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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

King's House on Schachen and Unfriedshausen

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
313 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 10
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

313 km from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, about 5 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Linderhof Castle, Rose Island, Unfriedshausen and back through Rose Island. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.

Scenic road chapters

German Alpine Road

Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 27 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.

Chapter facts
Length
27 km
Named road
German Alpine Road

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. King's House on Schachen

    This is one of the few royal residences in Europe that you cannot reach by any road, and King Ludwig II of Bavaria would have liked it that way. The King's House on Schachen stands on a high alpine meadow at about 1,866 metres in the Wetterstein mountains, south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, below the jagged walls of the range that culminates in the Zugspitze. Ludwig had it built between 1869 and 1872 as a mountain retreat, and from the outside it looks like a modest Swiss chalet. Inside, upstairs, is a fantasy: the Turkish Hall, a room of blue, gold and red, with a fountain, peacock-feather fans, divans and stained glass, where the king liked to celebrate his birthday dressed in oriental costume while his servants smoked hookahs.

    Read the complete King's House on Schachen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    King's House on Schachen is where the day begins. Next is Linderhof Castle.

  2. 2. Linderhof Castle

    Of all the palaces King Ludwig II of Bavaria dreamed up, Linderhof is the only one he saw finished, and it is the one he actually lived in for long periods. Hidden in the Graswang valley in the Ammergau Alps, it is a small, extravagant rococo villa inspired by Versailles, with gilded rooms, a hall of mirrors and a dining table that rose from the kitchen below so that the shy king could eat without seeing servants. The park around it is full of follies: a Moorish kiosk, a Moroccan house and, most famous of all, the Venus Grotto, an artificial cave with a lake, a shell-shaped boat and coloured lighting, built so Ludwig could imagine himself in a Wagner opera. Linderhof belongs to the group of Ludwig's palaces recently listed by UNESCO.

    Read the complete Linderhof Castle write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Linderhof Castle comes up 47 km in. Next is Rose Island.

  3. 3. Rose Island

    Lake Starnberg, south-west of Munich, is the lake where Bavaria's Fairy Tale King met his end. Ludwig II drowned in its waters near Berg in 1886, in circumstances that are still debated, and a cross stands in the lake where his body was found. On the opposite shore, near Feldafing, lies the small Roseninsel, or Rose Island, the only island in the lake. Ludwig's father Maximilian II had a little villa built there, surrounded by a rose garden, and Ludwig used it as a retreat, sometimes meeting his cousin, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, who spent her childhood at nearby Possenhofen.

    Read the complete Rose Island write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    93 km in you reach Rose Island. Next is Unfriedshausen.

  4. 4. Unfriedshausen

    Unfriedshausen is a hamlet in the rolling farmland west of the Ammersee, part of the municipality of Geltendorf in the Landsberg district of Bavaria, and if you have never heard of it, you are in good company. This is the gentle, prosperous countryside between Munich and Augsburg, a patchwork of fields, meadows, spruce woods, onion-domed churches and farmhouses with balconies full of geraniums, and it is the kind of place where the main event of the day might be a tractor crossing the road.

    Read the complete Unfriedshausen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Unfriedshausen, about halfway. Next is back through Rose Island.

  5. 5. back through Rose Island

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Rose Island write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Rose Island sits at 186 km, about halfway. Next is back through Linderhof Castle.

  6. 6. back through Linderhof Castle

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Linderhof Castle write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Linderhof Castle comes up 233 km in. Next is King's House on Schachen.

  7. 7. King's House on Schachen

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete King's House on Schachen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    King's House on Schachen closes the day.

Leg by leg

King's House on Schachen to Linderhof Castle

King's House on Schachen → Linderhof Castle is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Linderhof Castle to Rose Island

Linderhof Castle → Rose Island is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Rose Island to Unfriedshausen

Rose Island → Unfriedshausen is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Unfriedshausen to back through Rose Island

Unfriedshausen → back through Rose Island is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Rose Island to back through Linderhof Castle

back through Rose Island → back through Linderhof Castle is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

back through Linderhof Castle to King's House on Schachen

back through Linderhof Castle → King's House on Schachen is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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