Germany Guide
The Alps and eastern Bavaria
The Zugspitze
To get to the top of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, take the Zugspitzbahn cogwheel railway (hourly 8.15am–2.15pm) from the Bahnhof Zugspitzbahn alongside the Hauptbahnhof at least as far as Eibsee, where you're faced with a choice: either continue on the cog railway, or else transfer to the dramatic (and much faster) Eibseeseilbahn cable car, which ascends nearly 2000m straight to the summit in a mere ten minutes. If you've decided to stick with the train, the journey takes rather longer: you're deposited on the Schneefernglacier on the Zugspitzplatt plateau below the peak, which from November to April offers Germany's highest skiing (day-pass including ascent €36), with powder snow, a range of red and blue runs and spectacular views, extending in clear weather as far as Italy and Switzerland. For a brief period in midwinter you can also stay in an igloo hotel ( 
www.iglu-dorf.com ; Price: €251 and above), which also has a bar and fondue restaurant. From the Zugspitzplatt, you complete the journey to the summit on the ultramodern Gletscherbahn cable car. Whichever route you choose, the round trip costs €36 in winter, €47 in summer. In summer, the Zugspitzplatt offers a limited selection of short hikes, including one which crosses the glacier to the Windloch observation point, from which you have good views of Ehrwald in Tyrol, 2000m below. The descent on foot to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which includes the Partnachklamm gorge, is only for experienced climbers, and takes six to eight hours. At the summit, there's a second cable-car station – the top of the Tiroler Zugspitzbahn (daily 8.40am–4.40pm; €33 round trip; www.zugspitze.at ), which ascends from the Austrian side. There's a redundant frontier post between the two stations.
Three other cable cars – the Alpspitzbahn, Kreuzeckbahn and Hauseckbahn – give access to a more extensive skiing area, the Garmisch Classic (day-pass €31; www.zugspitze.de ) below the 2050m Osterfelderkopf, which includes the famous Kandahar run, used for World Cup downhill races. Black and red runs predominate. Again, this is hiking and mountaineering terrain in summer, with two challenging climbers' routes – the Ferrata trail and Nordwandsteig – ascending the 2628m Alpspitze from the Osterfelderkopf.