Our road trip through Bavaria
It was sometime in the middle of a February weekend afternoon, I was pestering Arun to plan our next big travel and I went to take my lazy afternoon nap. When I woke up, Arun literally had a rough trip itinerary and that’s where it all began :)
Day 1— Stuttgart
If you wondering why Stuttgart, Arun is a big fan of Porsche and Mercedes cars and he always wanted to visit their factories in Stuttgart. Not only that, but it’s also one of the best places to hire rental cars at the airport. It was a bit unfortunate that we didn’t get factory tours as they get booked off very early but we visited the Porsche museum which took us back through the history of Porsche making us admire their legendary racing and sports cars.
Since we had a car to drive around, we booked our Airbnb in a small quaint town called Kirchheim unter Teck. Our host was a lovely German lady who made our stay very memorable.
Day 2— Heidelberg
Heidelberg is a beautiful historic town located on the River Neckar. It’s famous for its castle ruins and the university. It’s also said to be one of the few places to have escaped the bombings during World War II. We walked around the university town and enjoyed the spectacular panoramic view of the town from Scheffelterrasse. We also hiked through the snake-like steep path up the hill called the Philosophenweg for some great views of the old town.
Day 3— Triberg and Titisee
We drove from Stuttgart to Triberg. For travel by car, Germany’s motorway — Autobahn is known for being one of the best highway systems in the world where you can drive fast and there is no speed limit for various stretches of the journey. Arun drove like never before reaching speeds of around 225km/hr while I was busy making videos of him speeding ;)
Triberg is a landmark for the splendid Black Forest region and is famous for featuring the highest waterfalls in Germany, cuckoo clocks and Black Forest cake. We hiked almost to the top of the waterfalls and treated ourselves with a yummy Black Forest cake and a nice hot Kaffee after climbing down.
We absolutely loved driving through the magnificent scenery of the Black Forest road called Schwarzwaldhochstrasse or Route B500. We reached Loffingen around evening and settled down in our cosy Airbnb for the night.
Day 4 — Loffingen, Lindau and Neuschwanstein Castle
Loffingen is a nice little town and it was a perfect stopover place for us before we continued driving down south to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
On our way, we stopped at a beautiful island town called Lindau which stands on Lake Constance (or Bodensee) in Bavaria.
Next stop was at the fairy tale castle — Neuschwanstein. It’s beautifully nestled among the breathtaking beauty of the Bavarian Alps and is built by King Ludwig II. We hiked to Mary’s Bridge to see the castle in its full glory. It was impressive and visiting it was truly a unique experience.
After a nice long day of exhilarating driving through Black Forest and encountering some of the historic sights, we were greeted by the Bavarian Alps where we checked in to our Airbnb at Garmisch- Partenkirchen.
Day 5— Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Partnach Gorge and Mt Wank
Our first activity of the day was visiting Partnach Gorge. It’s a beautiful natural spectacle! A gorge is a narrow deep valley that’s formed by a mountain river eroding the earth’s surface. It’s better to carry a raincoat or a jacket with you when you are here.
After having our lunch we headed to Wankbahn Talstation and took the cable car to go to the top of the mountain Wank. It was drizzling so the views at the top were covered with clouds so we got a bit unlucky.
We were craving for some Indian food for dinner and that’s when we found “Bollywood Tandoori” which has great ambience and tasty food.
Day 6— Oberammergau, Ettal and Linderhof Castle
It was raining and cold hence we cancelled our Zugspitze (highest mountain in German Alps) plan and headed to a town called Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps. It’s famous for houses with impressive fresco paintings narrating various fairy tales and for creative wooden carvings dating back to late Middle Ages.
Ettal
We backtracked in our car to Ettal which houses Ettal Abbey. This Benedictine monastery is absolutely stunning on the inside and it also houses a brewery. We bought a few beer bottles and set out to go to Linderhof Palace.
Linderhof Castle
This is another palace built by King Ludwig II. It’s the smallest of his three castles, but the only one that he lived to see completed. This palace was dedicated in honour of Louis XIV of France. The garden combines elements of the French Baroque and English landscape patterns.
Day 7— Munich
Visiting Munich was not in our itinerary at all. It was bit of a random idea. We had originally planned to go to Lake Eibsee but a lady at a local information centre told us that it was going to be sunny the next day. So we cancelled our day plan and decided to drive to Munich which was just an hour and a half away.
The first thing that we did after going to Munich was visiting the world famous Hofbraus Brewery. It is a old famous tavern in the city centre of Munich. This place is now a big tourist attraction and is built for capacity. We shared tables with a lovely German couple who helped us understand the menu and gave us some good local insights while we enjoyed our beer.
We then took a stroll around Munich central square Marienplatz. It is dominated by the Neues Rathaus, a magnificent neo-gothic building. Asam Church is another historic place that you shouldn’t miss when you’re in Munich. It’s very ornamental combining elements from baroque and rococo architecture.
Day 8— Lake Eibsee and Geroldsee
Thank god it wasn’t raining on our last day here. We walked alongside the picturesque Eibsee lake soaking in all the beauty.
Lake Geroldsee is another place close to Garmisch-P and is truly a hidden gem. It was suggested by our Airbnb host and you don’t spot any tourists here. It was calm and serene, the place I didn’t want to ever leave.
All in all, we had a memorable scenic road trip with fairytale castles, idyllic villages, breathtaking views and historic sites of Bavaria and there is still so much to see and enjoy. We will definitely come back here again :)
Useful Tips:
- If you plan to do the Porsche factory tour, book it in advance. Museum entry tickets could be bought anytime.
- There is always one or another walking/hiking to do. So do carry good shoes and jackets with you.
- Autobahn is just German motorway with variable speed limits. There are a few stretches in the motorway where there is no speed limit.
- Don’t book the Zugspitze or any other mountain climbing tickets in advance as the weather around this place is quite unpredictable. You can always buy the tickets from the Bahn station and choose to climb up on the same day.
Useful Links:
- Eibsee boating — https://www.zugspitzcard.de/en/partner/all-inclusive-partner/bootsverleih-eibsee
- Zugspitze card — https://www.zugspitzcard.de/en/partner/all-inclusive-partner/alpspitzbahn-hochalmbahn
- Toboggan activity— Sommerrodelbahn in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Porsche factory tour email factorytours@porsche.de
