Germany · Bavarian Alps
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Germany's highest mountain, its best-known ski town and two of its great gorges, all inside one valley.
Two Bavarian villages married by decree in 1935 for the Winter Olympics and never quite fused: Garmisch is the resort half, Partenkirchen the older one, with frescoed houses along a cobbled main street. Above both stands the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain at 2,962 m, reached by a cog railway that tunnels through the rock and a cable car off an emerald lake. This is the country's alpine capital, a working ski town in winter and a trailhead town in summer.
Suggested stay
3–5 days
Language
German
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Garmisch-Partenkirchen
The Zugspitze a cog railway bores through the mountain to a glacier plateau and a cable car swings to a summit that looks over four countries on a clear day.
Two towns in one an Olympic stadium and ski jump at one end of the valley, an old trade road lined with painted facades at the other.
Gorges the Partnach cuts a slot barely wide enough to walk, with galleries blasted into the rock and icicles hanging the length of it in winter.
Trailhead town cable cars lift you above 2,000 m in minutes, so ridge walks, via ferratas and hut-to-hut routes start where most walks would end.
Best time to visit
Apr, Oct
15-15° days
47.492° N, 11.096° E
UTC+2 · Europe/Berlin
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Weather & when to go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Apr, Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Late autumn and April are the awkward gaps: the ski season has ended or not begun, lifts and mountain huts shut between seasons, and the high trails stay under snow even when the valley is mild. Deep winter is cold and short on daylight, and it is exactly when the skiing is best and the gorges ice over. Summer weekends bring Munich day-trippers in numbers.
Top things to do in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
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Zugspitze - Germany's highest summit by cog railway and cable car
scenic nature wildlife 👍 PopularTwo ways up and a loop if you use both: the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn climbs from the town through Grainau and then tunnels inside the mountain to the Zugspitzplatt glacier bowl, while the Eibsee cable car makes the whole ascent in one enormous span. The gilded cross, the Austrian border terrace and a panorama over the Alps wait at the top. Take a warm layer whatever the valley is doing.
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Partnachklamm - the gorge walk from the Olympic stadium
nature wildlife scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedA walkway pinned to the wall of a slot the Partnach has sawn through the rock, with tunnels, spray and 80 m of cliff overhead. Reached on foot or by horse cart from the ski stadium, it stays open through winter, when the seepage freezes into curtains of ice. Loop back over the Graseck hamlet rather than retracing your steps.
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Eibsee - the lake circuit under the Zugspitze
scenic nature wildlife 👍 PopularA glacier-green lake at the foot of the mountain, with wooded islets and a flat circuit of about seven kilometres that keeps handing you the same view from new angles. Rowing boats and stand-up boards go out in summer and the shallows are swimmable if you are hardy. The cable car station sits on the shore.
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Garmisch-Classic - skiing Hausberg, Kreuzeck and the Kandahar
snow adventure 👍 PopularThe town's main ski area, three linked mountains rising straight out of the valley, with the Kandahar racing piste dropping through the trees to the finish arena. It hosts World Cup downhills and is genuinely steep in places, with easier ground high up around the Kreuzeck. Separate from the glacier area on the Zugspitzplatt, which opens earlier and closes later.
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Alpspitze and AlpspiX - the viewing platform over the void
scenic hiking ⭐ Highly recommendedThe Alpspitzbahn lifts you to Osterfelderkopf, where two steel walkways cross and cantilever out over a drop with the pyramid of the Alpspitze opposite. From here the Hochalm meadows, the Bergwelt trails and the Alpspitz via ferrata all set off. One of the easiest big alpine views in Germany to reach.
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Olympia-Skistadion and the Grosse Olympiaschanze - the 1936 arena
history snowThe stadium built for the 1936 Winter Games still stands at the mouth of the Partnach valley, its stone terraces intact and a modern jump tower replacing the original inrun. The New Year jump of the Four Hills Tournament fills it every winter. Walk in for the scale of the thing, and read the site honestly: these were the Nazi Games.
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Hoellentalklamm - the wild gorge on the route to the summit
hiking adventureSteeper, longer and rougher than the Partnachklamm, cut through the Hoellental on the classic walking approach to the Zugspitze. The path threads tunnels and a waterfall-lashed gallery to a hut above. It is a summer-only gorge, shut and impassable while snow and rockfall hold the valley, so check it is open before setting out.
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Wank - the sun terrace facing the big peaks
hiking scenicThe grassy hump on the quiet side of the valley, up by cable car, and the place to look at the Wetterstein range rather than stand on it. Gentle meadow walking, a summit house, and paragliders launching off the top all afternoon. The obvious half-day when the high mountains are in cloud.
