Mittenwald
Mittenwald, just east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is singularly the most picturesque of all the villages in the Bavarian Alps, which Goethe described as "a living picture book." It enjoys an absolutely stunning setting in the Alps, and is filled with charming Alpine houses and buildings, many of them with elaborate paintings on their façades. It is also a town, one might add, with a long tradition of making exquisite violins, violas and cellos, which dates back to 1684, when Matthias Klotz, a former pupil of the legendary Antonio Stradivari, settled here and started the violin-making industry that continues to this day.
Mittenwald's principal attractions are its pink-colored Church of Saints Peter and Paul, which boasts a typical Bavarian painted façade, and the Geigenbaumuseum (Violin Museum) on Ballenhausgasse, which chronicles the story of violin making in Mittenwald, with scores of historical violins on display, and is practically a place of pilgrimage for violin enthusiasts the world over. Besides which, the town is also at the center of a popular recreation area, with excellent possibilities for hiking, mountain biking and skiing. In fact, the Karwendel ski area here has a 4.2-mile ski slope and the second-highest cable-car route in Germany.
Mittenwald is situated in the Valley of the River Isar in the northern foothils of the Bavarian Alps, at an elevation of 3,028 feet (923 m), approximately 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It has a population of about 7,500, and is wildly popular with tourists.
© Indian Chief Travel Guides
Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More
Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More
Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More
Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More
Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More
St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More
Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More
St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More
Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More