Bodensee to Konigsee

As we were leaving our Airbnb in Bregenz we did a quick last check of the weather forecast for the week while we still had wifi. Unfortunately it had completely changed from the night before and they were now predicting up to 50mm (!) of rain. We made a few hasty changes to our plans and headed off back into Germany to follow the Bodensee-Königssee cycleway across the south of Bavaria.

The Bavarian Alps reflected in one of the many lakes in the area

By lunch the next day we'd arrived at a guesthouse with a fantastic view of Germany's most famous fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein. We quickly showered and headed out to have a look at the castle before the forecast rain started. The crowds of tourists were a shock to the system after spending the previous few weeks in the mountains so we opted to avoid actually going inside the castle and just view it from outside.

Neuschwanstein, it all its glory. We were staying in the village behind.

The rain eventually arrived and the next day was spent reading, walking by the lake in the rain and drinking coffee. We set off again the next day, heading east along the foothills of the alps. Unfortunately the forecast had once again changed for the worst and instead of clearing; the next three days were wet, misty, and cold. Highlights included staying a night in a teepee, getting a vodka shot from a guesthouse owner (we must have looked like we needed cheering up!) and some beautiful scenery. Lowlights included flooded out tracks, changing a flat tire in the pouring rain, and not being able to see much of the beautiful scenery due to low cloud and mist!

Into the mist

Flooded river across the track

Some of the mist was actually pretty nice though, and we eventually made it to Lake Königssee/Berchtesgaden with the weather having finally cleared. The Berchtesgaden area became infamous during the Nazi rule of Germany from 1933 until 1945 as the mountain outpost of the inner government.

The main complex of Nazi buildings was set on the hill above Berchtesgaden where a museum, the Dokumentationszentrum Obersalzberg, now documents the era of Hitler and the National Socialists. The museum was comprehensive and somber; with stories of the local population forced from their land to make way for the complex, and also of the Nazis most horrific crimes that were planned in the amazing mountain setting.

The Eagle's Nest

The crown jewel of the complex is the Eagle's Nest, which was a birthday gift from Martin Bormann to Hitler. Situated at a spectacular point on the mountain ridge and accessed by an elevator inside the mountain; the Eagle's Nest was a restaurant where Nazi bigwigs would relax and impress foreign diplomats.

We'd originally planned to get back down the hill in time to take a boat trip on the Königssee, but by the time we'd negotiated the buses to get back down the hill it was 6pm. As we only had 35 km to cycle the next day we got up early, walked the 20 minutes to Königssee and set off on one of the first boat trips of the day.
It was another misty morning, but it had started to clear as we sailed out onto the fiord-like lake. It was amazingly calm and we got sneak peeks of steep mountaintops and huge limestone cliffs through the mist. At one point they turned the quiet electric engine off and asked everyone to be quiet, before the captain produced a trumpet and played a tune, allowing the notes to echo off the cliff faces. The mist dampened the affect slightly; apparently on a clear day you can make out six or seven echos (we only got two or three).

Beautiful clear water on Königssee

Obersee

St Bartholomew's Church on Königssee

We watched them pass before packing up our tent, loading up the bikes and heading off down the valley to Salzburg in Austria.

 -  David