Peißenberg owes its existence to coal. For more than a century a deep mine worked the seams of pitch coal under the town, and when it closed in 1971 the place had to reinvent itself. You can still see traces of the mining past in the old shaft buildings and a small museum, but the modern town is a pleasant, unpretentious market centre in the rolling foothills between the Ammersee and the Alps.
The real draw lies just above it. The Hoher Peißenberg, a lone hill of almost a thousand metres, rises from the moraine country with a pilgrimage church on top and a meteorological observatory that has been recording the weather since 1781, making it one of the oldest mountain weather stations anywhere. The road to the summit is short and steep, and on a clear day the panorama runs along the whole wall of the Bavarian Alps from the Allgäu to the Karwendel, with the Zugspitze unmistakable to the south. It is a superb spot for a photo or simply a pause.
Riding around Peißenberg is a pleasant mix of small roads through meadows, forests and villages with onion-domed churches. To the west, the Ammer river has cut a deep, wooded gorge, and the roads towards Rottenbuch and Wieskirche lead into the classic Pfaffenwinkel landscape, so named for its density of monasteries and churches. Surfaces are good, but on weekends cyclists and day trippers are out in force, and the narrower lanes demand patience.
Peißenberg has fuel stations, supermarkets and bakeries, so it makes a natural top-up before heading south into the Ammergau and towards Plansee. Weilheim, a few kilometres away, is the larger town if you need more. The inn on the summit of the Hoher Peißenberg is a classic Bavarian stop for coffee and cake with a view.