Three of my girlfriends and I decided that the mountains were calling our names, so we packed our bags and headed to Garmisch which is about a 3 hour drive from where we live.  Our husbands were working, so it was the perfect time to slide away. 

Where we stayed:

Riessersee Hotel: The hotel was about a 20 minute walk from downtown Garmisch – about an 8-minute cab ride. We used the trail from our hotel and walked downtown on our way into dinner each night and then took a cab back afterwards (because it was too dark to walk back!). Although the hotel was nice, I would recommend finding a place closer to downtown and/or the gorge. A benefit of our hotel was that the stay included a free breakfast each morning. The breakfast was by far the best European breakfast that I’ve had! So, I’d recommend the hotel just for the breakfast alone!  The hotel also had an indoor pool (which wasn’t open during our stay), but would be perfect for families with small children who love the water. 

Where we ate:

Whenever I travel outside of our little German town, I immediately look for non-German restaurants.  I crave all the good food that we can’t get in our little town.  We didn’t plan too much for this girl’s mountain weekend and hadn’t made any sort of reservations, so we stumbled upon…you guessed it, a German restaurant.  It was the only place that had availability for patio dining so we sat down.  All four of us looked at the menu and immediately looked back up at one another with looks like “We can’t eat here”.  Since we sat down, we decided to order a drink and then googled our little hearts out for some non-German restaurants and let me tell you, we hit the jackpot with our selections!

Tapas Bar Restaurant (Alte Druckerei) –  We ate here on our first night.  All four of us are huge tapas fans so we ordered 3 selections each to share amongst the group.  Everything was amazing, the staff was exceptional and the inside of the restaurant was every modern loving girl’s dream!

Bungalow 7 – Truffle Burger, Truffle Mayo and Parmesan French fries – need I say more?  Bungalow 7 was the cutest spot, again with the sweetest staff and such a fun atmosphere! They also had some of our favorite bands playing in the background which was icing on the cake. 

What we did/Things to do:

• Partnach Gorge Hike: We hiked the gorge on Saturday. The entrance to the hike is across from the Sentido hotel and is about a 6.5 mile hike (round trip). It was a HARD hike and incredibly slippery through the tunnels, but it was beautiful and completely worth it!

Things to bring/wear on the hike:

-Hiking Boots – I wore tennis shoes like a dummy and slipped multiple times – hiking boots are a must!

-Rain Jacket – You will get wet on the hike, specifically through the gorge.

-A Water Bottle – You can refill it at the restaurant for the hike down!

-Snacks – There is a restaurant at the top of the hike, but I’d suggest bringing smaller snacks just in case you get hungry.

-Euro – Admission is 5 Euro for Adults/3 Euro for Children.  You’ll also want cash for the restaurant at the top of the hike.

More information about the hike, hours, etc. can be found here.

• Shop and walk around downtown Garmisch.  Their downtown area reminds me of a Colorado mountain town – so cute and quaint with a variety of stores, restaurants and coffee and ice-cream shops. 

• Visit the Zugspitze Mountain: The Zugspitze is Germany’s highest mountain and stands out with a breathtaking scenery and lake at the bottom of the mountain.   We didn’t go to the top of the mountain on this trip, but will definitely be back to see it!   You can take a cable car to the top which runs every 10 minutes.  In the winter, you can ski and sled down sections of the mountain as well.  More information on the Zugspitze activities can be found here.

• Lake Eibsee: We stopped by Lake Eibsee on our way home to sit by the water and get some sun.  The lake is stunning and the blue hues throughout the lake are incredible.  You can park in the same area as you would when visiting the Zugspitze Mountain and parking is 5 Euro.  In the spring/summer, I’d recommend getting there pretty early.  We parked at about 10:30 a.m. and when we were leaving, people were parking almost a mile away.  You can bring a picnic lunch, bikes, kayaks, paddle boards, etc.  There’s a trail around the lake for running, walking, biking, etc. – there’s definitely no shortage of activities! Did I mention there’s an ice-cream shop as well? Details on the lake and activities can be found here.

Garmisch was the perfect weekend trip and I can’t wait to go back in the fall/winter to see the top of the Zugspitze Mountain!

If you’ve been to Garmisch before, leave the name of your favorite restaurants/things to do in the comments below.  Let me know if you have any questions about the area if you plan a trip anytime soon!

Cheers!

Amber