After MARATHON MÜNCHEN by Brooks: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

The Route: München Hauptbahnhof → Garmisch-Partenkirchen → München Hauptbahnhof → Munich Airport Logistics: Direct regional rail (BOB/RE), no change required. Two nights, with the Zugspitze and Eibsee reached from the same station by cogwheel train and cable car. Marathon Month: October Duration: 2 nights

München Hbf ──(1h30, direct BOB/RE)──> Garmisch-Partenkirchen
                                                     │
                          München Hbf ◄──(1h30, direct rail)──┘
                                    │
                    Munich Airport (MUC) ◄──(40 min, S1/S8)──┘

MARATHON MÜNCHEN by Brooks finishes at Willi-Daume-Platz on 11 October, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen is the closest genuine mountain scenery on offer without renting a car, a straight run south on the Bayerische Oberlandbahn to a town that sits directly beneath Germany's highest peak. October in the Werdenfelser Land, the valley Garmisch-Partenkirchen occupies, means the larch trees are turning gold against the dark spruce on the lower slopes while the Zugspitze's own summit, at 2,962 metres, can already be carrying its first snow of the season. Valley temperatures in October run a comfortable 10 to 14°C by day, but conditions at altitude are a different climate entirely and change fast enough that a summit trip planned two days out should be treated as provisional rather than fixed. Direct BOB trains run from München Hauptbahnhof roughly every hour, taking around 1 hour 30 minutes with no change required, and a standard Bayern-Ticket covers both the outbound journey and most of the local transport used across the two nights.

Night One: Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Partnachklamm

Garmisch and Partenkirchen were two separate villages until the 1936 Winter Olympics, held here, forced their merger into a single town, and the seam still shows: Partenkirchen keeps the older, painted-facade Bavarian streets, while Garmisch runs closer to a conventional resort centre. Neither half asks much of tired legs. The old lanes of Partenkirchen, around Ludwigstraße, are flat and largely pedestrianised, lined with Lüftlmalerei, the painted house facades typical of this part of Bavaria, depicting religious scenes and folk tales in fresco.

Partnachklamm, the gorge on the edge of town, is the single best short outing for a first evening or morning: a roughly 700-metre walkway cut into the rock face above the Partnach river, part tunnel, part open ledge, with a level, well-maintained gravel and stone surface and handrails throughout. The gradient is gentle rather than flat, a steady rise rather than a climb, and the whole circuit including approach paths takes under an hour at a slow pace. Entry costs approximately €6 (£5). The walk from town to the gorge entrance is itself flat and paved, following the valley floor rather than climbing toward it.

Where to stay: Reindl's Partenkirchner Hof, a long-established spa hotel on the edge of Partenkirchen's old streets, gives easy access to both the gorge and the town centre along with a proper pool and sauna for legs that need it. Hotel Garmischer Hof, more central and considerably simpler, suits anyone who wants a short, flat walk to restaurants and the station rather than a resort experience.

Where to eat: Gasthof Fraundorfer, in the heart of Partenkirchen, serves Bavarian standards, Schweinshaxe and Kaiserschmarrn among them, in a dining room that has hosted the same kind of evening folk entertainment for generations; arrive hungry rather than expecting a light meal. Reindl's own restaurant offers a quieter, more formal alternative for an evening when standing through a folk performance holds no appeal.

Night Two: Zugspitze and Eibsee

The Zugspitze is reached entirely by machine from Garmisch-Partenkirchen station: the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn cogwheel train runs up the valley to Eibsee and on to the Zugspitzplatt, or a cable car direct from Eibsee climbs to the summit station in roughly ten minutes. A combined ticket covering the full journey to the summit runs to approximately €70 (£60), and it is worth booking in advance during busy periods, since capacity on the cable car is limited. None of this requires a step of walking beyond the platform itself, which makes it a genuinely realistic outing for legs two days removed from 42.195 km, but the summit sits above 2,900 metres and October weather there is unreliable: cloud can close the view without warning, temperatures regularly sit well below freezing, and an early snowfall is a real possibility rather than an edge case. Check conditions on the operator's own website on the morning of travel before committing to the full summit ticket, and treat a clear view from the top as a genuine possibility rather than a guarantee.

Eibsee itself, the lake at the base of the cable car, is the more dependable alternative regardless of what the summit is doing. A forest path circles the lake for close to seven kilometres on largely flat, packed-earth and gravel track, with the option of walking a shorter partial loop from the car park and cable-car station rather than the full circuit. The water itself is a striking deep green-blue against the pine treeline and the Zugspitze massif behind it, and benches appear at intervals around the shore for anyone whose legs need the excuse to sit down.

Where to stay: the same base as Night One suits Night Two equally well, since both the Zugspitzbahn and the Eibsee lie on the same rail line out of Garmisch-Partenkirchen station rather than requiring a change of town.

Where to eat: Sonn Alpin, the self-service restaurant at the Zugspitzplatt station partway up the mountain, is the practical choice for lunch if a summit trip is on the day's plan, with terrace seating and mountain views when the weather cooperates. Back in town, a simpler Bavarian Brotzeit, cold cuts, cheese and bread, at any of Partenkirchen's smaller guesthouses is a lighter option for an evening after a full day on cable cars and trains.

Getting Home

Return to Munich on the same direct BOB service, around 1 hour 30 minutes back to München Hauptbahnhof with no change required. From there, the S1 and S8 S-Bahn lines reach Munich Airport (MUC) in around 40 minutes, running roughly every 10 to 20 minutes for most of the day. Anyone checking a bag heavier than expected after two days of layers for both valley and altitude weather should allow slightly more transfer time than the bare journey figures suggest, particularly on a Monday when the S-Bahn also carries the city's ordinary commuter traffic.