One extra day to hike in Bavaria - where to go?

If you follow the Partnachklamm trail for about 4 hours up into the mountains, you'll reach what is probably King Ludwig's least-visited lodging, the King's House on Schachen (also know as the Jagdschloss Schachen). Bad weather forced me back on my only attempt to visit here, but the decor is supposedly as extravagant as any of his other castles or houses.

You could hike one of the gorges at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, either Partnachklamm or Höllentallerklamm. These are engineered paths along or above a raging torrent, sometimes in the gorge or on a bridge above it. I'd hold the 7-year old's hand the whole time, but lots of kids do it. It's fun and exciting.

From the top of the Höllentallerklamm, you can walk an easy 30 minutes to a mountain hut for refreshment, with views up to the Zugspitze.

You can use Google to find pictures of these gorge hikes.

Another possibility at G-P would be to ride the lifet up Wank and do a hike on th eopen slopes an top of the mountain, with views to the Alpspitze and othe rmountains, plus paraglider to watch. The terain on top is nearly flat and very safe.

Or try this one:

http://www.zugspitze.de/en/summer/berg/garmisch-classic/alpspitzrundfahrt.htm

Ride the Alpspitze cablecar up to Osterfelderkopf and hike over to the top of the Kreuzek cablecar for the ride down. A high alpine journey that is very doable for kids.

Just 20-30 minutes west of Füssen is the village of Pfronten. There, on the hill overlooking the village is the castle ruins of Falkenstein. This was where Ludwig wanted to build his final castle. I really wanted to hike up there last September, but my Gastgeber said it was about a 2 hr walk, each way, and I wanted to see a lot of things that day. Across the Vils valley from the ridge that Falkenstein is on is the Breitenberg gondola. You can go up there and hike and the view down to Pfronten and across the valley to Falkenstein, with Neuschwanstein in the distance, is pretty.

Just about an hour from Füssen is the German ski resort of Oberstdorf, and just up from that the Alpine valley of Kleinwalsertal (View of Baad, Austria, from hiking trail). In Kleinwalsertal, you can ride up ski lifts for spectacular views and hike back down.

Hi Randy,

Under an hour drive from Fuessen is the "Zugspitze Arena" area of Austria (Lermoos, Ehrwald, Berwang, Bichlbach, etc.). While we never hiked in this area (we're not hikers), we have visited from Fuessen to "do" the Zugspitze from Ehrwald, Austria. It may be what you're looking for.

www.zugspitzarena.com/cms/en/sommer/sommer.php4

www.zugspitze.at

Paul

Thanks so much everyone for the quick responses. I will be doing some web searching with your links and suggestions. Keep them coming...

hiked up to ehrenberg castle from our b&b in reutte. lovely views over the valley and the ruin was deserted in late afternoon. bonus was wildflowers in bloom. did this after touring the major castles in the morning. we rode the tram up the zugspitze. it was great and i know you can do day hikes there. we also went south to imst austria and rode a mountain luge. great family activity.