It was time again: finally, after many exhausting weeks, I was able to turn my back on my desk and take the opportunity to ride ‘my’ tour for myself again. It would be a cycle tour in Germany. And since I’ve wanted to explore the most beautiful corners of my home country of Bavaria for a long time, Caro – a friend who accompanied me – and I decided to cycle part of the Munich Lakes Tour.
The arrival point with our car was Bad Tölz. There we were picked up by the station manager from Munich and taken to the starting point in Murnau. Our first accommodation – Hotel Griesbräu – is located in the middle of the beautiful pedestrian zone of Murnau. We received a friendly welcome and our room with a view of the Obermarkt was very spacious.
Since we arrived in the early afternoon, we still had enough time to explore Murnau. After a short refreshment in the hotel’s own beer garden, we set off towards Lake Staffelsee. You walk about 15 minutes from the village to the ‘Staffelsee outdoor pool’. There is a possibility to do a round tour by ship. After we had enjoyed the sun for a bit, we went back to the village to say ‘hello’ briefly at the Hotel Angerbräu. Then it was time for dinner at the hotel. Since we had a few days of cycling ahead of us, we chose roast beef and ‘Tafelspitz’ to build our strength. We ended the day with a glass of wine in a nice café in the pedestrian zone.
After a delicious breakfast, we started relatively early in the direction of Garmisch Partenkirchen. From Obermarkt and out of town after a few minutes you are on the cycle path through the Murnauer Moos. It was a really nice day and the landscape of the region was a real dream. One flower was more beautiful than the last, which is why we had to stop almost every 5 minutes to take photos. The mountains, the blue sky, a stream and the bright sun were just perfect for great pictures. After we left the Murnauer Moos behind, we continued towards Eschenlohe. Here it was time for a coffee break.
Next we went along the Loisach towards Garmisch, always with a great view of the Zugspitze. In the early afternoon we reached Garmisch Partenkirchen. Until then, I didn’t know there were two parts to the city. Garmisch and Partenkirchen – even as a Bavarian you can still learn something about your home! In the hotel we received a friendly welcome from Christian, the nice receptionist, who I already knew from many phone calls. He gave us tips for what we could do on this beautiful sunny afternoon.
Our idea was to go to the Zugspitze, but instead we decided to take a trip to the Ecklbaueralm. You go about 20minutes to the ice rink or ski jump and then take a ‘rustic’ gondola to the Alm. Up there you have an amazing view of the Alpspitze and the Zugspitze. Of course, cycling and a snack make the perfect afternoon. Then we walked back to the city via the Partnach Gorge. The walk takes about 1 ½ hours. I can only recommend this beautiful excursion!
Back to the hotel, freshen up for a moment and head into town! Since there are many nice restaurants in town, we decided not to eat at the hotel. We had a stroke of luck with the restaurant on Mohrenplatz. There are typical Bavarian specialities, and everything tasted excellent. Another glass of wine in the hotel and we were knocked out in our hotel bed after a long but very nice day.
Woke up to find - thank goodness no sore muscles! View out of the window – bright sunshine. A day couldn’t start any better. We were both looking forward to a delicious breakfast and out stomachs were already rumbling. And we were not disappointed, the selection was great!
The day started with a train ride to Scharnitz. When we arrived in Scharnitz we started highly motivated towards the source of the Isar. It was already very warm and the path was always slightly uphill. The great landscape distracted us from the exertion and with this wonderful weather it was really worth doing this tour. In bad weather you have the option of driving directly from Scharnitz towards Wallgau.
When you arrive at the water sources, you can take a small circular walk. However, we preferred to cool off a bit in the cold Isar.
Then it was downhill back to Scharnitz and on to Mittenwald. This place is definitely worth a quick stop. Then it’s always slightly downhill to Wallgau.
Here I had chosen Hotel Gasthof Post Wallgau for our overnight stay. As soon as you walk in the door you feel at home. We were warmly welcomed by hotel manager Doris Neuner and I was also happy to finally get to know her in person. We got a nice room with a view of the Karwendel mountains. Then we went to the beer garden - we really earned coffee and cake today! Since it had gotten very hot that day, we simply lacked the momentum for further activities.
On this day we wanted to leave very early because it would be warm again. So, a delicious breakfast and off we go. The first few kilometres were on a little-travelled road, always in the shade of the trees along the Isar. After Vorderries you cycle to the dam on a country road, with a little more traffic. However, it is always downhill and is covered pretty quickly. In Fall we took a little stop to look at the restaurant ‘Jäger von Fall’ – we didn’t have the appetite for veal sausages. Right next to the associated hotel is a small, beautiful swimming area at the Sylvenstein reservoir.
The lake was ideal to cool off. After the dam, turn right through a bike tunnel on a cycle path. Still downhill on the well signposted Isar Cycle Path, and of course well marked with our beautiful E-arrows. In the village of Fleck we took a short break at the Landgasthof Papyrer, as the beer garden look just too nice to cycle by. Now it was already getting to the end of our cycle tour.
We reached Bad Tölz at 1pm. We took a short detour to the beautiful pedestrian zone of Bad Tölz then went to the Hotel Beer where we had parked our car at the beginning of the tour.
Conclusion: Our 4-day cycle tour from Murnau to Bad Tölz went by far too quickly in fantastic weather. Caro and I will certainly remember the many wonderful impressions for a very long time.
