Do you know what is the best thing to live in Bayern state of Germany? Specially Munich? You get the Germany’s best and most possibly the World’s best panoramic view of the Alps! You can have the boat trip, even the shower at the lakes which were formed at the ice age and which are illuminated with bright crystal clear blue water and the heartbreaking hiking routes.

I moved to Munich on last October. That was the time when officially Autumn ended and Winter was fully in it’s pace to appear. Practically this is not a good time to do hiking (at least for the amateur like me 😉 ) or getting best of the alps area. So I was eagerly waiting for May.

Its planning time …

Finally it is the time of some beautiful sunny days! All it started with the research to find some questions answered – where to start my amateur hiking career, how to go there, how to prepare for the tour. I was really overwhelmed with all the descriptions, stunning photos but a detailed itinerary of the tour was missing! Probably I am not the only one with this feeling. Therefore, I have planned to write my experience of discovering celestial Bayern in series! I will start with Germany’s one of the most beautiful lake just lying beside alps: Königssee.

Since ever I arrived in Germany, I have heard about this lake so many times. There are amazing descriptions available about this lake in CN Travel blogs, Toytown germany and several other travel website. This week when my friend was asking, what is your plan for this weekend, I randomly answered – probably going to discover Königssee! But seriously until then I was completely ignorant what to do next for making this happen.

And the journey begins …

The major part of this lake is situated in the Berchtesgaden National Park. It is said that the lake was formed during Ice Age from alps glacier. After a quick googling, I have found several routes to reach there and got confused. I realised, some trial-and-error would be needed to reach the lake. My plan was to start the journey as early morning as possible to make the best use of the day. To cover the whole journey, the best way is to get a Bayern ticket which costs €26/ per person and €6 for each of the added person if you are in a group. However, I took train M 79 from Munich HBF. This train runs between Munich HBF and Salzburg HBF on 51st minute of every hour. As expected the train was full of tourists as well as families due to the fantastic sunny weekend. Actually it was kind of festive mode with multiple groups – some were in DJ mode and some of them were actually going for bachelor party which already started partly in the train.

Shortly after the train started, we were passing through the heavenly Alps mountain area. You will love to see all the miracle view by switching from one window to another. After one and half hour, I reached to the Freilassing train- station. Immediately after stepping down you will see a nice blue, red and white coloured BLB train is waiting on the other platform. It is the time to check it out now!

The BLB train took me to Berchtesgaden ZOB/ Hauptbahnhof which is the terminal station on this route and supposed to take almost 50 minutes. Meanwhile, it stopped at several stations. Through the way, there were many small buildings built on the ridge of the mountain! Beautifully decorated windows and the flowering plants hanging from there – I just realised how lucky the people who are living in this beautiful place! I wish if I could be a remote worker and live here!

Just next to the Berchtesgaden station, there are supermarkets (Lidl, REWE), Drogerie shop (DM) and sports shop (Intersports). It is indeed very convenient if someone forgot their some stuff while statred the journey or need to buy something on the fly. There is also possibility to have food from Burger King if you are hungry by then. The bus stop is just next to the station. Check the bus number from the screen written “Königssee” or you could also ask anyone from the stoppage. Apparently, during the weekend the bus are not that frequent – one or two buses in an hour. Only bus 841 and 842 goes to Königssee. Alternatively, one can walk to königssee which may take around 40-50 minutes.

Finally, after 15-20 minutes, the bus left me in front of the entrance of Königssee! There is a tourist information centre in case of any one need to know something. Besides German, everyone speaks English. So, I did not miss the chance to get an overview about the area from one of the tourist guide. At the corner, you will find one McDonald shop incase you want to have something.

Just by the side of the Königssee, there is a small town and tourists are the heart of the town. I took a walk across the beautiful and colourful shops toward the lake. Beside the festive mode of the city, local style decorated shops, hand craft products and smell of the native Bayern food added extra excitement into my mind.

The lake itself is a place from heaven. Many people were rushing toward a mini dock, from where almost 17 large electric motor boats were riding to the other corner lake of the lake. Definitely it worth to spend 18 Euro to have a ride. It was also possible to rent a four seater boat which costs only 32 Euro. I found some tourists were preparing themselves to walk and do camping for next few days. As I was there only for a day, I decided to walk across the forest and beside the lake to get the stone age feelings within that short time! During my way, I could see the beauty of the lake from the mountain, small craftsman shops and small coffee shops. A gentle breeze from the lake was removing the tiredness of the walking. Besides the chirping of the birds, flugelhorn from the electric boats were trying to break the quietness of the nature. I was sitting beside the lake, was looking at the crystal clear blue water and was thinking about the time when the lake was formed.

It was worth visiting the chapel of St. Bartholomä, which was on my way to walk around the lake. One of the most excitement parts was to explore the Ice Chapel which is in the rear Eisbachtal at the foot of the Watzmann East Wall. From St. Bartholomä leads a path in around one hour to this chapel.

To conclude, all I can say about this trip in few words is, the whole travel time I spent to come to this place fully worth it!

Few important tips

1. On the way to the chapel St. Bartholomä you can see a waterfall (Röthbachfall), that falls from the Gotzenalm up in the Königssee. With its 470m height difference, it is the highest waterfall throughout Germany.

2. It is definitely helpful to know the bus schedule while getting back to Berchtesgaden. On the weekend, the bus does not run frequently.

3. If you plan to take a boat, it is wise to book a boat prior to your journey. During the sunny days, it may get quite hard to hire a boat after arriving. And don’t forget to keep cash with you as you will need them in case of instant hiring.

By: afrozairin.com