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Ludwigstrasse, Partenkirchen - painted facades on the old trade road
history culture artsThe medieval route between Venice and Augsburg ran up this street, and the merchants' houses still line it, gable to gable under Lueftlmalerei frescoes of saints and hunting scenes. It is the one genuinely old-feeling stretch in the twin town, and it makes clear how different the two halves remain.
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Kramerplateauweg and the Philosophenweg - the easy view walks
hiking scenicTwo nearly flat balcony paths on the western slope, reached from the edge of Garmisch, that look straight across at the Zugspitze massif without a lift ticket or a hard climb. The Philosophenweg passes the old St Martin church and a churchyard chapel with a fresco of the dance of death.
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Richard Strauss in Garmisch - the composer's home town
culture arts historyStrauss built a villa here in 1908 and lived and died in it, writing much of his later work in the shadow of the Wetterstein. The house stays private, but an institute in town holds his archive and a festival keeps his music in the concert hall each year. Michael Ende was born here too.
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Kaltenbrunn and the Loisach meadows - cross-country and winter walking
snow nature wildlifeThe flat valley floor north of Partenkirchen carries groomed loipe through open fields with the mountains on three sides, and cleared winter walking paths for anyone not on skis. Tobogganing runs come down off the lower slopes. This is where a non-skier's winter day actually happens.
Best areas to stay in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Garmisch
First-time visitors $$Resort half, shops and spa hotels
Explore hotels in Garmisch →
Partenkirchen
Old-town character $$Older, quieter, frescoed and traditional
Explore hotels in Partenkirchen →
Grainau
Mountain-first stays $$Village at the mountain's foot
Explore hotels in Grainau →
Farchant
Budget and families $Plain valley village, good value
Explore hotels in Farchant →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Getting to & around Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Getting there
Fly into Munich, then roughly two and a half hours by train through the city centre.
Flight
Munich Airport (MUC)
About 130 km northeast, with no direct rail link from the terminal: ride the S8 or S1 into Muenchen Hauptbahnhof, then take the hourly Werdenfelsbahn regional train, which runs a little over an hour up the Loisach valley to the station set between the two village centres. Scheduled shuttle vans also run door to door.
Train
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bahnhof
Hourly regional trains from Munich, and services from Innsbruck up over the Seefeld plateau through Mittenwald. The station sits between Garmisch and Partenkirchen.
Coach
Bahnhof forecourt
Long-distance buses from Munich and onward into Austria stop by the station; a slower alternative to the train.
Drive
The A95 autobahn from Munich ends at Eschenlohe and the B2 carries on up the valley. Roughly ninety minutes, longer on winter weekends.
Getting around
Walking
Each half is easily walkable, but they are about two kilometres apart, so crossing between them on foot is a proper stroll.
Free
Bus
Town and valley buses link the two centres with the lift stations, the ski stadium, Grainau and the trailheads. Frequencies thin out in the evening.
TBC
Zugspitzbahn cog railway
Runs from its own station beside the main one out to Grainau and the Eibsee before climbing the mountain, so it doubles as valley transport.
TBC
Regional train
The Werdenfelsbahn heads north to Munich and south to Mittenwald and Innsbruck, and is the simplest way to reach Farchant or the Austrian side.
TBC
Cable car
The Alpspitzbahn, Wankbahn and Hausbergbahn are transport as much as sightseeing, turning an all-day climb into a morning walk.
TBC
Cycling
Flat cycle paths follow the Loisach and Partnach along the valley floor, with rental and e-bike shops in both halves of town.
TBC
Car
Worth having for Linderhof, Neuschwanstein and remote trailheads. Trailhead and gorge car parks fill early on fine weekends.
TBC
Day trips from Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Schloss Neuschwanstein
Full dayFairytale castle
Ludwig II's unfinished hilltop fantasy above the Alpsee, with his father's yellow Hohenschwangau castle below it and the Marienbruecke slung across the gorge behind for the classic view. Interiors are seen on timed guided tours only and sell out, so book ahead and expect crowds at any season.
Getting there
car | bus | train | tour
About 1 hr 30 by car, or bus and train via Oberau and Fuessen
Oberammergau, Linderhof and Ettal
Full dayPassion village and palaces
Three stops on one road: the woodcarving village of Oberammergau, painted head to foot and famous for its Passion Play; the baroque abbey at Ettal with its domed church and distillery; and Linderhof, the only one of Ludwig II's palaces he finished and actually lived in, with a grotto in the hillside.
