Category: Lakes & Swimming

St. Moritz in the Upper Engadin is regarded as the cradle of alpine winter tourism, which began here in 1864, and twice hosted the Olympic Winter Games (1928 and 1948). The fashionable high-altitude resort at 1,822 m lies on a chain of turquoise Engadin lakes before the Bernina massif and…

The Lauterbrunnen valley is a deeply cut trough valley with almost vertical rock walls, over which around 72 waterfalls plunge. The best known is the Staubbach Falls, which drops nearly 300 m freely into the depths. The valley is considered one of the most beautiful in the Alps and inspired…

A staffed Alpine Club hut (1,638 m) of the DAV Berchtesgaden section, north-west of the Funtensee in the Steinernes Meer. The nearby Funtensee is regarded as Germany's cold pole (−45.9 °C on 24 Dec 2001). Highlights Classic base for crossing the Steinernes Meer The Funtensee as Germany's cold pole (a…

The Obersee is a quiet mountain lake about 600 metres south-east of the Königssee, reached via the Salet boat landing. The Röthbach Falls plunge over the Röthwand, at around 380 m the highest waterfall in Germany. Highlights Boat trip across the Königssee to Salet, then a short walk Turquoise, very…

The Hintersee is a small mountain lake about two kilometres west of the centre of Ramsau. It formed around 3,500 to 4,000 years ago when a rockfall from the Hochkalter massif dammed the Klausbach. Highlights Clear, turquoise water reflecting the Hochkalter and Reiter Alpe Zauberwald: a geotope of moss-covered rockfall…

The Königssee is regarded as one of the cleanest and, at up to 190 metres, deepest lakes in Germany. Embedded between the steeply rising walls of the Watzmann massif and the Hagengebirge, it looks like a Nordic fjord that has strayed into the Alps. What makes the Königssee special Electric…