6 Best Sights in The Bavarian Alps, Germany

The deep, mysterious, and fabled Königssee is the most photographed panorama in Germany. Together with its much smaller sister, the Obersee, it's nestled within the Berchtesgaden National Park, 210 square km (81 square miles) of wild mountain country where flora and fauna have been left to develop as nature intended. No roads penetrate the area, and even the mountain paths are difficult to follow. The park administration organizes guided hikes from June through September.

This remarkable monastery was founded in 1330 by Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian for a group of knights and a community of Benedictine monks. The largest Benedictine monastery in Germany, it still houses 50 monks. The original 10-sided church was brilliantly redecorated in 1744–53, becoming one of the foremost examples of Bavarian rococo. The church's chief treasure is its enormous dome fresco (83 feet wide), painted by Jacob Zeiller circa 1751–52. Today, the Kloster owns most of the surrounding land and directly operates the Klosterhotel Ettal Ludwig der Bayer, the Kloster shop, and the Kloster market, as well as a brewery and distillery. Ettaler liqueurs, made from a centuries-old recipe, are still distilled at the monastery. The monks make seven different liqueurs, some with more than 70 mountain herbs. You can visit the distillery right next to the church and buy bottles of the libation from the gift shop and bookstore. It's possible to tour the distillery and the brewery. However, English-language tours are available only for large groups. Tours of the basilica for individuals are offered on Monday and Thursday at 3. Brewery tours in German are given Tuesday and Friday at 10 and distillery tours are given Monday and Thursday at 4, both from July to early November and in December.

The site of Hitler's luxurious mountain retreat is part of the north slope of the Hoher Goll, high above Berchtesgaden. It was a remote mountain community of farmers and foresters before Hitler's deputy, Martin Bormann, selected the site for a complex of Alpine homes for top Nazi leaders. Hitler's chalet, the Berghof, and all the others were destroyed in 1945, with the exception of a hotel that had been taken over by the Nazis, the Hotel zum Türken. Beyond Obersalzberg, the hairpin bends of Germany's highest road come to the base of the 6,000-foot peak on which sits the Kehlsteinhaus (aka the Adlerhorst, or "Eagle's Nest"), Hitler's personal retreat and his official guesthouse. To get the most out of your visit to the Kehlsteinhaus, consider taking a tour. To get there, you need to take a one-hour round trip from Dokumentation Obersalzberg by bus. A tunnel in the mountain will bring you to an elevator that whisks you up to the Kehlsteinhaus and what appears to be the top of the world, or you can walk up in about half an hour. There's also a restaurant at the top serving light Bavarian cuisine.

Despite its distance from Munich, the beautiful Chiemsee drew Bavarian royalty to its shores for its dreamlike, melancholy air. It was on one of the lake's three islands that King Ludwig built Schloss Herrenchiemsee, his third and last castle, which was modeled after Louis XIV's Versailles. As with most of Ludwig's projects, the building was never completed, and Ludwig spent only nine days there. Nonetheless, what remains is impressive—and ostentatious. Ferries leave from Stock, Prien's harbor. You can take an 1887 steam train from Prien to Stock to pick up the ferry. A horse-drawn carriage (from mid-April to late October) takes you from the boat dock to the palace itself. The palace's state rooms can only be visited as part of a 35-minute guided tour; English-language tours are timed to coincide with each ferry's arrival. The most spectacular room is the Hall of Mirrors, and also of interest are the ornate bedrooms, the "self-rising" table, the elaborately painted bathroom, and the formal gardens. The south wing houses a museum about King Ludwig's life. Also on the island is the Augustinian Monastery where Germany's postwar constitution was drawn up in 1948; it is now a museum.

Built between 1870 and 1879 on the spectacular grounds of his father's hunting lodge, the Linderhof Palace was the only one of Ludwig II's royal residences to have been completed during the monarch's short life. It was the smallest of this ill-fated king's castles, but the charming, French-style Rococo confection inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles was his favorite country retreat. From an architectural standpoint, it's a whimsical combination of conflicting styles: lavish on the outside, somewhat overly decorated on the inside. The formal gardens contain interesting elements such as a Moorish pavilion—bought wholesale from the 1867 Paris Universal Exposition. According to hearsay, while staying at Linderhof, the eccentric king would dress up as the legendary knight Lohengrin to be rowed in a swan boat on the grotto pond; in winter he took off on midnight sleigh rides behind six plumed horses and a platoon of outriders holding flaming torches. The palace is only accessible with a 25-minute guided tour.

The highest mountain (9,718 feet) in Germany is also the number-one attraction in the area. You can't see this world famous peak from Garmisch-Partenkirchen until you've made your way up the mountain—it's hidden from view on the ground and is often mistaken for the nearby Alpsspitze—so it's worth braving the glass-bottom cable car for the view both on the way up and for the Alpine panoramas once you've reached the peak. Opened in late 2017, the record-setting cable car ascends 6,381 feet over a distance of 10,451 feet in around 10 minutes. It's an engineering marvel on its own. Combined with the view from one of three restaurants' sunny terraces at the summit, the Zugspitze is awe-inspiring. To use the cable car, start in Grainau, 10 km (6 miles) outside town on the road to Austria. An unlimited one-day round-trip ticket is also valid for unlimited rides on the Gletscher Bahn, a gondola for skiers and hikers that covers the skiable "Zugspitzplatt," or flats. You can also combine a cable car ride with a leisurely 75-minute ride on a cog railroad, the Zahnradbahn. There are also a number of other peaks in the area with gondolas for both skiers in winter and hikers in summer, including the Hausberg Seilbahn, which takes you to a kid-friendly ski area. A four-seat cable car likewise will take you to the top of one of the lesser peaks: the 5,840-foot Wank for €24. From there, you can tackle both mountains on foot, provided you're properly shod and physically fit. Or stop over at the Alpspitze, from where you can hike as well.