Photo: Carsten Steger · CC BY-SA 4.0Bavarian Lakes & Abbeys Loop
Take three days through Tegernsee, Bad Tölz, Benediktbeuern, Murnau and Andechs for a gentler Bavaria beyond Munich.
- Allow
- 3 days
- Route
- 194 km
- Drive time
- 2 hr 59 min
- Stops
- 6
Not every Bavarian road trip needs a royal castle or high pass. This compact loop follows the pre-Alpine lakes and market towns south of Munich, where painted facades, monastery libraries, moor landscapes and waterside walks fit into days with very little wheel time.
The route works year-round in normal conditions and is especially good at shoulder season. Weekend lake traffic is the main constraint: leave early, use formal parking and do not turn every brewery or beer garden into a driver’s tasting stop.
The road, in one glance
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Drawing the route…
The route earns
its distance
Each pin is selected as a place to do something—not merely proof that you passed through.
Photo: Thomas Wolf , www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0 deMunich
Collect the car only for the foothill circuit and point south before the weekend lake rush.
Munich (German: München, Bavarian: Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is not a state of its own, and it ranks as the 11th-largest city in the European Union (EU).
Photo: Carsten Steger · CC BY-SA 4.0Tegernsee
Mountain reflections, promenades and small towns ring one of Munich’s favorite nearby lakes.
The Tegernsee is a Zungenbecken lake in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany. The lake is the centre of a popular recreation area 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-east of Munich. Resorts on the lake include the eponymous Tegernsee, as well as Bad Wiessee, Kreuth, Gmund, and Rottach-Egern.
Photo: MarkusZi · CC BY-SA 3.0Bad Tölz
A painted market street and Isar riverfront bring urban texture to the foothill landscape.
Bad Tölz is a Bavarian market and spa town on the Isar, south of Munich at the edge of the Alps. Its sloping Marktstraße is lined with painted façades, while the riverfront and former spa quarter show two distinct sides of the town.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 3.0Benediktbeuern Abbey
Baroque architecture and nearby moor paths create a quiet cultural and nature stop.
Benediktbeuern Abbey (Kloster Benediktbeuern) is an institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco, originally a monastery of the Benedictine Order, in Benediktbeuern in Bavaria, near the Kochelsee, 64 km south-south-west of Munich. It is the oldest and one of the most beautiful monasteries in Upper Bavaria. It was badly damaged in an extreme weather event in 2023.
Photo: Manuel Schunder · Public domainMurnau am Staffelsee
Expressionist art history, a colorful center and the Blue Land landscape make an ideal overnight.
Murnau am Staffelsee (often shortened to Murnau) is a market town in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region of Bavaria, Germany. The market originated in the 12th century around Murnau Castle. Murnau is on the edge of the Bavarian Alps, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Munich.
Photo: Boschfoto · CC BY-SA 3.0Andechs & Ammersee
The abbey hill above the Ammersee provides a final walk, view and meal before Munich.
Andechs Abbey is a Benedictine monastery, now a priory but formerly an abbey, in the municipality of Andechs, in the Landkreis of Starnberg, Upper Bavaria, Germany. A place of pilgrimage on a hill east of the Ammersee, the Abbey is famed for its flamboyant Baroque church and its brewery, Klosterbrauerei Andechs, the proceeds from which help fund the monks' mission of help.
Drive the conditions,
not the itinerary.
Lake roads clog on sunny weekends. Start early, accept full car parks and use regional trains for any day that becomes primarily about beer.
Checked against
the people who run it
Distances and driving times are planning estimates. Conditions, closures, ferries, permits and park rules can change, so check the linked official guidance before setting out.