During winter hikes, you quickly have strenuous tours to icy summit crosses on your mind. But on the one hand there is hardly any snow even in the mountains – and on the other hand you don’t always have to go high. Smaller hikes up to managed alpine pastures, a walk around the lake or on an island also have their charm and can be just the right thing for a short excursion. The main thing is that the view is right and that there is a refreshment in a cozy atmosphere as a reward.
Up to the monument
Early morning view of the partly snow-covered Brauneck.
(Photo: Manfred Neubauer)
No summit cross anywhere. What is a mediocre nightmare for the Insta generation is of little to no concern to the common winter hiker as long as there is a decent view at the top, and it gets it from the monument above Lenggries anyway. The view goes over to the Brauneck, straight as an arrow to the west into the sunset over the Karwendel peaks. Bit cheesy, but totally Instagrammable.
Records are unlikely to be set on this leisurely walk, because the Alm is located at a manageable 980 meters above sea level and can be reached in two ways from the car park on Bachmairgasse via the Tratenbach Bridge: either in 30 minutes or in an hour. From time to time it gets too steep for a pram tour.
Once at the top, alongside the Karwendel view in front of the door, a few classics of alpine cuisine await you in the hearty parlor: Brotzeit Brettl, Wiener with sauerkraut and, of course, Kaiserschmarrn in a truly not exactly homeopathic dose. The innkeepers Sonja and Michael Bauer have painted the following on their wall as a motto: “Everything in the world is foolishness, just not the cheerfulness.” And if you get cold feet on the descent, you can soothe them in the whirlpool or in the nearby bubble pool Isarwelle adventure pool warm up again.
Denkalm opening times: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Around the Seehamer See
After the tour around the lake, a stop at the Gotzinger drum is worthwhile.
(Photo: Manfred Neubauer)
Everyone has probably driven past it, but the fact that you can exit the A8 at the “Seehamer See Ost” and “Seehamer See West” car parks and walk through a beautiful landscape conservation area with one or the other beaver castle just a few meters away, that remains hidden to many. Of course, the constant stream of cars rushing to and from the Irschenberg can’t be overheard, but it’s not really disturbing.
For a good six kilometers it goes at ground level over field paths and forest paths, partly also over asphalted roads, but at the southern end of the lake it is long and difficult romantic through the forest, over thick tree roots and past a spring that has the beautiful name “Deife, ria di ” (Devil, stir yourself) and from which not only water but also fine sand gushes. Always in view from the northern end of the lake: the Wendelstein and its colleagues.
And after the deed is done, you either go to the Spit Roast House in Weyarn, or you invest another ten kilometers to the southwest and immerse yourself in the extremely cute world of Gotzing drum (Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to midnight) for what the menu says so beautifully – “Reichsritterliches Tafelspitz”.
On the Schwarzenberg
A mountain panorama with the snow-covered Brecherspitze (right) and Jägerkamp (left) can be enjoyed wonderfully on the banks of the Schliersee.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
From a distance it doesn’t look like a panorama summit at all: much too wooded. But as is often the case: you have to get close to have a say. So up! The car stays in Hundham or a few meters further in the hamlet of Schwarzenberg, a lovely piece of picture-book Upper Bavaria. The almost 400 meters in altitude can be taken in two ways – the southern variant via the Almweg is the most panoramic. Passing chicken coops and horse stables, it’s quite a steep climb, goats are ringing to themselves, until the view of Fischbachau and the Schliersee mountains opens up at a bench called Habicht-Rast: Brecherspitz, Jägerkamp, Rotwand, everyone there.
On sunny afternoons, a metal avalanche rolls into the nearby cake paradise called Winklstüberl. There is less going on up here, at some point the path forks, you can leave the road and climb across meadows to the uncultivated Schwarzenbergalm, a former school camp. For a few coins, you can grab a cool beer or a soda from the fridge in the “lounge for hikers”, unpack your snack and consider whether you should also walk the last 70 meters to the summit or whether you would rather just look at the panorama. The descent to the north is not recommended in winter: slippery when wet.
On the Ilka height
When the fog settles over the moorland of the “Blue Land”, it is an uplifting sight.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal)
One of the countless advantages of the cosmopolitan city with a heart is the fact that you can practically take the S-Bahn to the mountains. At least that’s what it feels like. Anyone who gets off the S6 in Tutzing and walks further and further west over the educational forest trail, higher and higher, will soon find themselves on a high plateau from where you can almost touch Königstand, Heimgarten, Zugspitze & Co. At least that’s what it feels like.
The Ilkahöhe at 726 meters above sea level owes its name to Princess Ilka von Wrede, who cared for wounded soldiers in the 1870/71 war. the former Forsthaus Ilkahöhe has long been a popular place for excursions, including a view of Lake Starnberg. This one-hour round tour is not only a feast for the eyes when the weather is glorious, even when the fog settles over the moorland of the “Blue Land”, it is an uplifting sight.
And if you did take the car, then drive another quarter of an hour to Bernried: soak up culture in the Buchheim Museum of Imagination.
To the Wildbichl Alm
From Sachrang you can quickly get to the top of the Wildbichl Alm. If you like, you can go down on a sled if there is enough snow.
(Photo: Franz Ofner)
In the Kaiserwinkl, above the Chiemgau mountaineering village of Sachrang, directly behind the border to Tyrol, high above the Inn Valley at 1050 meters the Wildbichl Alm, a snack station with Kaspressknödln, Wiener Schnitzel and game dishes from venison, deer or chamois. From Sachrang you are up through the forest and across meadows in half an hour, from the car park at the Ritzgraben it takes about 50 minutes over serpentines with a clear view on a forest road up to the Alm – and who wants another half hour further up to the top the Karspitze.
But those who have caught good weather will sit comfortably on the terrace and wonder how they came up with the claim “When the sun rises” – there is no doubt that it is setting very decoratively over the Zahmer Kaiser, not rising (open again from December 26th, closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).
On Herreninsel
The ceiling painting in the Kaisersaal of the Augustinian Canons of Herrenchiemsee.
(Photo: Tobias Hase/dpa)
Many islands have the disadvantage that the view out onto the water is great, but the eye can’t really get a fix on anything. Things are different on the “Bavarian Sea”: If you cross over by boat (possible all year round) and walk along the shore of Herreninsel in Lake Chiemsee for almost nine kilometers, you are constantly walking from vantage point to vantage point: Hochgern on the left, Hochries on the right, direct the Kampenwand in front of you and lots of water glistening in the sun in between – it doesn’t get any nicer. Here, as prime minister, you would have to receive the chancellor…
The walk through St. Mary’s Church, the Augustinian Canons’ Monastery, the Cross Chapel on the northern tip and the medieval ramparts in the south naturally culminates in a visit to Herrenchiemsee Palacethe last work of a certain Ludwig II, who was only granted a few days here.