Taking Guided Tours with Alpine Adventures in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

If you're an American service member or government employee posted in Germany, chances are good that one day, you'll have to go to the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. My husband Bill and I lived in Germany for barely two years, yet together we visited the Edelweiss four times! Bill went there for business and I went there for a change of scenery.

The first time I visited the Edelweiss Lodge, I made the mistake of not booking any tours or activities. I spent several comparatively boring days lounging around the pool area, watching Dr. Phil on AFN, and surfing the Internet. Determined not to make that mistake again, I vowed to take tours on each subsequent visit. This article is about my experiences taking tours through Alpine Adventures, the group that organizes outings for people who stay at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.

Alpine Adventures... the basics

The first thing to know about Alpine Adventures is that it pretty much exclusively caters to people who are staying at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. Just about everyone who takes these tours is American or somehow affiliated with Americans who are members of the military or employed by the United States government. Anyone staying at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort can take tours with Alpine Adventures. Additionally, anyone who is allowed to use American military facilities may also take tours through Alpine Adventures, even if they are staying in a locally run German hotel. If you are staying at the lodge, the cost of the tour can be billed to your room. If you're not staying at the lodge, you will have to pay upfront.

Alpine Adventures is located in the gift shop at the Edelweiss Lodge. You can call ahead to book tours or drop by to sign up. Check out the list of available tours on the Alpine Adventures section of the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort's official Web site. Winter tours are offered between November 1st and April 30th, while summer tours are offered between May 1st and October 31st. Some tours are offered year round. You should check to see which tours will be offered on the days you will be staying in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area, since not every tour is offered every day. Garmisch-Partenkirchen is blessed with a very handy location and there are plenty of places to see in the area.

Depending on the time of your visit, tours may fill up fast and you could end up on a waiting list. Conversely, Alpine Adventures requires a certain number of tour participants for the tours to run. I experienced both situations. One time, a tour I wanted to take filled up. Luckily, there were enough people interested that a second tour bus was hired. Another time, there wasn't enough interest in a tour I wanted to take. I ended up taking a different tour instead.

Most tours start at about 8:00 in the morning and run until 4:30 or 5:00pm, but there are some exceptions to this rule. I took one tour that lasted just four hours as well as one that lasted twelve hours. Naturally, tours can also be delayed by traffic or other unforeseen situations. Pay close attention to the starting and ending times for each tour and make sure they suit your plans.

Tour guides

Alpine Adventures tours usually meet at a pre-arranged time in front of the lodge. Almost every tour I took through Alpine Adventures was led by a female German tour guide who spoke excellent English. On one other occasion, I took a tour led by an American man who spoke flawless German. There's one tour guide per tour bus. In the course of three different trips to Edelweiss, I've taken eight tours. However, I've only met three Alpine Adventures tour guides. If you take several tours in a week, you may end up getting to know your tour guide pretty well! The three tour guides I met were very experienced and professional. They'll take very good care of you.

Tour buses

With the exception of one short tour, every Alpine Adventures tour I took was transported on a full sized coach. The coaches are driven by very experienced locals who know how to maneuver buses into through spots and around hairpin Alpine switchbacks. The buses are uniformly very clean and comfortable. There is a bathroom on the bus, but it's located near the side door instead of at the rear. Most people don't use the bus toilet because the tour guides are very good about stopping at rest areas. Be sure to bring some change for the Klofrau (the lady who cleans the bathrooms); 50 euro cents should suffice.

Each seat on the bus has a lap belt. I've heard that people are supposed to wear them, but most people don't. However, they do come in handy for those who are bringing children in car seats. If you are bringing children with car seats, please get to the bus early! That way, you can claim seats together and get your car seat(s) set up without inconveniencing everybody else. I was on a tour once with a young mother who was the last one to board the bus with her two year old son and his car seat. There weren't any seats left next to each other, so someone had to move so she could sit next to her little boy. It would have been so much easier for everyone if she had gotten to the bus early.

You can slide the aisle seats a couple of inches horizontally. I did not know this until I had already taken several tours, because most of the tours I took were during the winter, when the tours aren't nearly as populated. In the summer, the tours can get very crowded with every seat spoken for. Being able to adjust your seat a few inches horizontally can make a huge difference in your comfort level. If you're sitting in an aisle seat, check the side of your seat for a lever. Pull it, and you should be able to slide sideways and score a couple more inches of elbow room!

