Reutte and Fussen or Not?

CJ, first of all it's not a French town but an Austrian one and is therefore spelled REUTTE (pronounced Roy-Tah). The town itself isn't that spectacular but it's a good base for hikes in the area. You might as well use Kufstein (Koof-Styne) as a base. At least there is some sort of nightlife going on in Kufstein which your son might appreciate. Personally I like Kitzbühel (Kitz-Bool) as it's quite pitcuresque but also offers nightlife - and it's a good base for hikes. By the way another phantastic base town for hikes is Oberstdorf in Bavaria. Climb Mt. Nebelhorn and you'll be rewarded with a spectacular view of Mt. Zugspitze and 17 other peaks...

I'm one of the people who was not impressed with Reutte. I stopped there for lunch last August on my way from Mittenwald to Pfronten. I was just not impressed with the town, at least the part of town I could walk to. I think Rick promotes it because he takes his tour buses to Zum Schluxen, which looks like a nice Gasthof, but doesn't seem to be very well connected by public transportation. There are several castles ruins around Reutte; I'm not sure how difficult they are from town, whether you can get to the bottom by bus or by foot.

I thought Pfronten was a nicer town to stay in, on the same train line that goes through Reutte. The Falkenstein ruins where Ludwig planned to build his last (next, anyway) castle are on a hill overlooking Pfronten and you can hike to it easily from town. (There is a Gasthof near the ruins and a road goes to it from town.) You can take a bus from the train station to the base of another mountain, Breitenberg, overlooking Pfronten, and then take a gondola, Breitebergbahn part way up. There were a lot of people hiking from there.

I agree with Andreas about Oberstdorf. That area, the Iller valley of the Oberallgäu was my first "back door" in Germany. The Nebelhorn is one of the highest mountains in Germany and a major ski mountain in the winter. There is a lift from town to the top. In addition, you can take a bus from Oberstdorf to Kleinwalsertal, which is a part of Austria (Vorarlberg, I think). I've hiked in the Kleinwalsertal several times, there are a lot of trail in the valley. The TI office (it's in Mittelberg, as I remember) has trail maps.

Hi cj,
My best advice is that no matter where you stay, make sure that you do spend time around the castles. I spent 2 nights in Fussen, which is a cute town, if not unremarkable. The castles were second to none, and drives around the area and lakes were spectacular. I was there over Christmas, so we didn't hike much, but there are tons of hikes in that part of Bavaria. If you have a car, many of them will be reachable.

And many will be reachable without a car. Some people who stay in Pinswang, at Zum Schluxen, hike to the castles. I suspect you could do it in reverse.

The issue with Reutte isn't that it's a bad place to stay, it's just that there's so many better towns in the area. Why Rick Steves writes about this place and ignores others in Germany? Well, you'll have to ask the man himself.

"Reutte is better than Fussen."

The only criteria for that statement to be true might be cost of accommodations, and that might not be entirely true. Seems I have found some pretty reasonable places in Horn and Schwangau.

Füssen is certainly more convenient to the castles, and, IMO, a much nicer town. The trip from Munich out to Füssen takes 2 hours; the trip to Reutte via Garmisch-Partenkirchen takes 2½.

"Pinswang requires a car"?

By Pinswang, do you mean Zum Schluxen specifically, or just the Pinswang area. I'm sure Zum Schluxen is better than Reutte, and a car would be convenient. Zum Schluxen is about ¼ mile from the nearest bus stop. However, there are 15 buses between Reutte Bahnhof and Füssen Bahnhof between 8 AM and 6 PM (18:13, actually) daily, and 12 of them go through Pinswang.

OTOH, nearby Pfronten, which apparently Rick has not discovered, is a much nicer looking town, has an abundance of reasonable accommodations, and 29 bus trips daily between 9 AM and 6:15 PM between there and Füssen.

Hi cj,

We like Fuessen. We've stayed here on two separate trips. We visited Reutte twice also... don't see why I'd choose it as a place to stay. That's just my opinion.

Paul

"That is absolutely absurd on all levels. Only a Rick apologist who has his head up the man's arse would say that...Oh wait, nevermind"

Come on guys, get real. This is a board soliciting OPINIONS! Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion on each and everyplace on earth. To verbally assault someone because you disagree with them is ludicrous, crass, and frankly, a bit childish.

Maybe someone else should consider being an apologist for words spoken...

I thought James' comment was a bit harsh, but realistically, anyone who has actually been to both Reutte and Füssen would agree that Füssen is better than Reutte (possible more expensive than Reutte, but definitely nicer). No, if we are only talking about Gasthof Zum Schluxen, it's nice, and possibly less expensive than equivalent places in Füssen, but not nearly as convenient.

I think we're spitting hairs here. What matters is what you do, not where you stay so much. Like the others, I found Reutte to be uninteresting, but we did climb to the castle ruins south of the town and that was interesteing, especially if you have never seen ruins before. It's also a nice contrast (reality) to the (fantasy) castles of Ludwig II by Füssen. By all means visit those two castles outside of Füssen (and if you have a car, see Linderhof castle, too). I loved the hike past Neuschwanstien, past Mary's Bridge, and up into the hill beyond for a better view of the castles and the valley.

Every town mentioned is very close by. I don't see that it matters much where you sleep unless you don't have a car.

Thanks, everyone.
My son (24) requested we spend time hiking in the alps (he is also into photography) and it seems there are many places around to serve as a base - and while the town is mostly a place to sleep, it does seem like Reutte doesn't justify the additional distance.
This was a big help.
As for nightlife - that is what Berlin and Paris are for - in the country - he can talk to his mom!

CJ,

I have to agree with a post toward the top about the Kleinwalsertal. I am a bit partial to this area as my dad and aunt were born and raised there and I'll be heading there in mid-September. The area of the Kleinwalsertal can only be accessed through Germany and is beautiful. The hiking is wonderful and the towns are so quaint with the locals being so nice. I stayed at the Ferienhof Stephanie in Riezlern in 2006 and the prices were great, the family very nice and the breakfast tasty and filling. Enjoy!