June 8th, 2016
More memories from our Bavaria trip…
At an elevation of 2,962 meters (9,718 ft) above sea level, the Zugspitze is Germany’s highest mountain. It is home to three glaciers. On a clear day, you can see over 400 peaks in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Amazing, right?!
Friends told us that a trip to the top of the Zugspitze was only worth it if the weather was clear. Though it’s a bit of a gamble with changing weather patterns, you can check the weather cams on the Zugspitze website to try to make the best prediction possible. When we awoke to blue skies on Saturday morning and saw that thunderstorms weren’t expected until later in the afternoon, we decided to go for it. We ate breakfast at the hotel, grabbed our winter gear and piled in the car. With our windows down, we drove to the base of the Zugspitze. The mountain air was crisp and fresh. I loved the sights and sounds of the cows wearing their large bells around their necks. Morgen!
We parked near Lake Eibsee and bought our tickets. You can choose how to ascend and descend the mountain…either by foot, cable car or train. With the weather so nice, we quickly got in line for the cable car. We only waited a short time before we boarded and found ourselves suspended thousands of feet in the sky. It was unnerving and breath-taking all at the same time!
The views from the top surpassed all the hype! We could see for MILES! E wore a pair of Mama’s glasses to protect those beautiful, baby blue’s of his.
A gold cross marks the mountain summit. The original cross was carried up there in 1851. Though you can hike to the summit, we didn’t even attempt it. Was that a collective sigh of relief I just heard from the boys’ Grandmas? =)
The border between Germany and Austria goes right over the mountain. Since both countries are a part of the Schengen Area, 26 European countries that have abolished passports and any other type of border control at their mutual borders, there is no longer a manned border crossing. You simply walk across the borders at the top! Though border formalities are gone, you still see these signs of regional pride. “Freistaat Bayern” is the free state of Bavaria and “Land Tirol” is the third largest state in Austria.
We crossed into Austria by walking through a short tunnel. The boys enjoyed climbing a massive snow mound there and throwing snow balls at their Mama down below! Hubby joined them in their winter wonderland.
The blue flag you see with the twelve gold stars is the Flag of Europe. Interestingly, the stars represent the people of Europe as a collective whole, not the actual number of member states which is currently twenty-eight. Here’s our lil’ guy at the top of the snow mound with the flag waving in the background.
We took in the sites from the Austrian side as well…soooo Beautiful! You can also ascend the Zugspitze by cable car from Austria.
After taking a long snack break back in Germany, we rode another cable car down to the Zugspitze Glacier at 2,600 meters (8,530 ft).
We ALL went sledding on the complimentary sleds. They were fast and super fun! Sadly, I didn’t get a good picture of Hubby. Trust me, he went down too!
The boys went down and up so many times, we lost count. It was quite the workout and they LOVED it (well, at least the going down part)! While they played, Hubby and I took turns hiking up to a lookout spot and also to the Chapel of Maria Heimsuchung. It was consecrated in 1981 by the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. It’s also the highest chapel in Germany…makes sense!
The rain clouds moved in and gave us warnings of sprinkles that we heeded to the boys’ dismay. They probably could have sledded for another hour! Thankfully, we managed to catch the next train a few minutes before it departed the glacier. The first section of the ride was through mountain tunnels and not too exciting. When we finally came out of the rock, the sun was out again and the scenery was beautiful. Yippee!!
We definitely recommend the Zugspitze! It’s a bit pricey for a family of four but we felt like it was worth every Euro since we scored with the weather. Another memory in the books…go to the highest mountain peak in Germany. Check!
