Walking in the Bavarian Alps

Book excerpt: A guidebook describing the Bavarian Alps, stretched out for 300km along the border between Austria and Germany and containing Germany's most spectacular walking. Moving from west to east it starts with the Allgäu, a region renowned for its wildflowers, tranquil pastures and the impossibly steep grass slopes that characterise many of its peaks. Further east mountain trails lead past famous fairy-tale castles such as Neuschwanstein. Near Garmisch-Partenkirchen you can sunbathe on the grassy summit of the Wank while enjoying a bird's-eye view and at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, a trail skirts the shores of the beautiful Eibsee, a lake surpassed only by the Königssee, visited in the final section of the guidebook. Here, in the Berchtesgaden Alps, trails in the shadow of the mighty Watzmann massif lead you through a landscape of Wagnerian grandeur. The guide contains 85 walks, including graded mountain routes, gentler valley walks, hut-to-hut routes and two multi-day tours, arranged by region with practical information on transport, accommodation and the like. Since the last edition of this guide many of the base towns introduced free bus travel and the start of many of the walks described now be reached for free.