What a typical tour is like

Alpine Adventures tours typically operate on a similar formula. You meet up in front of the lodge and, if you've gotten there early enough, pick out your seat. About halfway to and from your destination, the bus will stop at a convenience center where you can use the restroom and/or purchase refreshments. You'll continue on to your destination, which often consists of a guided tour. Afterwards, depending on the tour, you may either be on your own for lunch, or the tour guide will have a specific restaurant picked out. Usually after that, you're on your own for shopping or the tour bus will take you to a specific place to go shopping. Some people don't like this aspect of tours arranged through Alpine Adventures, but I've generally enjoyed the shopping stops.

Sometimes the tour bus will make a second stop at another attraction; these stops are generally planned, so you should know about them ahead of time. While you're traveling, the tour guide will give you some basic history and answer questions about the place you're visiting. If you take more than one tour in the same week, you might hear the same information twice, because a lot of the attractions near Garmisch-Partenkirchen have overlapping histories.

Brief descriptions of the tours I've taken through Alpine Adventures

I haven't taken every tour offered through Alpine Adventures, but I have taken an awful lot of them. Here's a quick and dirty guide to the tours I've personally experienced. If you decide to take any tours outside of Germany, you are required to bring your passport. However, it was never my experience that the passports were actually necessary beyond a cursory check by the tour guide.

Neuschwanstein- The Neuschwanstein tour is probably one of the most popular tours offered by Alpine Adventures. It's offered year-round and tends to fill up quickly, so be sure to reserve your spot as early as possible. This is the one tour I signed up for that landed me on a waiting list. Luckily, there was enough interest that Alpine Adventures hired another bus.

Neuschwanstein is often referred to as King Ludwig's "Disney Castle"; indeed, it is the castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disney World. I highly recommend this tour because Neuschwanstein is one of those places that every tourist in Germany should see once. The bus will take you through Austria to get to Hohenschwangau, the very tourist friendly town closest to the castle. If you take this tour, be sure to wear comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for the weather.

The tour guide will purchase your tickets. Each ticket has a specific time on it for your appointment in the castle; you're group will all be going together because the tour guide will have signed you up for a guided tour in English. Once you have your ticket, you'll need to get to the castle. You can walk up the steep hill, take a horse and carriage ride, or take a shuttle bus. When I toured Neuschwanstein, I walked to the castle. It took approximately 45 minutes and was strenuous. The horse and carriage will take you about two-thirds of the way up the hill, but you will still have a short walk to the entrance. I can't comment on the shuttle bus, since no one from our group took one. Once you're in the castle, you will have to climb a lot of stairs. Not all of the castle is finished, but the rooms that are finished are beautiful and the tour guide we had spoke almost perfect English.

After the tour, our group met at a German restaurant in Hohenschwangau. The tour guide knew everyone at the restaurant and the food was very good and economical. If German food isn't your preference, there are a couple of other restaurants in town. Just be sure to get back to the bus on time.

After lunch, we went to Wieskirche, a beautiful church of the Baroque/Rococo architectural style. Then, on the way back to the Edelweiss Lodge, we stopped at the Ammertal wood carving shop, where people were encouraged to buy souvenirs. I ended up purchasing some very nice and reasonably priced wood carvings at the Ammertal shop. We were back at the Edelweiss by 5:00pm.

Munich City Tour - The Munich City Tour is the only Alpine Adventures tour I took twice. It's offered year-round. This is a great tour if you just want to kill some time outside of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, especially if you want to go shopping. The bus will take you to Marienplatz in Munich, where you'll have the option of touring the Residenz and seeing the crown jewels. The cost of your tour includes tickets to see the crown jewels. If you want to see more of the Residenz, you will have to pay extra. You can pick up headphones for a tour in English. I think the crown jewels are definitely worth seeing once, though I didn't bother with them on my second trip.

The tour guide will also take you to the Rathaus, where you can see and hear the Glockenspiel clock. I've seen the Glockenspiel twice now and probably don't need to see it again, but it is something that everyone who goes to Munich should check out at least once. It's handy to know where the Rathaus is because there's a department store located right next to it that has a public restroom.

While you're in Munich, you can also visit the farmer's market, have lunch in the Hofbrauhaus, and go shopping. If you take the Munich tour, I recommend stopping by the Dallmyer gourmet store, which the tour guide will probably point out to you. I also recommend having lunch at the Hofbrauhaus, which is a very German experience complete with live music. I like the Munich City Tour because it's very loosely coordinated. You're pretty much on your own once the bus stops and you can do whatever you want. Both times I took this tour, we were back at the Edelweiss by 4:30pm.

