Wendelstein Bayern

I'd do a round trip and go up with the cog rail from the east side and down by cable car on the west side. Unlike the Zugspitzbahn the Wendelstein cog rail doesn't go inside the mountain and you can enjoy the beautiful landscape while it climbs leisurely uphill. The distance between the Brannenburg train station and the Wendelsteinbahn bottom station is approx 1.5km, which you will have to cover on foot or by taxi. From the summit station it's a 5 minutes walk on a paved walkway up to the summit, which is, so to speak, fortified by a restaurant, a chapel and an observatory. So, don't expect much of an desert or a meeting with a yeti. The views are beautiful. The cable car brings you down to the Osterhofen station on the Bayrischzell - Holzkirchen (- Munich) line. If you go up early you wold have time for other activities in the afternoon. There are many hiking opportunites from lazy to demanding ones. A very nice and not demanding hike would be from lake Schliersee (three stops from Osterhofen in direction Munich) along the so called Maximiliansweg up to the Gindelalm (difference in altitude ca. 500m) and the Neureuth to lake Tegernsee. There are mountain huts at both places. You would end up right at the Tegersee station where you can catch a train back to Munich (runs every hour).

This is fabulous information - just what I needed. Thanks

In 2009 I "did" the Wendelstein on my way from Innsbruck to Mittenwald. I took the train to Brannenburg, walked to the Talstation of the Zahnradbahn (cog railroad) and took the train to the Bergstation. Then I came down the Seilbahn (cable car) and spent the night in Osterhofen at the foot of the mountain before going on to Mittenwald via Holzkirchen.

On the summit of the Wendelstein is a weather station; the summit station/restaurant/chapel complex is a little below the summit but you can hike up a trail to the weather station.

You don't have to walk from the Brannenburg station if you time it right. The Wendelstein Ringlinie bus (schedule here) makes four trips daily around the mountain, two in the morning, clockwise and CCW, and two more in the afternoon. The clockwise trips stop at the Brannenburg Bhf at 9:45 and 16:29 and go on to the Zahnradbahn Talstation in 6 minutes. The round-trip fare is for the Zahnradbahn or Seilbahn both ways or one each. If you take one each way, you can also use the Ringlinie to get back to your car if you're driving and not going on by train like I did.

Definately try for the Ringlinie, the price includes a round trip in either direction using bus-cable-rack railway. And note there is a 50% discount if you show a BayernTicket or a BOB/ Meridian day train pass.

The restaurant at the top station is quite reasonably priced considering location and monopoly. On a clear day from the weather station you can see back to Munich. From the south side views of the mountains are beyond Innsbruck/ Kitzbuhel and south into Italy BUT on warm afternoons the haze can build up and reduce them.

Thanks SteveB. I hadn't worked that out about the fare. Good news! And good about the cafe too.

I've saved this, did not know about it. Great area.

Other than Shanks's Pony, is there a plan "B" if you miss the only 4 times a day bus? It sounds wonderful, and it would be fun to go up one way and down the other but I worry about that infrequent bus. Is there somewhere the two train lines cross (I'm driving)?

If you are not interested in the Zahnradbahn (Cog Railroad from Brannenburg to the Wendelstein), Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB) has a special offer, "KombiTicket Wendelstein-Seilbahn", of 34€/pers for a roundtrip on the BOB from Munich to Osterhofen "Bahnhof" (more like a bus stop, actually) and roundtrip on the cable car to the Wendelstein Bergstation. It's about a 10 minute walk between the Talstation and the Osterhofen Bahnhof. BOB trains leave at 4 past the hour from the Munich Hbf. I don't see a 9 AM restriction for the KombiTicket.

Is there somewhere the two train lines cross

Yeah, Rosenheim. It's a two hour trip between Brannenburg and Osterhofen via Rosenheim with an additional train change at Holzkirchen. But, without the bus, you still have the half hour, 3 km walk between Brannenburg Bhf and the Zahnradbahn Talstation.