Mittenwald

Mittenwald is the Bavarian Alps village that looks the way visitors hope Bavaria will look. It sits in the upper Isar valley below the jagged Karwendel range, close to the Austrian border, and its main streets are lined with houses painted in the local Lüftlmalerei style, with religious scenes, ornament and trompe-l'oeil windows across the facades. The village is also known as a centre of violin making, a tradition that goes back centuries and that the town still celebrates. The Matthias Klotz monument stands by the church, honouring the maker credited with bringing the craft here, and a large wooden violin stands near the Gries inn. The Geigenbaumuseum on Ballenhausgasse displays about two hundred violins and plucked instruments and has a demonstration workshop where you can watch a violin maker at work. A walking tour of the village is about 2.4 kilometres, takes roughly an hour and a half and is rated very easy.

Start at the station and follow the village circuit. The route passes Untermarkt, where older painted houses show saints and scenes that survived the fires of the nineteenth century, then Obermarkt, the traditional pedestrian zone, where the Alpenrose inn has a well-known fresco of the five senses. Ballenhausgasse is one of the oldest streets and is home to the violin museum, and St.

Peter and Paul church, the village landmark, is a few steps away. There is also a spa park with a fish pond for a pause. The walk is flat and easy, suitable for most visitors, and works in any season, though a cold bright winter day gives the Karwendel peaks a sharp backdrop.

The big add-on is the Karwendelbahn, a cable car built in 1967 that climbs to a summit station at 2,244 metres in around seven minutes without intermediate stops. Tickets are bought at the valley station on the eastern edge of the village. At the top there is a mountain inn with a large sun terrace, a nature information centre, a walkable oversized telescope, and views toward the Zugspitze and the Wetterstein range, the Isar valley and small mountain lakes.

Hiking and climbing routes start here, including a classic via ferrata for experienced climbers, and in winter experts can ski the Dammkar, a long unprepared route. Check current operating times and weather on the cable car site before you go, because mountain lifts close for wind and maintenance.

Getting there is easy. Mittenwald lies on the railway between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck, and by road it is a natural stop on the way to or from the Zugspitze and the Partnachklamm. Many Zugspitze day tours from Munich include a stop here, which is a good way to see the village if you do not drive.

Give it two to three hours for the village and museum, or half a day with the cable car. It makes a calmer counterpart to the castle circuit, and an overnight stay here lets you see the facades after the day trippers leave. Bring cash for small shops and cafes, and keep time for a sit-down with a coffee and cake.