I am interested in spending of nights in a scenic area not too far from Munich and reachable by public transport. We are flying home from MUC on a 10:00am flight in early December.

I cannot find out much about Spitzingsee on the internet but it looks like a possibility; not too small and it appears to have the mountain ambiance we are seeking.

Can anyone tell me about this area and if it would be a good choice?

Thanks!

It's Munich favorite skiing area at about the start of the season. Quite frequntly you need chains (very steep) to go up so you better park at the main road (B307). Up there are only a few houses and the lift.
I'd stay in Lenggries or Bad Wiessee and spend some time in the casino. For a 10am flight, you'll need to get up early to be at the airport in time.

However, among the few houses is the Sheraton. Looks like a very good choice in the evening when the skiers have gone! I'd guess they'd pick you up in the valley should you not be able to drive up there. (Which usually doesn't happen that early in the seson). Not much else to do there, but I'd go for it.

No car for us - so we will rely on public transport. And no problem at being up early on the last morning as we always are.

We do not ski so are really interested in the winter sights and ambiance.

http://www.alpenbahnen-spitzingsee.d.../Pisenplan.pdf

Taubenstein and Stümpfling cable cars wil be open, depending on weather conditions, so you can get to the restaurants up there without skis. Walking in the snow would be a problem. If you've never seen the ski circus before, it's worth going.

If you're lucky there's not that much snow and you can walk around a little but at 1600m I wouldn't bet on it.

And yes, the chair lift operates at "winter speed", but once they see you without skis, they'll slow down the lift a little to help you get on it. So no problem and no need to worry here.

No way to get to the airport in time for a 10am flight using only public transport from Spitzing. It takes about 2h 15min but there are no connections that early in the morning. The first train will arrive at the airport at 7:06. If you get a taxi to the train station at Fischhausen-Neuhaus, the first train of the day departs at 5:12.

I found a reasonable airport shuttle service that will get us there in time for the flight.

So are there no restaurants in the vicinity of the hotel? Do we have to take a lift?

There are several restaurants very close, don't worry, it's just a very small place. If you want to see "the action" you should not miss going to the Taubenstein, it's a cabin, so no need to worry at all. Basically all you see from you hotel is a nice landscape but everybody will be going up. Don't miss it, even if you don't ski.

However, there'll be noone there at night except for the hotel guests and a few locals, so finding a late dinner outside the hotel isn't that easy. Other than that, no problem with food and restaurants.