Getting there
car | bus | tour
30-50 min by car or the regional bus over the Ettaler Berg
Mittenwald
Half dayViolin-making town
A quieter, prettier version of what Partenkirchen used to be, pressed right against the Karwendel wall. Violin making has been the local trade since the seventeenth century and there is a museum and working workshops to prove it. A cable car climbs to the Karwendel plateau for a stark, high view.
Getting there
train | car
About 20 min by regional train or car
Innsbruck
Full dayAlpine city over the border
The Tyrolean capital, an easy hop south on one of the most scenic rail lines in the Alps. Habsburg arcades, the Golden Roof and the imperial palace sit in the old town, with the Nordkette funicular and cable cars lifting you from the centre to a mountain ridge in about twenty minutes.
Getting there
train | car
About 1 hr 20 by train through Mittenwald and Seefeld, or by car
Munich
Full dayBavarian capital
Close enough to do as a day out rather than a separate trip: the Residenz and its treasury, the Alte Pinakothek, the Viktualienmarkt and the beer halls, plus the English Garden with its river surfers. The train runs hourly and lands you in the middle of it all.
Getting there
train
A little over an hour each way by regional train
Walchensee and Kochelsee
Half dayTurquoise mountain lakes
A deep, startlingly blue lake held in the mountains above its flatter twin, linked by one of Europe's oldest big hydro schemes. Swimming, windsurfing and kitesurfing in summer, and a chairlift up the Herzogstand for the view down over both. Quieter than anything in the Zugspitze's shadow.
Getting there
car | bus
About 40 min by car, or bus from Kochel station
A little history of Garmisch-Partenkirchen
A Roman staging post called Partanum sat on the road over the Alps here, and the name survives in Partenkirchen. Through the Middle Ages the valley made its living from the trade route between Venice and Augsburg, hauling and portering goods over the passes, and from 1294 it was governed not by Bavaria but by the Prince-Bishops of Freising, who held the County of Werdenfels until secularisation handed it to Bavaria in 1802. Then the road traffic went elsewhere and it became a poor farming corner again.
The railway from Munich changed that at the end of the nineteenth century, and mountaineers, painters and cure guests followed the tracks in. The Nazi state forced the two villages into a single municipality in 1935 so they could jointly host the 1936 Winter Olympics, the games at which alpine skiing first appeared as an Olympic sport. American forces arrived in 1945 and a US garrison and recreation centre stayed for decades. The hyphen remains, and so does the rivalry.
A staging post named Partanum stands on the road over the Alps.
The Bishops of Freising take the County of Werdenfels, ruling the valley for five centuries.
Secularisation ends church rule and the Werdenfelser Land passes to Bavaria.
The railway reaches Partenkirchen from Munich and tourism begins in earnest.
The Bayerische Zugspitzbahn cog railway opens to the glacier plateau.
Garmisch and Partenkirchen are merged into one municipality by decree.
The Winter Olympics are held here; alpine skiing debuts as an Olympic event.
Richard Strauss dies at his villa in Garmisch.
The Alpine World Ski Championships return to the Kandahar course.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+49
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
Mobile network & SIM card
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FAQs about Garmisch-Partenkirchen
▸ When is the best time to visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen?
Spring and autumn give the kindest valley weather, with April and October the clearest picks. High trails and hut routes only really work from June to September. Skiing is at its best in the depths of winter, which is cold and dark but is exactly when the mountain does what it is famous for.
▸ Can you go up the Zugspitze all year?
Yes. The cog railway and the Eibsee cable car run through every season, and the glacier plateau is a ski area in winter. What stops you is weather, not the calendar: high wind or a whiteout closes the top, so keep a spare day and check conditions before buying.
▸ How many days do you need?
Three gets you the Zugspitze, the Partnachklamm and one other mountain, with an evening in each half of town. Five lets you add Neuschwanstein or the Linderhof and Oberammergau loop, a proper ridge walk or hut night, and a spare day for when the summit is socked in.
▸ Do you need a car?
No. Trains from Munich, the cog railway, valley buses and the cable cars cover nearly everything, and the town is walkable. A car mainly helps for Linderhof, Neuschwanstein and remote trailheads, and for early starts before the buses get going.
▸ Is it worth visiting in winter if you do not ski?
Very much so. The Partnachklamm stays open and freezes into ice curtains, cleared winter walking paths and cross-country loipe run across the valley floor, there are toboggan runs, and the cable cars still go up for the view. The New Year ski jump is a spectacle in itself.
▸ Is Garmisch-Partenkirchen expensive?
It is pricey by German standards in peak ski weeks and midsummer, though generally gentler than the marquee Swiss and Austrian resorts. Staying in Farchant or Grainau, using the guest card for buses and eating at village inns rather than hotel restaurants takes a good deal of the sting out.
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