My friends and I are traveling to Germany in September for the Passion Play in Oberammergau, but before we go there we are touring Bavaria. We are making Fussen our home base, but we want to travel to Zugspitze. It appears that the best way might be to rent a car for a day or two and drive there from Fussen. Has anyone driven to Zugspitze?
Posted by
DTW
343 posts
My first question is, how will you be getting to Fussen? You can drive from Fussen to the Zugspitze. We did that drive from the Zugspitze to Fussen. Most likely you will drive through Austria which would require you to purchase a tax sticker that is usually good for 10 days. These are easily purchased as soon as you cross into Austria at the nearest gas station or a place similar. There is parking at the base of the Zugspitze. We took the gondola up to the top and then rode the cog wheel(?) train down. If you are interested in little churches there is the Wies Kirche in Wies Germany. I find it to be a beautiful little Rococo church. It is about 1/2 hour northeast of Fussen. Enjoy the view!
Posted by
Bavaria
2480 posts
Most likely you will drive through Austria which would require you to purchase a tax sticker that is usually good for 10 days.
A toll sticker is not necessary since there is no autobahn trip involved. Moreover, with some plannig, you could go by public transport from Füssen to the Tyrolean Zugspitzbahn in Ehrwald (you can go by train to the Bavarian Zugspitzbahn via Garmisch too, but that takes much longer).
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
The drive from Füssen to GaP via Steingaden and Oberammergau is only a few miles/minutes longer than via Austria and avoids the need for any tax sticker.
However, a car is not necessary for that trip. I've been on a bus from Garmisch-Partenkirchen Hbf to Oberammergau and back. There are also buses between Füssen and Oberammergau, either direct or with a change in Echelsbacher Brücke. It looks like, depending on the time of day, the bus trip between Füssen and the GaP Hbf can take about 2 hours. The Zugspitzbahn Bahnhof is adjacent to the Hbf in GaP. There is a train connection from there to the top of the Zugspitze, with a change to the cog train at Grainau and an opportunity to transfer to the cable car at Eibsee.
You can look up the schedules on the Bahn Query webpage. Put in Fuessen to Bahnhof, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. That query alone will mostly get you train connections or buses via Austria. Click change, then change other data, and write in "Oberammergau" for stopover. That should get you schedules for the buses via Oberammergau.
Posted by
8248 posts
Personally, I think staying in Fussen is not the best choice. Stay in Garmisch where you can go to the cable car or cog train for the Zugspitze. Also, Garmish has the restaurants.
Posted by
36 posts
Just got back from that area. You really need a car to visit everything in the area. I also agree, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GaP) is a nicer place to stay than Fussen, although Fussen should be cheaper. We stayed in both. If you have a car, consider Grainau - it's slightly cheaper than GaP and actually closer to the base of the Zugspitze. We stayed at Gasthof Höhenrain, and it worked fine for us.