Quick Facts

Date
Tuesday, 17 December 2024
Tour
Zugspitze Mountain Van Tour with Garmisch Town — S$447.84 total (train + cable car not included, about €72/person)
Pickup
Hotel pickup, 9am, full 8-hour day
Region
Zugspitze, Bavarian Alps, Germany
From Munich
Easy day trip, done with a van pickup
Covers
Zugspitze summit, glacier area, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Good for
A full day, dress warmly at the summit

Journey to the Alps

Day 9, 17 December, was booked as a Zugspitze van tour with Garmisch town, a full eight-hour day starting with hotel pickup at 9am. We started the morning with that easy pickup, settling into the van as the winter sun slowly climbed above Munich. The ride toward Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, felt peaceful. In the van, our girl leaned comfortably on our lap, both of us enjoying the mountain views through the window. The closer we got, the more the snowy peaks began to fill the horizon like a painting.

Resting on the drive toward Zugspitze, mountains through the window A peaceful ride toward the mountains.
View through the van windshield of snowy Alpine peaks on the road to Zugspitze The snowy peaks, coming into view through the windshield.

Into the Snow

When we arrived at the base station, the entire landscape was covered in snow. Cars sat quietly under white blankets, and the air carried that crisp, refreshing cold only the mountains can give. The cable car itself is worth pausing on before you even board — the current line, opened in 2017, set a Guinness World Record for the longest free span between two support towers, hauling cabins nearly 1,000 vertical metres up the mountain's north face in around ten minutes. We took it up, watching the world fall away beneath us as the Alps stretched endlessly in every direction, a frozen lake shrinking to a dark smudge in the valley below.

View from the cable car window of a frozen lake and mountain ridges below Zugspitze
The valley falling away, a frozen lake tiny against the ridgeline.

At the Summit

At the summit, a sea of white mountains stretched out under a brilliant blue sky. Zugspitze is Germany's highest point at 2,962 metres, and the summit ridge itself sits right on the border with Austria — depending on where you stand for a photo, you can genuinely be in two countries at once. We took photos at the viewing platform and out along the exposed rock ledges, laughing in the freezing wind but loving every moment. The sun was strong and gentle at the same time, giving everything a soft glow.

Sitting on an exposed summit rock ledge at Zugspitze, mountains stretching to the horizon Perched on the ridge, Germany behind and Austria ahead.
Standing at the summit viewing platform railing, panoramic Alpine views The viewing platform, mountains in every direction.

Near the very top stands the summit's gold cross, marking the highest point — a spot everyone waits their turn to stand beside for a photo, us included.

The family at the summit cross marking Zugspitze's highest point
The summit cross — 2,962 metres, as high as Germany goes.
Family Travel Tip

It gets genuinely cold at the summit even on a sunny day — pack proper winter layers for kids, and know that the glacier restaurant is a warm, welcoming spot to break up the cold with a hot meal.

Quiet Moments on the Mountain

Afterwards, we explored the glacier area, watching people ski and sled across the plateau, and simply soaking in the beauty around us. The little chapel on the mountain was especially charming, standing quietly against the bright sky — the Wettersteinkapelle, dedicated in 1981 and still used for a Sunday mass in summer, making it one of the highest chapels in Germany.

Standing before the small stone summit chapel on Zugspitze, snow-covered rocks around it The Wettersteinkapelle, dedicated in 1981.
Close view of the summit chapel's black spire against a bright blue sky One of the highest chapels in Germany.
Standing beside the stone summit building's carved wooden door, dated 1981 The date carved right into the stone.
People walking and sledding across the snowy glacier plateau at Zugspitze The plateau, full of sledders and skiers making the most of it.

A Warm Break

We had lunch at Sonn Alpin, the self-service restaurant built right into the glacier station, sitting by the glass windows with a perfect view of the snowy slope outside. The food was hearty and warm, exactly what we needed after stepping out into the cold. Our girl was all smiles, already planning what snow adventure she wanted to do next.

Sonn Alpin, the glass-fronted restaurant at the Zugspitze glacier station
Sonn Alpin, glass walls and a view worth the queue.
Lunch at Sonn Alpin on Zugspitze, sausage in a cast-iron pan and fried eggs under the glass roof Lunch under the glass roof, with the snow outside.
Two visitors walking across the snowy plateau toward the Zugspitze chapel Walking across the plateau toward the chapel.

The Ride Back Down

By the time we made our way back to the cable car, the light had turned soft and blue, the cold glow of dusk settling over the station as the day wound down. We took one last look at the record-setting support tower on our way through, its steel legs disappearing into the mountainside, before boarding for the ride back to the valley.

Family selfie inside the cable car station at Zugspitze, dusk light through the glass
The three of us, heading back down.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Before heading back to Munich, we stopped in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a cosy town at the foot of the Alps that hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and still feels every bit the mountain resort. The peaks were still visible at the end of every street, and the whole place felt peaceful and unhurried after the wind and cold up top. We strolled through the streets, enjoying the warm shops and the mountain village charm, and passed a genuinely international mix of dinner options for such a small town — Bavarian, Italian, Japanese, Chinese — before settling in for a well-earned meal.

Walking down a street in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, snow-capped mountains at the end of the road Every street in Garmisch ends in a mountain view.
Standing in a town square in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, mountains and shopfronts behind The town square, still catching the last of the light.

A Day to Remember

A world-record cable car, a chapel dedicated decades before we were born, the highest point in the country, and a Chinese restaurant in a Bavarian chalet to end it — not the order we'd have guessed the day would take, but all of it worth the €72 the tour didn't cover.