"Garmisch-Partenkirchen " a Garmisch-Partenkirchen Travel Page by MrBill

We have lived in Garmisch on the weekends since 1999 - hiking, biking, skiing, and enjoying the mountains. I am also a Member of the National Ski Patrol in the Garmisch Mountain Patrol.

First of all, let me say that living in GAP is wonderful. We love the place. We love it even more when it snows in the Winter, and is sunny in the Summer. It tends to rain too much in GAP, and the snow can quickly disappear when it gets too warm. Blame it on global warming. However, this past Winter we were lucky and had decent snow for a change right up until Easter.

It is about 1-hour south of Munich on the Austrian border, and about 55-kms from Innsbruck on mostly twisty mountain roads. A life-time of winter driving in Canada, and I put my Audi in the Rhubarb last Winter on this road. So watch the road, not the scenery.

We live in a wonderful, old house called Haus Amsel that was built in 1936. I can only describe it as Landhaus-style. The winow shutters are candy striped red & white. It is three stories high, and we have the apartment under the eaves. We have mountain views out of both sides. They are trememdous.

Weekends are spent in the surrounding mountains - God's Cathederal - doing whatever the season dictates. Main thing is that we are active and out and about in the fresh air.

We often visit the swimming pool in Grainau, just outside of GAP, in the shadow of the Zugspitze, the highest mountain of the German Alps. In the summer you can sit outside and picnic on the grass next to the Olympic sized pool. Inside there are saunas, steam baths, a large jacuzzi, and a play area for children adjacent to the 25-metre pool. After a hard day of sport, relax in the jacuzzi and gaze out the picture windows at the church on the hill against the background of Zugspitze.

General Tip: Buy a trail map and get out of GAP itself. It is a bit of a tourist trap. Although we do like to go to the local Fests in the summertime. All the locals even wear their lederhosen and dirndels, which funnily enough, do not look the least bit out of place in GAP.