Linderhof Palace- I didn't plan to visit the Linderhof, but ended up on it because the tour I had originally signed up for was canceled. All in all, I'm glad I toured the Linderhof, which was King Ludwig's summer palace. The Linderhof tour is offered year-round and I visited in the winter. I would recommend this tour for the summer, since much of the grounds are not operational during the winter. But even if you do go in the winter, it's still worth seeing. We had a very helpful tour guide who spoke English and did a great job of explaining everything to us. While getting to the palace doesn't require any steep climbs, you will have to climb stairs. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather, since the palace is neither heated nor air conditioned.

After you visit Linderhof, you will visit Oberammergau, which is where the Passion Play is held every ten years. It was held this past summer and will be held again in 2020. While you're in Oberammergau, you can shop for world famous wood carvings and have lunch. This tour usually ends by the mid afternoon because Linderhof and Oberammergau are not far from the Edelweiss Lodge.

I had originally planned to take the Dachau Concentration Camp tour. Unfortunately, it was canceled due to lack of interest. The Dachau tour is offered year-round, but because of some of the graphic images and descriptions, it's not recommended for kids under twelve. That's probably why it got canceled.

Bavarian Brotzeit/ Ettal Monastery- The Bavarian Brotzeit/ Ettal Monastery Tour was a pleasant surprise for me; I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. This tour is the only one I ever took that was given by an American tour guide, who also served as our bus driver. Since there was a small group of us, we took a large van to a cheese factory, where we were allowed to see how German cheeses are made and sample some of the wares. I don't like cold cheese very much, but I was able to take what I didn't eat back to my husband, who pronounced the cheeses excellent. After the cheese factory tour, we went to Ettal Monastery, which doubles as an exclusive boarding school. We toured the basilica and tasted some of the herbal liqueurs made by the monks at the monastery. Naturally, we also had time to shop; I purchased some locally produced beer and herbal liqueurs, as well as some wood carvings.

This is another half-day tour offered year-round. It typically starts in the late morning or early afternoon and gets back to the Edelweiss by 4:00pm.

Crystal World/ Innsbruck- I took the Crystal World/Innsbruck tour in the summer and it was very crowded. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this tour, which took us to the Swarovski Crystal World museum near Innsbruck, Austria and the city of Innsbruck. Crystal World is a very cool place to visit. It's basically a self-guided tour through a museum dedicated to exhibits made of Swarovski crystals. Naturally, it's also a good place to shop and you will have to walk through a huge gift shop to exit the museum! If you take the tour, you get two euros off a purchase in the gift shop.

After you tour Crystal World, you'll be taken to Innsbruck, which is a very charming Austrian city. The tour guide will point out some sites of interest, then you'll be on your own. On the way back to Edelweiss, the bus will stop at Wilten Basilica, a gorgeous church with very interesting architecture. This tour is offered year-round.

Bolzano/Vipiteno, Italy- This tour is only offered in the summer and tends to be very crowded! You'll take a bus to Bolzano and Vipiteno, Italy for the day, two cities near the Italian Dolomites. On our tour, we stopped in Vipiteno first, where our tour guide showed us a beautiful old church with frescoes all over the walls. Vipiteno is a great place to shop for wine and leather goods and you'll have the opportunity to do both. There's also an optional wine tasting. On the way to Bolzano, you'll stop at a very Austrian looking gasthaus where you can have lunch. My advice is to try the lasagna; it's probably the best I've ever had. In Bolzano, you'll have the chance to see Ötzi, a 5300 year old "frozen man" who was found in the Alps. After you tour the museum, you can wander around Bolzano to your heart's content.

There is a Three Country Tour that is also offered in the summer. I did not take this tour, but heard that it's an all day tour that mostly consists of sitting on the bus with brief stops in Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The prospect of sitting on the bus all day was not appealing to me, so I skipped it.

Berchtesgaden Eagle's Nest- This is a summer tour that takes you to Adolf Hitler's Eagle's Nest or, in case of bad weather, the local salt mines and information center. After the tour, you'll go to Berchtesgaden for lunch and shopping. This tour is worth taking if only for the amazing views. Be sure to bring a jacket; it can be chilly up there even in the summer time. Wear comfortable shoes as well, since you might want to do some walking in the the rocky areas around the Eagle's Nest.

Final thoughts

Overall, I think Alpine Adventures tours are a very good value. They are mostly comfortable and professionally run. While some people think there's too much of an emphasis on shopping, at least the places that are tour sanctioned usually offer high quality goods. Because the summer tours tend to be very crowded, I recommend trying to take tours in the winter, unless you are interested in a tour that is only offered during the summer.

Have a great time on your Alpine Adventures tours!

Sources

www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com

Personal experience