Our Itinerary

After multiple long ways hikes, we have learned to never arrive in your starting city the night before a hike (the airlines have other plans!). For that reason we spent a few days in Munich before setting out. After we were done we ventured out to Switzerland to decompress and experience the wonders of the Swiss Alps.

For this page we will focus on our experiences on the King Ludwig Way, but check us out here for future posts about Munich and the amazing scenery of Lauterbrunnen.

Day 1: Starnberg to Dießen (Diessen)

After a few days in Munich we headed by train down to the beautiful lakefront town of Starnberg, and the start of our trek along the KLW the next morning.

On our first day our goal was to get to Herrsching before the late-afternoon ferry departed to Dießen. As we left Starnberg our hike reminded us of hikes in the Appalachians along a well-maintained paths that meandered among the forests and streams.

Our biggest distraction of the day was a mandatory stop at Andechs Monastery (which dates back to the 9th century) for a pint (or 2…) of their awarding-winning beer, and one of our favorites on the hike! From there it was a short walk to a scenic ferry ride (we made it!) over to Dießen.

On our second trail day a pattern began that would become very familiar over the next few days - a hike out of town that quickly yielded to the sprawling farms of rural Bavaria. For the most part, the paths were well-maintained gravel, but often we found ourselves on bike paths and farming roads. The obvious change each day the growth of the Alps ahead of us as we progressed southwest.

This segment was the shortest of the six days, and as we approached the very small town of Paterzell we did experience some elevation changes - always a fun way to end a day of hiking!

The walk out of Paterzell was beautiful as we experienced the rolling hills and farms of Bavaria. Our first challenge of the day was going to be Hoher Peißenberg, a very prominent hill about halfway into Peiting. The ascent was steep, but luckily less than a mile in duration. Atop Hoher Peißenberg was a large church, a cafe, a weather station, and some of the best views of the Alps yet.

Our second challenge was the descent down and into Peiting. Not only was this the least-developed and maintained part of the trail to date, but the temperatures were warm for the region in September, and the hike into town was long. We had identified several biergartens to end the day, but for some reason none were open, so we were forced to improvise and find a nice ice cream shop near the church to provide us with a well-deserved beer.

Our plans were to spend an extra day in Peiting as part of our mid-hike zero day.