Garmisch-Partenkirchen

At 2,962 metres it is Germany's highest peak, and the Austrian border crosses the summit terrace. Take the cog railway to the glacier plateau and switch to a cable car, or ride the 2017 cable car from Eibsee. Midsummer can bring frost up top; pack a jacket.

A path threads about 700 metres through a cleft up to 80 metres deep, via rock tunnels and railed ledges over the torrent. Spray soaks you the whole way, so a waterproof helps. It stays open in winter, when icicles hang down the walls.

A lake right under the north face of the Zugspitze, its water clear green and dotted with small islands. The loop path, just over 7 km, is almost level and needs about two hours. Rowing boats can be hired to paddle between the islands.

The old street on the Partenkirchen side, its house walls painted one after another with saints and farm scenes in the Bavarian manner. Old inns and butchers still trade in the same spots. The colours are brightest when the evening sun reaches the murals.

A jump rebuilt in 2007 towers over the stadium that hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics. Every January 1 the New Year jump of the Four Hills Tournament packs the stands. The walk to the Partnach Gorge begins in front of the stadium.

A Benedictine abbey founded in 1330 by Emperor Ludwig IV, with a bright baroque church under a great round dome. The monks still make beer and herbal liqueur, sold in the abbey shop. It is a short bus ride north of Garmisch.

Keeping a vow made during the plague of 1634, the villagers stage a Passion play every ten years; the next is in 2030. Many houses have fairy-tale scenes such as Hansel and Gretel painted on their walls, and woodcarving workshops line the lanes.

The smallest of Ludwig II's palaces, and the only one he lived in for long. The dining table rose through the floor fully laid from the kitchen below, so the king could eat alone without servants. The interior is seen on guided tours only.

On the Osterfelderkopf, two steel walkways cross in an X and jut out past the cliff, with a drop of close to 1,000 metres below their tips. You can see straight down through the grating underfoot. The top cable car station is a few steps away.

Ludwig II's mountain retreat, a Swiss-style wooden chalet outside with a Turkish room of peacock feathers and coloured glass upstairs. No road leads there, so it is a three-to-four-hour hike, and the house admits visitors only from June to early October.

Roughly sixty minutes uphill from the hamlet of Hammersbach on the Zugspitze's north flank, this gorge forms the first stretch of a route to the summit. Gates open after snowmelt, shut in autumn and charge a fee. Tunnel roofs drip heavily; bring a rain jacket.

A village under the Karwendel, a twenty-minute train hop away, making violins since the 17th century. A violin-making museum and several working shops remain. Frescoed facades of saints and rural life make the main street itself a sight.

A mountain lake some 40 minutes' drive northeast, among the deepest and largest Alpine lakes in Germany. Its water is jade green, almost tropical on bright days. Take the Herzogstand cable car up from the shore and two lakes appear together below.

Remains of a 13th-century castle on a wooded hill north of Garmisch, which gave the surrounding Werdenfels country its name. A forest trail climbs about an hour from the village. From the broken walls you see the Loisach valley and the Zugspitze range.

A small lake in meadows near Klais, on the road to Mittenwald, where wooden hay barns stand before the wall of the Karwendel. Photographers gather before dawn for the morning mist. Parked cars are only minutes from the water by a farm track.