The Ammergau Alps are one of Bavaria's best-kept secrets — a range where fairy-tale castles meet wild limestone peaks, and where you can still hike for hours without meeting another soul. It's the perfect antidote to the crowds of Zugspitze or Garmisch's busier trails.

Expect a landscape shaped by dolomite and limestone, with dramatic scree slopes locally called Gries tumbling down steep flanks and burying entire valley floors. Dense forests, alpine meadows, moors and hidden lakes fill the spaces between rocky ridges. The scenery shifts from monotonous dolomite plateaus in the south to a more varied, jagged northern section where limestone peaks rise sharply above the valleys.

Highlights:

• Daniel (2340 m) — the highest summit, offering sweeping views over the whole range
• Kreuzspitze — a striking peak built almost entirely of dolomite rock
• Hochplatte & Säuling — bold limestone peaks visible for miles around
• Neuschwanstein Castle & Ettal Monastery — iconic landmarks right at the mountains' edge

Practical info:

• Best time: June–September — snow lingers into early summer, trails are clear by July
• Base towns: Oberammergau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Schwangau, Ehrwald
• Trail difficulty: easy to moderate — most peaks reachable as day hikes from the valley
• Getting there: by car via the A95/B23, or by train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Oberammergau

Curiously, the central and southern parts of the range have no cable cars or mountain huts at all — a rare pocket of true wilderness left in the Northern Alps.