beautiful! At the end of the trip we laid by the resting area under the tree. The underground place was cool, where the solider used to be guarding the main castle area. It was a great day we took DBtrain back to Stuttgart. We didnt pay for the ticket to see other area. My friend told me if you are going during Christmas time the castle will sell things or has a little market in one of the room.

2€ to park, more to take the shuttle up & down. We walked but it was quite a hike!! The castle is amazing & worth a drive & the entry fee, although it was free the day I went. The English tour was at 2pm today. I am not sure if it is the same time every day. All the rest were in German.

My first true castle experience took place here on a snowy January day and it was truly magnificent. Arriving here is an adventure in itself. It's a bit difficult to find the parking for the castle and once you park there is even further to go to actually get to the castle. There are 2 options: walk about 15 minutes up to the top or pay about 2 euros for the bus. We chose the bus. Once you get to the top you can either pay 5 euros to see the outside and the chapel or 10 euros for the guided tour. We opted to do the tour and it was definitely worth it. The tour was led in English and took about 45 minutes through all the kings rooms. Very Interesting history and stories to be learned here. On top of all that the views from the castle are stunning. Beautiful hills and quaint german villages can be seen from all angles, especially beautiful in winter time. The only negative part of the experience was our journey back down. The bus driver instructed us to press the alarm button when we were ready to descend and he would come get us. 20 minutes later he still wasn't there... so we walked in the freezing cold. We had already paid extra for our return bus drive too but just decided to cut our losses and leave. Besides that, everything about this castle was amazing and I highly recommend anyone in the area to come visit. It is highly worth it!

Perched atop a high and steep hill, this castle is impossible to miss! It's "faux old" having been rebuilt in the 1800s on the site of previous fortifications, but nevertheless very interesting. We got there too late to walk up through the forest and took the minibus (1.90 Euro per trip or 3.00 Euro round trip) so that we could visit all of it. It was "royal promenade day", which meant that you got to don flannel slippers, wax the floors while you were going through all the rooms and ask docents any questions you had. We saw the kitchens (a museum with amazing artifacts) and the quarters of the guards/jail too, then promenaded down to to main parking lot, about 3 km down the mountain. Skip the rather pedestrian gift shop unless you a fan of the Hohenzollern Family and history, and find yourself a local cafe or tavern to have a restorative coffee or meal.

Sehr schoene gepflegte Burganlage