2021-June-Wallgau

A traveling aunt wants to go on a trip. Of course, Corona hasn't just thrown a spanner in the works for us on this topic. But personally, we really can't complain. We are doing well and since we are now doubly vaccinated, we are doing even better.

And so we decided on a vacation shortly after the reopening of hotels. The somewhat unusual thing for us: we spent it in just one place! Out of a certain uncertainty about what will really be open, we even booked half board. We never do that because we prefer to be independent. It's a good thing that our hotel in Wallgau was excellent in every way and we even made nice vacation acquaintances by meeting other guests daily.

By the way, Wallgau is a municipality in Bavaria near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is wonderfully green here. But this abundance of green in the landscape also comes with a price: it rains a lot!

The weather forecast for our vacation week looked particularly intense. Rain and thunderstorms were expected every day. In contrast, there was no sunshine. But everyone knows that the weather in the mountains can change quickly.

And indeed, we had everything in terms of weather: it was pouring rain, there were frequent thunderstorms, and then suddenly the sun was shining again. And there was even snow on the Karwendel summit.

Therefore, this post is intended to provide a few ideas and also encourage you in case the weather forecast, like ours, shows 7 days of continuous rain.

Therefore, Tip Number One: always have a rain jacket with you. But you already know that. Just like

Tip Number Two: proper footwear.

Now let's talk about our excursions, which we can highly recommend.

Hike through the Buckelwiesen

We had never heard of Buckelwiesen before our trip to Wallgau. They are a geological curiosity formed by the subsidence and dissolution of calcareous soil. Once you have sharpened your eye for this type of landscape, you will discover the mounds everywhere in the terrain.

For hikers, as well as cyclists, there is a very well-developed trail from Krün to Mittenwald through the biotope of the Buckelwiesen.

Along the way, you pass by the beautiful Maria Rast chapel, for example. Otherwise, there are plenty of blooming meadows to admire on both sides, and of course, a visit to the Goas Alm is worthwhile. Here, for example, you can fortify yourself with self-made goat cheese (closed on Mondays!).

We chose to extend the route from Wallgau and walked all the way to Mittenwald.

On the way back to Wallgau, we simply took the bus from Mittenwald. This is very relaxing, especially since it had been raining heavily on the Buckelwiesen during our hike.

Mittenwald

Of course, it is always worth taking a stroll through the violin maker town of Mittenwald.

This small town has a typical Bavarian look, which has been developed for tourism. In the pedestrian zone on Obermarkt, you will find many small houses in the traditional Straffelbau style with paintings. And of course, the church is also visible from afar.

Barmsee near Krün

Not very well known, but a little paradise, is the Barmsee. From Wallgau, you can hike there wonderfully (towards Krün) and then walk around the lake. Of course, there is also a nice place to eat and if you like, you can use the bathing area.

The lake offers a magnificent panorama, as my pictures show.

Take the chairlift to Kranzberg and return to Mittenwald via Lautersee

The most beautiful hike of our vacation is definitely this one. First of all, it is fun to ride a chairlift again. The facility calls itself a nostalgic lift and indeed, it operates a bit slower. Floating just above the ground at a low altitude, you ascend to Kranzberg and enjoy the landscape.

From there, you can also take the chairlift back down or hike down to Mittenwald via various paths. We highly recommend the path down to Lautersee. It leads through the forest and offers great views along the way, until you finally reach the small chapel Maria Königin at the bottom by the lake.

Definitely worth a visit is the hike around the lake. There are also bathing areas, boat rentals, and several nice guesthouses here.

From Lautersee, there are several ways to return to Mittenwald, but the most beautiful one is through the Laintal. Here, you walk right along the Lainbach in a stunning landscape. Along the way, you will even pass waterfalls and a gorge.

All in all, very romantic!

Ride the Karwendelbahn

The Karwendel Mountains are only partially located in Germany, but from Mittenwald, you can take the Karwendelbahn up to the western Karwendelspitze at 2,244 meters. This makes the cable car the second highest in Germany.

Once you reach the top, you could walk to Austria, but that would certainly be very strenuous. However, the view of the mountains in our neighboring country is already fantastic.

Of course, you should always remember that the weather up here is different than down below. We had to wait until the last day of our vacation for the view to be clear enough to venture up the mountain. After all, a combination ticket for a round trip costs €34.50.

And it is significantly colder at over 2,000 meters. We saw some lightly dressed excursionists freezing and were grateful for our jackets. Because despite the sunshine, there was still snow up here, and the wind blew icy cold.

However, the jackdaws feel very comfortable up here. The black birds are very resourceful in finding food and have noticed that tourists often drop a few crumbs. We also had a few small things with us, and for these crumbs, the jackdaws almost forget any shyness and sit right next to you. It's just a shame when they then 'thank' you by pooping on your backpack, as we experienced.

By the way, we did not hike to the summit cross this time. That would have required proper climbing gear. And we also did not complete the Panoramaweg Pasamani. We saw some other tourists fail in the snowy part of the path on the mountain and did not want to endure that ourselves.

Instead, we stopped in the dining rooms of the highest brewery in Germany. Even without having a beer here, we found it very pleasant.

You could even get married up here if you wanted!

So my dear ones, that was my little report from Wallgau. As a final tip, I can also recommend the guest card to everyone.

This card is issued to every guest at the hotel. To be honest, you are often better off with a car in this area, but if you decide not to use one, you can use the guest card to ride all buses for free.

In addition, depending on the number of overnight stays, there are either discounts or free rides on the Kranzberg chairlift.