Munich

Germany continues to surprise me every time I visit a new place in this beautiful country. This time I went to explore the Bavaria region. My journey started in Munich, the Bavaria`s capital. This beautiful city is well known for the annual Oktoberfest celebration, the biggest in the world.

To get from Munich`s airport to the city center you can take the S-Bah numbers S1 or S8, it will be a 45minutes ride. The first place I visited in the city was the beautiful Marienplatz Square. As soon as I turned the corner I was instantly impressed by the gorgeous architecture of the New Town Hall built between 1867 and 1908 with its Neo-Gothic style.

While you are there just walk around the old town (Munich Altstadt) for more beautiful architecture. You will find several alleys with cute hidden restaurants. Make sure to explore these alleys 🙂 Also, make sure to check it out Odensplatz, a large square developed in the early 19th century with ornate buildings, some of them with a Roman influence.

Right in front of Odensplatz, you will see the entrance to the Hofgarten, an Italian Renaissance style garden built in 1617. The garden is well kept and it is a quite and beautiful place to relax in the middle of the city.

Berchtesgaden: Almbachklamm Gorge and Königssee

After exploring Munich I headed to my favorite part of this trip: Königssee. I took a train to Berchtesgaden, a town in the Bavarian Alps on the Austrian border. The train ride took me three hours. I stayed in this town for a few days giving me easy access to the places I wanted to visit: Almbachklamm Gorge and Schönau am Königssee.

The Almbachklamm Gorge it is a 1-3h hike accessible only in summer. This place has many beautiful waterfalls and it is a nice place to relax and listen to the water stream. The starting point is the Marble mill (Kugelmühle), located just off the road between Berchtesgaden and Salzburg, Kugelmühle parking lot can be reached by car, on foot from Berchtesgaden (approximately 45 min. each way) or by local bus (10 min bus ride, the bus stop is on the main road, 5 min. walk to Kugelmühle).

The next day I went to explore Königssee, a natural lake within the Berchtesgaden National Park. The lake is only accessible by ferry.  The ferries run all year long and it also run as a tour. You can do the tour in two parts: the first part to reach Saint Bartholomä, and the second part to reach Salet. From Salet there is a footpath that will take you to Obersee, a smaller lake famous by its “instagramable” appeal. But before you get in the ferry, you can also explore the viewpoints around the lake:

Malerwinkel (Painter’s Corner – 30m): This viewpoint is the first place you’ll see a clearing from which you can see Königssee.

Rabenwand (Raven Wall – 40m): Continue further up for another 10m to reach Rabenwand.

Once you get in the ferry, I would recommend to sit on the left side facing the front of the ferry. From the ferry you will see:

1. Boat Houses. 
2. Echowand – during your boat trip, the captain will stop the boat to play a song on his trumpet which comes back as an echo (this is very beautiful).
3. Saint Bartholomä – this Roman Catholic pilgrimage church operates today primarily as a restaurant. You will have the option to get off the ferry here and then hop back on the ferry again until the next stop… I personally did not get off the boat here since I heard the line can get long to get back in the ferry.
4. Salet & Obersee (last stop).

Once you get to Salet there are many options for hiking. There are signs showing the name of the trails and the duration of the hikes. Take your time to explore this beautiful place.

As you can see by the pictures, this place is breathtaking. The lake with transparent green water surrounded by the mountains looks like a magical place. I was truly impressed by the landscape of this place, it is a spectacle of nature!