Eibsee: Like in a fairy tale

For hikers, there could be few more beautiful destinations in Bavaria: Lake Eibsee with its green-blue water and the almost surreal Zugspitz panorama is a dream location - and yet only one of many highlights in Werdenfelser Land.

If a photo of Lake Eibsee happens to catch your eye, the reaction is almost always the same: too good to be true! Does this lake really exist? This green-blue shimmering water, behind it dense fir forest and one more the towering rock faces of the Zugspitze Massif? Lake Eibsee looks as if someone had packed the answers to the deepest longings of (vacation) man into a single image: clear water, soothing forest and the endless freedom of the mountains.

But don't worry: Lake Eibsee really exists. It is well known and even without Instagram filters a well-visited highlight of the Werdenfelser Land, as the alpine vacation region around Zugspitze and Garmisch-Partenkirchen is called. With an area of only five hectares and a depth of over 30 meters, it offers everything that Upper Bavarian lakes usually have to offer in terms of beauty: You can swim in the water, which is up to 22 degrees warm, you can rent SUPs, take a rubber dinghy or canoe around the small islands in the lake and, above all, you can hike once completely around the Eibsee.

The 7.5 kilometer tour guarantees magnificent views not only of the lake, but also of the Zugspitze. What sets Eibsee apart from other Upper Bavarian lakes, however, is its status: it is privately owned. In 1884, August Terne bought the lake and made it an attractive destination for summer visitors. His descendants still own the lake today.

Whoever wants to enjoy the view of the fairy tale water from a special vantage point, board the new Zugspitz cable car just behind the Eibsee Hotel. In all-round glass cabins, it takes passengers up to Germany's highest mountain at 2,962 meters and takes just ten minutes to cover the almost 2,000-meter difference in altitude. In the process, it slips over the world's highest steel pillar at 127 meters and, in good weather, rewards passengers with a breathtaking panoramic view as far as Munich.

Lake Eibsee is located in the middle of a magnificent hiking and mountaineering region. Wetterstein Massif and Karwendel offer the most beautiful possibilities in all degrees of difficulty. You can climb up to the Schachen, the mountain home of fairy-tale king Ludwig II, be refreshed by cool spray in the Partnachklamm gorge or shimmy with a beating heart over the via ferrata Alpspitz-Ferrata.

The Olympic and vacation resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, just 12 kilometers away, also has a lot to offer with its beautifully painted farmhouses, cozy inns and pretty shopping addresses. The fairytale castle of Linderhof with its oriental pavilions is also just a stone's throw away, and the violin-making village of Mittenwald is just around the corner.

If you want to see more lakes besides the Eibsee: Barmsee, Tennsee and Grubsee, located between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Krün, are not quite as famous, but quite wonderful swimming addresses!

By the way, you can find tips on how to travel comfortably and inexpensively on long-distance and local trains with Deutsche Bahn here.