Hi All. Starting my planning for fall of 2025. We'll fly into Munich. From there we would like to take the train to visit both Garmisch Partenkirchen and Mittenwald, spending two nights. From there we'll take the train to Bolzano. Since three countries and various train systems are involved in that trip I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to do this.

We'd like to go up the Zugspitze while in Garmisch and spend a couple of hours walking around Mittenwald. We could stay in either town, it's a 30 minute bus ride from one to the other with hourly service.

So, would y'all recommend going to Mittenwald and staying there, bussing back to Garmisch? Or going to Garmisch and staying there, bussing over to Mittenwald; the later would involve starting the trip to Bolzano from Garmisch, which would go through Mittenwald. Any advice will be appreciated, thanks!

I’ve never stayed in Garmisch but have spent two days in Mittenwald. We loved it. It was a nice small walkable town.
The highlight and main reason for staying there was to the gorge and we were not disappointed.
We do plan to go to Garmisch on one of our visits to Germany in the future. I think you would enjoy your stay in either city.

If I remember correctly the gorge is closer to Garmisch.

Hi Michguy,

Garmisch is larger, with more hotels & apartments to choose from, two pedestrian areas (Garmisch and Partenkirchen), more restaurants, and more shops. It can have a real festive feeling when the sun is out and everyone gathers to have a drink outside at a café or eats ice cream.

Mittenwald is smaller, more charming, with hiking closer, and fewer restaurants and shops.

Two nights only gets you one full day. If you plan to spend a day at the Zugspitze (and the Eibsee??), you won't have a lot of time for anything else. I would probably stay in Garmisch, then head to Mittenwald early on departure day, put your bags in a locker, explore the town (don't miss the violin-making museum), and continue to Bolzano after lunch.

dreamon, there are two gorges: Leutaschklamm is outside of Mittenwald, while Partnachklamm is outside of Garmisch.

Have fun as you plan! And thank you for using trains & busses while here!

s

Yes, we went to Leutaschklamm. We rented e-bikes and rode to the top of the mountain to a small restaurant and started our hike from there. You cross from Germany to Austria during the hike.
You can also get to the lowest point of the hike from the town of Mittenwald and start your hike there.
There is a waterfall, however it is on private land so you pay a small fee to go see it.
Like I said above, the gorge was the highlight of our stay in Mittenwald.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/germ...-leutaschklamm

I'm torn on this one, as I've stayed in both and like both, but since you only have one full day and Zugspitze is a priority, I'd heed swandav's advice.

I'm hoping to spend 3-4 nights in Mittenwald in June as I've never seen it in summer and would like to do some hiking there.