Deutsche Alpenstrasse

It took us a whole day from Lindau to Oberammergau and we didn't stop too much. Can't tell you too much about the area around the eastern sections. The Deutsche Alpenstrasse is a collection of different secondary highway routes that winds through beautiful countryside with wonderful views and smaller towns. I suspect it would take you 2-3 days to travel at minimum. Give yourself time to "stop and smell the roses". Here's a good website that may help your planning. http://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/en/home

Over the years I have done almost the entire Alpenastrasse by public transportation. Caveat: 1. The part from Lindau to Sonthofen I did by train; it parallels the road, 2. I went from Bad Tölz to Schlersee by using the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB) instead of the road that goes down to the Austria border south of Tegernsee, 3. I went from Brannenburg to Frasdorf by train via Rosenheim, and 4. I skipped the last little bit from Inzell to Hintersee because there are no buses on that route.

Are there any MUST see places or things? I was thinking about driving down to Fussen then east to Berchtesgaden.

1. do the part from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Kochelsee. The ride along Walchensee is scenic and the switchbacks down into Kochel are especially pretty.

2. go over the ridge from Bayrischzell to Oberaudorf via Tatzelwurm.

3. Reit im Winkl.

On the western part, do go from Sonthofen to Oberjoch, up the switchbacks on the face of the mountain outside of Bad Hinterlang.

The main highlights, as per the official website: http://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/en/home Under the route section you will find the different stages.

Your idea of a leisurely drive may differ to mine. If you do drive to Lindau first, you'll want to spend the night there. Heading east from there are some places worth visiting which are not on the official route but just off it - the nice village of Isny, Wangen has a lovely centre, as does the town of Kempten. Fussen and the castles, if you have any interest, would be a minimum two days for me, Linderhof, Ettal and Oberammergau, a full day between them and so on. Enjoy.

On the western part, do go from Sonthofen to Oberjoch,

The adjacent segment to the west can be made a bit more alpine by going over into Vorarlberg: from Lindau follow the austrian A14 for a few km as far as exit 14 (Dornbirg Nord), then take B200 to the east and switch to 205 (at Müselbach), which leads over the Riedberg pass back into Bavaria to Fischen and Sonthofen.

Thanks everyone. I'll check into those places. I'm thinking we'll have a good 5-7 days to do it all. I want to make sure we have time to "stop and smell the roses"! We love to explore the smaller towns. We've been to Berchtesgaden, but only to see Kehlsteinhaus and it was cloudy and rainy that day. What is the town like , worth spending a few hours there?

Thanks,
Dan

Are there stretches of roadway that would make terribly anxious drivers uncomfortable with heights? Specifically, are there mountain roads without guardrails?

Are there stretches of roadway that would make terribly anxious drivers uncomfortable with heights?

Despite it's name the deutsche Alpenstrasse is not in the alps but rather meanders throug the northern foothills of the alps. It has no really steep gradients.

As I mentioned earlier, the route coming out of Bad Hindelang headed to Oberjoch is a series of switchbacks going up the steep face of a mountain. I've done that part four times (twice each way), but only by bus, so I wasn't looking for guardrails. I don't remember any.

The road between Bayerischzell and Oberaudorf has some pretty steep grades (I think I remember a sign saying the grade was 7%), but I don't remember any steep drop-offs.