Bavaria. The name conjures images of castles, beer halls, alpine meadows and inhabitants dressed in lederhosen and dirndl. While these may be clichéd images, the region certainly lives up to its reputation. King Ludwig’s castles are iconic in the region. Beer halls abound, and not just at Oktoberfest. Maypoles were raised in each town, where flowers spilled over balconies and out of windows. The traditional clothes are not just sold in costume shops or worn exclusively by children. Bavarians are proud of their culture and I saw variations being sold and worn in many towns, including Munich. I was completely enamoured by the beauty of the region. We only had one day to visit the capital, Munich, but it was the small towns and countryside that captured my heart.

Munich
Marianplatz has been the main square in central Munich since 1158. It is dominated by the new city hall, which houses the famous Glockenspiel in its tower. Tourists gather at 11am daily (and at 12pm and 5pm during summer) to witness the spectacle of the 32 figures dancing about as they re-enact two scenes from the 16the century. The Glockenspiel tower is also open to visitors and views from the top (easily reached by elevator) over Munich are sensational.

On the east side of the square is the Old City Hall, whose tower now houses a toy museum. This small museum is worth visiting for the abundance of toys dating back many decades.

Pinakothek der Moderne (Gallery of Modern Art)
This gallery houses an excellent collection of modernism with the likes of Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Francis Bacon featuring. Contemporary art from the 1960’s onwards is represented by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly and many more. On the lower ground floor is the Collection of Design, showcasing motor vehicle design, furniture design, and some very old computers.

My favourite exhibition showed the juxtaposition of artwork popular at the time compared to that favoured by the Nazi Party.

Munich Beer Hall
No visit to Munich is complete without a visit to one of its iconic beer halls. The ideal way to end a long day of sightseeing is in the warmth of a packed beer hall, with a traditional oompah band playing and a litre stein of beer in hand. The Hoptbrauhaus, which seats approximately 3,500 people, was our choice to top off our day.

Munich River Surfers
Munich’s rivers are synonymous with wetsuit clad surfers, riding the standing waves of the various rivers throughout and around town. Don’t miss checking out this unique sport.

Oberammergau
A fairytale town where it’s permanently Christmas, the gorgeous little town of Oberammergau is a must visit in the region. Each building has fresco’s painted on the outside, and a wander around town will reveal such stunningly painted homes depicting fairytales such as the Little Red Riding Hood or religious themes.

Oberammergau is most well known for its Passion Theatre, where the Passion Play has been re-enacted every 10 years since 1634, due to the townspeople making a promise to God if he spared them of the bubonic plague sweeping the region at the time. My grandfather lived in this town as a young boy and it was exciting to see the same theatre that he had visited all those years ago, and that I had only before seen in photos.

Any visit to Oberammergau is not complete without shopping for Christmas Decorations and traditional hand crafted wooden statues, mostly of religious iconography. Shop after shop is filled with these stunningly detailed wood carvings perfect for any Christmas setting, though my favourite shop was Kathe Wohlfahrt, filled floor to ceiling with colourful Christmas displays and decorations. Not even the Grinch could resist this town.

The Three Palaces of Mad King Ludwig II
Neuschwanstein Castle
The most famous of the three castles built by King Ludwig II, Neuschwanstein Castle is well known for being the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle. Set high on a mountain, cars pull over dangerously on the road leading there as the occupants get their first glimpse and want to take their first photos. With long, high turrets and spires it is easy to see why Disney decided this would be the blueprint for his own fairytale castle. Built in 1869, the interior of the castle was never finished as Ludwig ran out of money and then died before it could be completed.

Visiting can be done in a day trip from Munich, however you need to get there very, very early if you want to go inside. As the most popular of the three castles, the line is long from early in the morning and the visits are timed and by guided tour only. We arrived at 11am and could only get into a 4pm timeslot. You can of course visit the outside for free with no queues.
The town at the base of the castle mountain, Hohenschwangau, has several restaurants and souvenir shops, including a Christmas shop, to keep visitors occupied while they wait their turn. We also went for a long walk around Alpsee Lake, at the north end of town, a pleasant way to pass the time before starting the ascent up to the castle.

Linderhof Palace
Linderhof Palace is the only palace that was fully completed during Ludwig’s lifetime, and the only one that is fully furnished on the inside. Small in size compared to Neuschwanstein, what it lacks in size it makes up for in the ornate and sumptuous decorations of the interior and the manicured gardens out front and back.

The most impressive of the decorations were the amazing porcelain chandeliers. The plans used to make the chandeliers were destroyed so that they could never be duplicated.  As with Neuschwanstein visits are timed and by guided tour only, although the lines aren’t as long.

Herrenchiemsee
Herrenchiemsee was my favourite of the three castles of Ludwig. The least visited of the three, I knew nothing about it except that it was on the island of Herreninsel in the Chiemsee, Bavaria’s largest lake. After a short boat trip to the island we arrived on foot to the gardens in front of the castle. A large circular fountain struck me as very familiar and I commented that it reminded me of the Chateau du Versailles near Paris. Upon closer inspection a plague revealed that it was in fact an exact replica.

This was not the only similarity with Versailles. Ludwig was apparently fascinated (obsessed?) with the court of King Louis XIV and had commissioned the building of Herrenchiemsee to be his own private version of Versailles. As with Neuschwanstein the castle remained unfinished due to Ludwig’s bankruptcy and untimely death, however enough was completed to really give a sense of what he was aiming to achieve. The most impressive room was the Hall of Mirrors, again an almost exact replica of the one in Versailles. I commented that in Versailles it was difficult to get a decent photo in the hall due to the amount of people. Here people weren’t a problem, there were only eight of us there, however no photos are allowed! Frustrating.

Drive over the Austrian border to Grossglockner High Alpine Rd and Pasterze Glacier
An afternoon free, we decided to take a long, leisurely drive over the Austrian border to the Grossglockner High Alpine Road leading to Pasterze Glacier, the longest glacier in Austria. The weather was not great as we started the climb up the twisting, winding road, around 38 hair-pin turns, and as the clouds rolled in we were unable to see the cliff dropping down beside us, or the road in front of us. For over an hour we climbed and climbed and with each turn the temperature dropped until it reached a low of 6 degrees. I covered my eyes to avoid the view of the drop below, which I couldn’t see anyway because of the low clouds and which only made it worse. A song on the radio sang ‘dangerous’ and we laughed at the irony.

Finally we reached our destination, the end of the road, Pasterze Glacier. The clouds cleared momentarily and we were able to see the glacier in all its icy glory. We shuffled about in the cold and rain for a few photos before bundling back into the warmth of the car to begin to treacherous drive back down. Eek!