Garmisch-Partenkirchen Favorites

4 more images

Favorite thing: Many of the houses in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, like many buildings in Bavaria, have unique paintings on the outside walls of the building. Some depict an event or animals and other paintings make the buildings look like they have things (windows, statues, etc.) that really are not there. It is fun to just walk around and look at all the buildings to see how creative the people are in decorating their homes.

In the summertime, another beautiful feature of these homes is all the flowerboxes bursting with colors. So beautiful! Go grab an ice cream and just walk around the town of Garmisch and enjoy the buildings around you.

1 more image

Favorite thing: If you have some extra time - especially if you have small children - take a stroll around the park near the center of town. There are some interesting things at every turn, including a large mound of grass that has a turtle head, tail, and four legs! Very creative - the kids, both old and young, will get a kick out it!

Additionally, the park offers several models of local buildings as they looked in years gone by. Interesting to see how they made the roofs without nails by adding planks and rocks to the shingles.

The park is small so a stroll around it won't take too long -- perhaps grab a ice cream to enjoy while walking around.

3 more images

Favorite thing: Garmisch is such a super place, and once you make contact with the right people ....it's incredibly easy to organise a wedding there by email only !!! Anyone wanting any help or advice please feel free to contact me .

Fondest memory: My wedding day !! Blue skies, fluffy white snow, horse & sleigh and of course the Mulled Wine !

Favorite thing: Meeting New People and Seeing New Places

These tips are based on my last 8 weeks of traveling in Europe/Africa:

1. Buy/pre-order as many museum/attraction tickets online as you can.
2. Ask the taxi fare before taking off in a taxi, especially if it’s late at night or coming from an airport.
3. Charge your camera batteries every night.
4. If you have a Eurail pass and need to make reservation make them in Europe. It’s a lot less expensive.
5. If you’re climbing a few hundred steps up a tower, monument, etc. go only a clear, sunny day.
6. Learn at least Hello, Thank you, and Goodbye in the foreign language of the countries you are visiting.
7. Turn your cell phones off inside churches, museums, etc. If it rings and you must take the call, do it outside!
8. If there’s a running commentary (live or recorded), be polite and be quiet.
9. Dress appropriately and be respectful in churches.
10. If you’re traveling with children, don’t let them disrupt others around you. If they cry or throw a tantrum, take them outside.
11. If you have a complaint, do it reasonably without yelling and cursing.
12. Regarding pictures:
a. If there are signs saying “No pictures”, don’t take pictures! There’s a reason for the signs. Do you really, really need that picture of Mona Lisa to prove you’ve seen it?
b. Learn how to use your camera before the trip. If there are signs saying “No flash”, make sure you know how to use the camera without it.
c. If you see a couple or family with one person taking pictures of the other(s), offer to take a picture of both/all of them. Maybe they’ll reciprocate.
13. Check local holidays. Since many museums and stores will be closed, you’ll need to have other plans for the day. (Most stores throughout much of Europe are closed on Sunday.)
14. Don’t try to do too much. Leave some open time to just explore.
15. You’re on vacation so relax and have a good time!

2 more images

Favorite thing: All over the countryside around Garmisch-Partenkirchen are these wooden huts. I can't see what the need for them is, but they really add to the rural Bavarian style. They didn't appear to be lived in and there were no cattle in them. There were sometimes cattle nearby, and sometimes piles of wood outside, but they didn't seem to be for either cattle nor lumber. They are so picturesque, and always lying in perfect buttercup meadows, that it almost seems they were put there to make the place look cool.

3 more images

Favorite thing: The town is surrounded by fields of lush long soft green grass, mixed with the whites of dandelions in bloom, the yellows of buttercups and the blues, purples, and oranges of all the other Alpine flowers that grow naturally there. These fields are so picture perect and idyllic that they almost seem like someone has deliberately planted them to look like that.

2 more images

Favorite thing: Almost everywhere you walk in Garmisch-Partenkirchen offers stunning views of the Alpine mountains that surround it. I spent my first few hours walking in the town simply walking around in awe. The beatiful church spires and houses really add to the look. In the summer the most amazing thing was the colours. The soft greens of the grass in the near distance, the harder green of the pine trees near the tree line, the pure white of the snow on the high Alps and then azure blue of the clean skies providing the mountain backdrop.

Favorite thing: These do not really count as tips, but then again, what is better than a good photo to tell a story?

Fondest memory: Ironically, through the trick of the lens, you can make a good picture almost anywhere. If you filter out the cars, the overdevelopment, the noise, the camera captures only what you want. But, do a couple of hundred meters of river front compensate for the loss of hundreds of hectares of field and forest that have been paved over to make room for commercial activities?