Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Five minutes east of the Bahnhof along Bahnhofstraße, turn into Achenfeldstraße — Krönner has been at this corner since 1929 and is where Garmisch locals stop for a Brotzeit between errands. Skip the table service and head to the counter for warm Leberkäse pressed into a Semmel (€5), then a slice of Mohnstrudel (€4) from the pastry case for the walk south. Average spend €10-15, no reservation possible.

Tip: The counter to the right of the entrance moves twice as fast as the table service — point at what you want, eat standing, and you are back on the street in twenty minutes. Their Krönner-Bonbon (handmade caramel) makes the only edible souvenir worth carrying out of town.

Two blocks south of Krönner, turn into Frühlingstraße — the lane is barely 200 m long but holds the densest concentration of Lüftlmalerei in Bavaria, the fresco tradition where biblical scenes and hunting tableaux are painted directly onto plaster facades. Early afternoon sun lights the south-facing walls at exactly the angle the eighteenth-century painters worked to, with the Wetterstein massif framed at the far end of the street. Free, no ticket, no queue.

Tip: Numbers 1, 13, and 15 hold the most elaborate murals — the house at number 15 covers three full stories and is the single most photographed exterior in town. Stand on the east side of the street to get the painted facade plus the mountains in one frame.

Walk south-east 25 minutes along the Loisach river path — you cross the meadows where the 1936 Olympic torch arrived, with the Wetterstein wall rising directly ahead the whole way. The ski jump was rebuilt in 2007 in steel and concrete but still hosts the Four Hills Tournament every January 1st; climb the external staircase to the judges' tower for a vertiginous view down the inrun and across to the Zugspitze you stood on this morning.

Tip: Skip the small museum and walk the perimeter clockwise — the south-east corner directly under the inrun gives the same dramatic upward angle the TV cameras use during competition, and the landing slope is the only place in town where you understand the scale of a 140 m jump.

Continue south-east 15 minutes past the Olympic stadium, following the Partnach river upstream to the ticket booth at the mouth of the gorge. The 700 m walkway is bolted into the limestone walls of a slot canyon where the river falls 80 m through waterfalls and ice-carved tunnels — the cleft is so narrow that even at mid-afternoon the light angles in vertically and turns the rising spray into rainbows. Last entry 17:30.

Tip: You will get wet — bring a rain shell or hood, the spray from the loudest waterfall section soaks unprotected hair in 30 seconds. Walk the gorge in and back out the same way (the upper Eckbauer loop adds 90 minutes and is not worth it on a one-day visit); the cleanest exit photo is at the far end looking back through the mouth toward Garmisch.

Walk 25 minutes north along the Partnach and across the bridge into Partenkirchen — the painted village half of the town — onto Ludwigstraße, where the facades grow more elaborate the further you go. Fraundorfer has occupied number 24 since 1820, its facade itself a Lüftlmalerei masterpiece; order the Schweinshaxe (roast pork knuckle, €22) with a Kaiserschmarrn to finish (€12), paired with a Maß of dark Werdenfelser beer. Average spend €30-45, reservation essential.

Tip: Reserve ahead — Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights have live zither and yodeling that books out a week in advance, and the long benches mean you may be seated with a Bavarian family who will adopt you by the second beer. Tourist-trap warning: the cluster of alpine-themed restaurants on Marienplatz near the Bahnhof are coach-tour traps serving frozen Schweinshaxe at €30 — Ludwigstraße is where locals actually eat, and Fraundorfer is the anchor.

Step straight off the cable car and the turquoise mirror is right there — Eibsee is the color of a swimming pool because of fine limestone dust suspended in the snowmelt. Walk the short eastern arc of the lake-loop trail (the full circuit is 7 km, but the first 15 minutes give you the postcard angle with Zugspitze rising directly out of the water behind you). Late morning is the only moment of the day when the sun lights both the lake surface and the north face of the mountain — by 14:00 the peak goes into shadow.

Tip: The photo everyone wants is from the small wooden jetty 200 m south of the Eibsee-Pavillon — walk past the boat rental dock, the second jetty (not the first) has the cleanest reflection because no swimmers use it. Skip the rowboat rental unless you have 90 minutes; the queue back to shore at noon eats the time you need for lunch.

Walk one minute back toward the cable-car station — the long timber-and-glass pavilion built right on the shoreline is unmissable. The terrace looks straight at the Zugspitze and the food is honest Bavarian rather than tourist-trap: order the Kaiserschmarrn (shredded sugared pancake with plum compote, around 14 €) and a half-portion of Käsespätzle (Alpine cheese noodles with crisp onions, around 13 €) to split, washed down with an Augustiner Helles on tap. Budget 25-35 € per person; arriving at 12:45 puts you ahead of the 13:30 cable-car offload when every table fills within four minutes.

Tip: Ask the host for a 'Seeterrasse' table and specifically the row closest to the railing — the second row sits behind a planter that ruins the lake view in photos. No reservations are taken for lunch, so the only lever you have is timing.

Take the cog train back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen Bahnhof (40 min), exit south across Bahnhofstraße, and in eight minutes you're on Frühlingstraße — the photogenic spine of old Garmisch. Every house on this lane is painted in Lüftlmalerei: trompe-l'œil baroque frescoes of saints, hunters, and biblical scenes climbing up the gables, a folk-art tradition unique to this corner of Bavaria. Mid-afternoon light hits the south-facing facades dead-on, which is the only time the painted columns and shadows look three-dimensional rather than flat.

Tip: The most elaborate facade is house number 17 (the apothecary scene) — stand on the opposite curb, not directly underneath, to fit the whole fresco in frame. Continue two minutes north onto Sonnenstraße for two more painted houses most visitors miss because they turn back at Marienplatz.

From the top of Frühlingstraße, cross the small bridge over the Loisach and follow the riverside path five minutes upstream — the squat white tower with a copper onion dome sits behind a stone wall. The old St. Martin (deconsecrated as the parish church in 1734 but still standing) hides a remarkable interior: late-Gothic frescoes from around 1450, including a Christopher fresco nearly 8 m tall, and ribbed vaulting blackened by five centuries of candle smoke. Late afternoon sun comes through the south windows and lights the Christopher panel directly — the only hour it's properly visible.

Tip: The door looks locked but is usually just heavy — push the iron handle firmly. Donations box is by the entrance (2 € is appropriate). The custodian closes the door at 17:30 sharp; don't arrive after 17:15 or you won't have time to walk the nave.

Retrace the riverside path back into Garmisch old town and turn into Bankgasse — five minutes total — to the low timber doorway of Zum Wildschütz, the tavern that locals book when they want serious Bavarian game. The signature is Wildschütz-Pfandl (a sizzling iron pan of venison medallions with cranberry, spätzle, and red cabbage, around 28 €) and a starter of homemade Leberknödelsuppe (liver dumpling broth, around 7 €). Budget 35-50 € per person with a half-liter of Tegernseer Hell.

Tip: Reserve by phone two days ahead — the dining room has only nine tables and walk-ins are turned away from 19:00 on weekends. Ask for the 'Stube' room rather than the front parlor; that's where the Stammgäste (regulars) sit and you'll hear actual Werdenfels dialect. Avoid the cluster of pizzerias one block east on Klammstraße — they triple their prices in ski season and the reviews online are mostly paid.