The weather can be tricky in the Bavarian Alps at the end of October. Some days you’ll end up seeing nothing but fog and you’ll be slipping and sliding due to the sleet on the hiking trails. But if you are lucky and happen to travel on a day when the “Foehn” winds clear the air you’ll experience skies as blue as sapphires and warm sunny spurts.

So when I told my family that for my birthday I wanted to go hiking with them it was a bit of a gamble whether we’d be actually able to go up into the mountains. But we were lucky: Once we left the clouds behind that overshadowed the villages along the Bavarian Alps and drove up the “Spitzingsattel” the sky cleared and the sun came out.

We decided on a location that isn’t too far from home and that has easy and short trails that you can even do with a stroller (which we didn’t have) or kids that don’t enjoy hiking much (which we do have): the “Obere Firstalm”. Located about an hour walking distance from the parking lot above the lake “Spitzingsee” the Obere Firstalm caters to hikers and mountain bikers alike. Those wanting to stay the night can find rooms and dormitories too.

We left our car at the private parking lot (a fee of €4 applies) and headed for the trail. The path is wide and only ascends at a mild pace. While our dog immediately took the lead our younger daughter had to be convinced that a good lunch would make an excellent reward for hiking. Eventually she came around too and we enjoyed a restful walk as a family.

After about 2/3 of the hike the forest opens up and you get a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding the lake.

As promised we took a rest at the “Obere Firstalm” for lunch. They offer delicious warm and cold meals including many local dishes. The kids decided on the “Schweinebraten” (pork roast) with potato/ cucumber salad, I had the traditional Schnitzel and my hubby enjoyed the “Alpine Burger”- birthday lunch to my liking!

Going down we decided against the road we took going up as in the forest we would have missed out on the amazing sunlight. So we started our descend along the “Firstalm Rundwanderweg” (roundtrip) passing by the “Untere Firstalm”. The first part along this hiking trail can be tricky with a stroller as it is a small footpath between the “Obere” and “Untere Firstalm”. In the picture below you see a bit of the path on the left hand side.

Along this hike we were rewarded with marvelous views over the “Spitzingsee”. We could have deviated and could have taken the longer trip along the lake itself but we did not want to stretch the patience of our kids. So we walked past the “Taubensteinbahn” parking lot along the paved road above the lake and back to the parking lot at the “Spitzingsattel”.

With the warmth of the sun and lots of fresh air it was a very enjoyable day in the mountains.

Spitzingsee also offers good skiing in the winter. For a day trip from Munich that’s definitely an option.