Starnberg sits at the northern end of the Starnberger See, the big, elongated lake south of Munich, and the dot lands in the lakeside commuter belt between the town and Pöcking. It is wealthy country. The shoreline is lined with villas and old summer houses, the roads are quiet, and the Alps appear on clear days as a long white wall above the water, with the Zugspitze and the Karwendel easy to pick out.
For a rider, the lake is the first and last taste of the mountains. The road along the western shore leads through Possenhofen, where the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, spent much of her childhood in the Wittelsbach family's summer home. On the eastern side, near Berg, a cross stands in the water where King Ludwig II was found drowned in 1886 after being declared unfit to rule, an event that remains one of Bavaria's great unsolved stories and draws many visitors. Both are easy to reach along quiet lakeside lanes.
The riding here is leisurely. Traffic can be heavy at weekends, with cyclists, joggers and cars looking for parking, and speed limits are strictly kept. In summer the lake draws crowds; on a weekday morning or late in the evening, it is calmer. The roads away from the shore climb gently through meadows and woods, and the views over the water are good from several high points.
Fuel is easy in Starnberg, which is a proper town of over twenty thousand people, with supermarkets, bakeries and cafes. There is a steamer service on the lake, and the lakeside promenade has beer gardens where you can sit with a view of the water. A small portion of fish, perhaps a Renke from the lake, is the local specialty.
On the larger ride, the contrast could hardly be bigger. The Grossglockner is at 3,798 metres the highest peak in Austria, and its high road climbs to over 2,500 metres with a toll. Here, the highest point is a bench by the lake.