Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Germany
Two towns the 1936 Olympics forced into one, under Germany’s highest mountain, with a gorge, a ski jump and a glacier all within half an hour
Photo by andreas kretschmer on Unsplash
Photos by Karsten Würth, Joshua Kettle, Shalev Cohen and Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Germany
December to March for the snow, and June to September for the walking — the Zugspitze glacier holds snow longer than the town below it
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 195mm in Jul
Where it is
47.49°N, 11.10°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk the Partnachklamm gorge
- Go up the Zugspitze, dressed for the top and not the bottom
- Swim in the Eibsee in summer, briefly
- Walk up the Olympic ski jump
- Have weisswurst before noon, which is the rule
Garmisch-Partenkirchen travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Germany
Mid-rangeEuro, and cards are taken everywhere on the mountain — lift passes, huts, ski hire. Cash is still worth having for the smallest mountain restaurants, the village bakery and the car park machines. Never change money at the resort exchange desks, whose rate is built for people who have just landed.
ATMs & cards
Use a bank’s own machine in the valley town rather than the ones in the resort centre, which are usually independent and charge for the privilege. Always decline the conversion. Draw before going up: several villages have one machine and it empties over a holiday weekend.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- the independent machines in the resort centre
Use these instead
- Sparkasse
- Raiffeisen
- Crédit Agricole
- Intesa Sanpaolo
Decline the conversion. Draw in the valley town rather than in the resort, where several villages have one machine and it empties over a holiday weekend.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Germany
Very safeVery comfortable. The Partnachklamm is a narrow wet gorge with galleries and the footing is the hazard rather than anything else. The Zugspitze is high enough that people in trainers arrive at freezing conditions on a warm valley day, which the cable car does not warn them about.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the Partnachklamm galleries — narrow, wet and stepped, with the water beside you the whole way
- the Zugspitze in valley clothing — it is freezing at the top on a warm day down here and the cable car takes ten minutes
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Germany visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Germany
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for the south (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg) if walking in forests
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodBavarian: schweinshaxe, weisswurst before noon and not after, obatzda, and kaiserschmarrn. Partenkirchen, the older half, has the more traditional places; Garmisch has the newer ones. The Zugspitze restaurants charge mountain prices for canteen food.
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
Uber brokers licensed hire cars rather than its own drivers
- Against a taxi
- Roughly level with the meter, and Germany is one of the few places where a taxi is sometimes cheaper.
The Rückkehrpflicht — hire cars must return to base between jobs — is why a car can be ten minutes away in a small city.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Berlin — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Getting online
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Germany, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
German
- HelloGuten TagGOO-ten tahk
- PleaseBitteBI-tuh
- Thank youDankeDAN-kuh
- Yes / NoJa / Neinya / nine
4 more phrases
- Excuse meEntschuldigungent-SHOOL-di-gung
- How much is it?Was kostet das?vas KOS-tet das
- The bill, pleaseDie Rechnung, bittedee REKH-nung
- Cheers!Prost!prohst
Religion
Split Catholic and Protestant, and largely secular
The south is Catholic, the north Protestant, and a growing share is neither. Church tax is a real thing residents pay.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Be punctual — arriving late without warning is genuinely rude
- Separate your rubbish; recycling rules are taken seriously
- Make eye contact when toasting, and say prost
- Carry cash; plenty of bars and restaurants still refuse cards
Don't
- Do not jaywalk, especially with children present — people will tell you off
- Do not make Nazi references or salutes, even as a joke; several are criminal offences
- Do not walk in the red-paved bike lanes
- Do not expect small talk from strangers; directness is not coldness
Where to stay in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
No Holistay rentals in Garmisch-Partenkirchen yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Garmisch-Partenkirchen on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Munich MUC
1h 30mfrom the airport· 110 km as the crow flies
1h 30 by direct train from Munich Hauptbahnhof.
Also worth pricing: Innsbruck INN — an hour and a quarter over the Seefeld plateau.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
