Monday, September 7, 2020

Munich to Garmisch | Eibsee | Zugspitze - day trip

I've been living in Munich, Germany for quite sometime now and one of the things that is a must do here is to visit the Garmisch area, hike around Eibsee and visit Zugspitze - the top of Germany.
Eibsee is a lake in the Garmisch area and its popularity and attractiveness come from the blue and green waters that is surrounded by the alps which gives the place a splendid view for any tourist, and so it becomes an imperative must see place for anyone in the Bavarian region or if I can say - any tourist to Germany (can debate this but let's say it for now :-))

In terms of all the attractions and activities possible at Zugspitze, they are excellently described their very own website, filled with exhaustive information and live webcam feeds so you can also see the place sitting at your...wherever you are.

So, this year I've been wanting to do this trip and found a great weather day in September the 5th!
This article is focused on public transport. By car - you can plan it quite well using Google maps.


... Getting there: Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen

From Munich, you can take the Bayern ticket that will take you on a Region Bahn (RB) to Garmisch-Partenkirchen or casually referred to as G-P (sometimes GaPa, sometimes GAP?!) and so you will be welcomed to the region of Garmisch!

If you are planning to go there and get the most benefits of your day trip, I'd suggest to plan your time well by starting from Munich as early as possible (<8 am) as the journey time is ~1hr 22 min to GaPa.

More information of tickets and timings here

Here's a general view of GaPa to get you an understanding of the journey from there and what you can plan for:


...At Garmisch-Partenkirchen


By public transport, we have the cogwheel train and the bus services to go beyond GaPa - I will focus on the cogwheel train here as that is by far very scenic than that of the bus. Duration of train ride to Eibsee is 30 mins and bus to Eibsee is ~25 mins.

At GaPa, get to the Zugspitze bahn train station and to the kasse(cash counter) to get the ticket to your preferred destination.You would have to get a ticket for yourself as the ticket machine will validate it and let you in. Note that there are two cash counters so people can check if the other one is open before queuing up on the one outside. When I was there, the second counter wasn't open so we had a long queue on the outside one.

Your bayern ticket covers the trip till Grainau and not beyond that. The stops and timings are covered here on grainau.de


It is best to check the timings and plan well as they could be dynamically changed due to many reasons (covid hampered this before May '2020, for example) so best to check their website or call them and ask.

There are several cable cars in every stop towards Eibsee/Zugspitze, so you can plan which one you want to do and experience. They are Wankbahn, Alpspitzbahn, Hochalmbahn and Kreuzeckbahn.

This picture from Zugspitze.de describes these possibilities:


...To Eibsee

For trip beyond Grainau (Hint: Eibsee and Zugspitze are beyond Grainau) it is € 3.20 one way per adult.

I'm told that the hike from Grainau to Eibsee is beautiful - so you can get off at Grainau and hike to Eibsee which is ~5 km. I didn't do it though, I got off at Eibsee.




With some beautiful sights along the way. I guess this would be full of snow during the winter.


...Activities

There are so many options and so many things to do at Garmisch that it can make you think one day is not enough - especially when you are a trail enthusiast. Options of activities like trail running, nature cycling and hike upwards are aplenty. So they've provided two main options: Garmisch-Classic and Zugspitze.


Eibsee and Zugspitze

The walk around Eibsee is ~7 km and it is a beautiful walk around the blue-green waters, wandering the mind and finding great relaxation amidst serene views of the alpine mountains. Some people rent boats, some do swimming and some just sit and enjoy the view and take in as much as they can.



While you descent walk a bit from Eibsee station to the Eibsee, you will walk by the huge station for Seilbahn - ferrying people effortlessly to Zugspitze, the top of Germany! This ride will cost you € 59.5 per adult. A ticket that looks similar to the cogwheel one will be provided, validate this at the ticket machine that will let you in to board the Seilbahn!





The 'Seilbahn' to the top


Journey to the top...amidst the clouds.


...to the top


There is a short hike option here as well. I didn't try it myself but from where you get off the cable car, you have the option to hike to the real top point.





The top of Germany
During the winter, I can only imagine how this place would look like - snow snow and snow!!
It was around 8 degrees celsius when I was there - totally unprepared with no winter clothing so had to leave the place soon. It was worth the visit and the sight - some clear sky in between brought in view of the place.

Or otherwise it looked like this most of the time.




The best sights are from the cable car of course - one example of it - the Eibsee.


...More than a day

If you are on one of those who wants to do more than a day - indulge in the entire Garmisch and become a Garmischian expert tourer, there is the ZugspitzCard with several variants that should take care of that desire and leave you with a boost of energy when you return!

Thursday, August 6, 2020

The 9th and 10th birthday

 Its been a while since I posted on my very own blog.

I agree, its not been a been a while, its been a very long time since I posted! 2+ years to be precise and we please join me to say the following two words "time flies".

So I take this opportunity to wish the blog a happy 10 years - yes its been 10 years since I started this blog with some random thoughts in mind - write about things I love, things I am excited about - such as technology, movie reviews and what not but it hasn't certainly panned out the way I imagined the day I started it but none the less, here we are!

I hope to bring up some topics to write about and keep the blog engaged and see how it goes.