Steingaden Travel Guide

I was here by car so I had all the freedom to come and go as I liked and to zigzag through the region as I liked. But when I spoke about this with the lady at my farm stay, she said that although public transport is quite good in the region (Pfaffenwinkel), it would be impossible to see all the sights I have seen by bus.
Nevertheless, Steingaden is conveniently located at the bus tracks between Füssen and Weilheim and Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Füssen, all towns in Bavaria which get a fairly big amount of visitors per year (especially Füssen with Neuschwanstein Castle nearby). Apart from that, public transport in rural areas is always good, because not everyone has a car and people do need to have possibilities to move around.

Train:
Steingaden does not have a train station, but the nearby towns of Weilheim, Peissenberg (Peißenberg), Peiting and Schongau do have and are connected to Munich. All these have bus connections to Steingaden. Have a look at Pfaffenwinkel’s ”Getting around” page: on the right hand side is the network for download (trains and busses).

Busses:
Bavaria’s “Bayern Fahrplan” has an excellent interactive websitewhere you look up trips. However, this is covering all Bavaria, so maybe the several bus lines listed on the so-called:
RVO Weilheim part of Deutsche Bahn website
RVO Garmisch Partenkirchen part of Deutsche Bahn website
will give better information. (Regionalverkehr Oberbayern = regional service Oberbayern). The bus lines are linked to individual new sites with pdf download of the respective schedules.
Here is the schedule of bus line no 9606, which runs between Füssen and Garmisch Partenkirchen, with stops in Ettal, Oberammergau, Steingaden and Wies Church. This is most probably the most frequented bus by visitors to the region of southern Bavaria.

Other bus lines which stop in Steingaden (but not all at Wies Church) are:
9822 (circling between Steingaden, Rottenbuch, Peiting and Schongau),
9821 (Steingaden – Schongau and back),
9651 (Füssen, Steingaden, Wies Church, Weilheim and back),
All individual schedules are available via the RVO Weilheim link above.
Don't worry if this seems to be available "only" online. It is not. Each tourist office in the region, the one of Steingaden included, will happily provide you with a 120 page leaflet of the bus schedules for the actual year.

If you come by car, there is a big car park area north of Steingaden’s market place. It is free of charge and from there it is a quick walk to the market place and Steingaden’s marvellous church.
Parking at Wies Church does cost a fee. However I did never check how much it is, because I had my parking place in front of the farm I stayed at.

Location of Steingaden’s parking area on Google Maps.

© Ingrid D., October 2011 (just in case, RickS or others come along and think they can steal texts).

This is the end of my description of Steingaden and surroundings. Thanks for having followed my tour. If you wish, please return to my => Intro page
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The village of Steingaden and surroundings is located in a much laid back and rural region of Bavaria. This means that any shopping, opening hours and types of shops, is fitted for the locals’ needs and not so much for visitors. Visitors used to long opening hours I mean. Restaurants close their kitchens often at 21:00 in the evening, or even earlier (rule of thumb: the more remote, the earlier). Shops close at 18:00 and for 1-2 hours after noon time.
I saw a small grocery store in the south of Steingaden, most probably privately owned according to the missing signs of the typical chain stores. In Steingaden’s centre are two bakeries and a bank with ATM machine, as far as I could see. There is a gas station at the corner to the turnoff to Wies Church, which closes at 18:00 and on 17:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. They have a small amount of supplies like snacks and sodas and also a coffee machine, but they clean it half an hour before they close. In nearby village of Wildsteig (east of Steingaden) is the cheese “factory” Schönegger Käse Alm, although factory isn’t the proper term in my opinion. They make cheese, ecological and organic, and also sell it on their property.

The next bigger town is Schongau, approx. 10 km to the north. There you can find bigger chain supermarkets outside of the town centre and other shops inside the centre.

Location of Schönegger Käse Alm (cheese “factory”) on Google Maps,
Location of Steingaden bank and ATM machine on Google Maps,
Location of Steingaden’s gas station on Google Maps.

© Ingrid D., October 2011 (just in case, RickS or others come along and think they can steal texts).

continue with next review => hiking and biking around Steingaden
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Dominikus Zimmermann was a famous master builder and plasterer. He not only built Wies Church but also several others in the region. You will come across him many times during travels in the region. At Gasthof Schweiger, the restaurant next to the church, is a plaque (actually a painting in fresco style) which says that he stayed there during the time of church building.
And he rests on the most appropriate place: on the cemetery at Steingaden’s church. He doesn’t have a grave like we are used to, but there is a plaque and an old rosebush planted where he is buried. I found that a very moving way to remind us visitors of him and his work.

Location of Dominikus Zimmermann’s resting place on Google Maps.

© Ingrid D., October 2011.

continue with next review => good meals at Gasthof Schweiger next to Wies Church
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Of course this is not a real warning or danger tip, but one of the “be aware” kind, especially for the dreamer ones like me. This is the part of Bavaria which is close to the Alps and that means that weather can change quite quickly.
When I was here in early October 2011, I arrived at beautiful sunshine and rather warm temperatures (approx. 25°C all the time). The forecast was optimistic for the next days but dreaming me just didn’t think of changes... I heard that it would get colder at the end of my planned days and luckily I found a Tchibo shop (usually for coffee but also for other daily items) nearby where I could buy at least a new fleece jacket (although I have already several..., but at home). But even though the weather forecast said “snow down to the lower regions”, my “summer-programmed” brain didn’t realise that this can mean indeed snow. So I was shocked to put it mildly when I woke up on October 8 and saw snow on my bathroom window. Oh my... It stayed for a couple of hours but since the temperatures were not below freezing it didn’t stay. Luckily the temperatures were rising again on the following Sunday which made it easy for me to drive back home. Which was good because my car did not yet have snow tyres....

So be prepared. Bring warm clothes even if the forecast is good and sunny!

© Ingrid D., October 2011.

continue with next review => Steingaden's past and present
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Steingaden is an ideal base for easy and prime hiking. It is located at two major prime long distance hiking paths:

Prälatenweg, or Prelate Path (another word for priest), is 145 km long between Marktoberdorf and Kochel am See (Kochel at the lake). Its symbol is two croziers (bishop’s crook) like in my photo: the white sign at the bottom right side. The website is in German only but already the main page gives a lot of impressions of the several towns it leads through. And it reminded me to upload also the photo of the cute fountain in Steingaden, the one with the round little monk who sits there, feet in the water and his sandals on the fountain enclosure. The name of this hiking path comes from the many churches and monasteries along the way. It can be hiked in steps or on an approx. 7 days hiking tour with our without backpack (luggage transport can be organised). The advantage of this path is certainly the view to the Alps; it is often also called “Alpenpanorama-Weg” (Alp Panorama Path). On the German Pfaffenwinkel website (sadly not on the English version) is a description of the path and a small map with little picture icons for download (right side on that website link).

König Ludwig Weg („mad“ King Ludwig Path), which is approx. 120 km long and leads from Berg at Starnberger See, where the king drowned in 1886, to Neuschwanstein Castle near Füssen. This one at least has a path description in English.

And then there is the hiking path from Steingaden to Wies church. It is 8 km long and takes approx. one hour one way and leads through the forest and partly marshland. The marsh parts are covered by planks, that is why this path is being called “Brettlesweg” (Brett = plank). The website link is in German only but has path and altitude information.

© Ingrid D., October 2011 (just in case, RickS or others come along and think they can steal texts).

continue with next review => what to pack :-)
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