Prime destination - Bavaria in Southern Germany

The Allgäu in Western Bavaria, bordering Lake Constance and the Austrian border, has a tourism tradition of more than 100 years and is one of Germany’s favourite holiday destinations combining everything the Alps have to offer with rivers, lakes, picturesque towns and a unique cultural heritage.

The area was, for instance, voted most favourite and most family-friendly place to go for hiking for 2007 by the readers of a German hiking magazine. Spa holidays, golfing or skiing are other major attractions that places like Bad Hindelang, Hörnerdörfer, Oberstdorf, Oberstaufen, Kleinwalsertal have to offer.

Bad Hindelang

Bad Hindelang, a climatic spa, is a typical mountain village which has managed to keep its original charms by engaging in sustainable tourism. It offers, in particular, ideal conditions for visitors looking for sportive activities of all kinds such as hiking, mountaineering, Nordic Walking, mountain biking and winter sports. And there’s another special attraction in winter with the villages quaint Christmas market.

Oberstaufen

If you’re up for healthy living and cleansing your body, head for Oberstaufen where Johann Schroth invented his so- called “Schroth treatment” more than 180 years ago. The Schroth diet mainly consists of vegetables and is a very effective combination of different naturopathic impulses. The town also boasts a number of five star hotels and good shopping opportunities.

Oberstdorf

Oberstdorf is Gemany’s most Southern tourism community and a climatic spa. This is the place to be for sportive holiday-makers, not only to engage in hiking, Nordic Walking or skiing themselves but also to visit prestigious Nordic ski events such as the ski jumping “Vierschanzentournee” (Four Hills Tournament).

Kleinwalsertal

The Kleinwalsertal, an enclave in the “Walsertal” (Walser valley) is situated on an altitude of more than 1.100 metres in the Alp. Together with Oberstdorf it makes one of the top mountain bike destinations in Germany. As the largest German-Austrian skiing area it is ideal for families and beginners and also a major destination for hikers with more than 35 mountain lodges.

Hörnerdörfer

The so-called „Hörnerdörfer“ are a group of five villages situated only a few kilometres from Oberstdorf and the Kleinwalsertal. Travellers who enjoy hiking from one picturesque mountain lodge to the other and families who want to enjoy the particular clean and fresh “Allgäu air” should head for Fischen, Obermaiselstein, Balderschwang, Bolsterlang and Ofterschwang. Each one of the villages has a very distinctive character such as the tiny Balderschwang, Germany’s highest villages on 1.044 metres, or Ofterschwang, the so-called “green heart of the Allgäu”.

Getting there:

Ryanair flies into Friedrichshafen. Onward journey either by rental car or by bus with the “Allgäu-Walser Express” (Allgaeu-walser-express.de) from the airport directly to the hotel. Other suitable airports are Stuttgart and Munich.

More information:

Allgäu, Allgaeu.info
Bad Hindelang, Bad-hindelang.info
Oberstaufen, Oberstaufen.de
Oberstdorf, Oberstdorf.de
Kleinwalsertal, Kleinwalsertal.com
Hörnerdörfer, Hoernerdoerfer.de