Holidays in the Ammergauer Alps, magical variety

Categories: Family and Kids, Sports

Overview of the Ammergauer Alps from mountain Hörnle with Unterammergau below

[ source: Wikipedia]

The Ammergauer Alps are located between Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze and the famous castle Neuschwanstein, in the heart of the Bavarian Alps. They stand for an unspoiled mountainous region with a rich cultural heritage and an environmentally development of tourism. The most beautiful time is the autumn season, when the color of the leaves turn red and golden, making you believe you are in the depth of the Canadian woods. The Ammergauer Alps are a snow guaranteed area and you can chose from many options to join in the winter fun. The small town of Unterammergau (Unterammergau vacation rentals | Unterammergau travel guide), is called Kinderlandort since 2004, a quality award for especially children friendly towns. Located next to mountain Steckenberg, it offers fun for the whole family throughout the seasons and proves the well earned quality award.

The Ammergauer Alps, also called Ammergebirge is a mountain range that partly belongs to Germany, Free State of Bavaria and to Austria, federal state Tirol. It is framed by the well-known towns Füssen (Füssen vacation rentals | Füssen travel guide), Oberammergau (Oberammergau vacation rentals | Oberammergau travel guide), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Garmisch-Partenkirchen vacation rentals | Garmisch-Partenkirchen travel guide), Ehrwald and Reutte. The border between the administrative districts of Upper Bavaria and Swabia, runs from south to north through the Ammergauer Alps. In the snow guaranteed valleys between Unterammergau, Oberammergau, Ettal (Ettal vacation rentals | Ettal travel guide) and castle Linderhof is a wide net of cross-country ski-tracks and on the first weekend in February the annual König-Ludwig-Langlauf, attracts numerous international professionals to this most beautiful location.

Snow fun in the Ammergauer Alps

Alpine skiing can be fun for the whole family, as much as sledding, ice-skating, Nordic walking or snowshoeing. Ok, the latter first feels a bit like walking on tennis rackets with your legs apart, reminding a bit of Django, but once you are off the beaten track, you feel like a trapper in a pristine winter wonder world. The ski areas of the Ammergauer Alps include mount Steckenberg in Unterammergau, mount Kolben in Oberammergau and mount Hörnle in the Spa Town of Bad Kohlgrub. 150 km of cross-country ski-tracks lead you through the Ammergauer Alps with both, the classic and the skater tracks available. If you or your kids are beginners, plenty of schools are nearby to get you started in your new favorite sport.

Steckenberg in Unterammergau

Here you can choose from 7 lifts and 10 slopes with an altitude between 830 and 1,100 meter. From Mondays through Fridays night ski-runs are offered. At the foot of the mountain is a very good learning area for kids and beginners. Join the fun between the middle of December until March daily from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. and in the evenings between 7.00 p.m. and 10 p.m..

Kolben in Oberammergau

This mountain has 1 chair lift, 7 drag lifts and 7 km of ski-runs with an altitude between 874 and 1,276 meter. Mount Kolben has 90 % of blue slopes and 1 km of red slopes, who are convenient located in wide forest aisles. That guarantees a good visibility on snowy days and that the snow stays long.

Laber in Oberammergau

This mountain is the place of the cultchair lift, that can only transport 11 people at a time and the only way down is Germany’s steepest slope, the free riding slope. Adrenaline will pump through your system on this 2.5 km long and very demanding stretch.

Hörnle in Bad Kohlgrub

Here you get up with 1 chair lift or 4 lifts and the 3.5 km ski-run awaits you at the top with an altitude between 900 and 1,400 meter. It can get a bit cold on the 20 minutes way up to the mountain, but 2 beautiful valley slopes, a family friendly ski run and an area; aimed for free riders will warm you up pretty soon. There is also an area with 2 small training lifts, 140 and 350 meter, suitable for kids.

Sledding experiences currently a renaissance, it's fun and it's trendy. In the Ammergauer Alps you can choose from options with or without a lift. In Unterammergau you either use the natural toboggan run at the Scherenauer Street, or make your way up to the classic toboggan run on the Forststrasse, it is in fact a street! In Oberammergau you can go up by lift and enjoy the downhill toboggan run with a length of 600 meter. In Bad Kohlgrub (Bad Kohlgrub vacation rentals | Bad Kohlgrub travel guide) the mountain Hörnle offers a thrilling 4.5 km toboggun run, daily between 9.00 a.m. and 4 p.m.. When the ice is thick enough visit the lake Soier, which is the most beautiful location for ice skating and curling. Also in Oberammergau you can try this sport at the Malensteinweg, a street in town, and in Ettal you can skate at the Ettaler mill. Curling is a favorite sport for Bavarians and on the weekends you can watch their teams enjoying themselves and you are not left out. Courses are offered for all guests who want to give it a try. And just when you can't take all the fun anymore, take your kids to the valley Graswangtal and get in touch with the wild beasts of the region. Actually they are no beasts, just hungry deer. From a nice viewpoint you can watch them one by one stepping out the forest by dawn, a truly winter experience to see these wild animals with their huge antler. A thrilling experience to end a day in the Ammergauer Alps

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About this Article

This travel guide has been written by Monika Petra.

In her own words: When children are born they receive certain gifts to put them to good use or not. In my cradle there must have been at least music and the curiosity for the world we live in. Luckily I could combine those gifts eventually. My live as a jazz vocalist guided me to see and experience many places in Germany and far beyond. As in my music I like to dive in the historical background of given facts, simply to understand the present. During my travel, my circles got wider and wider and since many years I am now living in Thailand, very interesting to say the least. I grew up in Paderborn, lived and studied Jazz in Cologne's Musikhochschule and worked a while in Bayreuth and Kulmbach. My travels throughout Germany took me to all major cities and small towns. It was the people and local differences, be it language, food, traditions and customs, which made it a lot of fun. When finally the wall came down, I was one of those in Berlin posing on the rests of it for the camera. Off course I took the first opportunity to rediscover the new but old states of Germany and finally understood the impact the wall had on all Germans and in regards to the worst part in German history. Being a German living abroad, I discovered in years what I value most about Germany. Rest assured it is a country of rich cultural background still alive today. I visit my home country regularly and stay in touch with my friends, even those back from school. Another thing I always felt passionate about is writing and sharing my experience and thoughts. The internet provides us all with a great opportunity to connect, tell stories, read and learn from others and grow as a global community.

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