A short guide about Bavaria
Bavaria often called a "big village", and its sprawling suburbs: the Alps, is home of many famous mountain resorts. It is a common joke that Bavaria is not part of Germany and a minority seriously agrees with this notion, in 1949, Bavaria was the only state to reject the West German constitution. The Bavarians emerged from a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Celts, and shares international borders with Austria and the Czech Republic as well as with Switzerland. For most travellers this region of southern Germany bordering the Alps is stereotypically German. Bavaria is the land of Lederhosen and wood carvers, of giant stoneware mugs called Maay and filled with Starkbier (dark bock beer) and houses painted with colourful frescoes.
Visconti's movie about the life of ‘King Ludwig II’ portrays landscapes, villages and towns of Bavaria that seem unchanged for the last 100 years, except maybe for a few additional banks, gas stations and souvenir shops along the main town roads. Otherwise, the "homo bavaricus" has stayed pretty much the same: country shirt and richly decorated traditional jacket, leather pants with flowery suspenders (Lederhosen), felt hat garnished with feathers, "goatee beards" and many pins full of ornaments, little bells and trinkets. The "costumes" are worn on Sundays and even in Munich during the Oktoberfest season. Some take a raft, beer and music as they ride down Munich's home river the Isar. The sacred King of all Bavarians, Ludwig II, is the architect of almost all castles in the south of Munich, of which Neuschwanstein (new-swan-rock) is best known for its role model for Walt Disney's sleeping beauty castle. The 14th century abbey is one of Bavaria's most popular pilgrimage churches and the Andechs is set 711 metres atop the Holy Mountain in the Bavarian Alps and Monks still brew a famous beer in the monastery buildings.
With its traditional hospitality, Bavaria is the most fancied state for vacationing, with countless of visitors each year from Germany itself and abroad. Tourabout has numerous tours to enjoy its cultural riches and scenery. There’s plenty of skiing in the Alps far up on the Zugspitze glacier and once summer comes, and the snow recedes, and the climb up to the mountain’s summit can be arduous. Those looking for a hike requiring less expertise can find plenty of scenic walking trails in and around Garmisch-Partenkirchen.