All you need to know for your holidays...
E-bike holidays at its finest: Magnificent mountains all around the typical Bavarian mountain village of Reit im Winkl offer a colossal arena for epic bike tours. There are many fine reasons to spend an e-biking holiday here in the Chiemgau region. Here are ten important arguments for a summer trip to the extreme south-east of the Chiemgau region with an e-bike.
E-bikers will find plenty of first-class routes for cycling around Reit im Winkl. The routes wind their way around the town center, slowly but steadily, more than 1000 meters in altitude to the peaks of Fellhorn and Steinplatte, over the Heutal valley to the Sonntagshorn mountain, the highest peak in the Chiemgau Alps.
In the valleys you can cruise from one bathing lake to another. With every single ascent, the electric tail wind comes just as requested.
After the steep ascent to the Winklmoos-Alm, a powerful battery takes us over an additional loop to the summit region of the Steinplatte. Up there, the massive Loferer Steinberge create an almost unreal panorama. Especially in spring, the peaks, which are often still covered with snow, look like the Rocky Mountains.
Slightly below the summit pyramid of the Steinplatte, the Triassic Park invites kids (and adults) to an excursion into the bygone world of the dinosaurs.
A huge playground, a puzzle course and a digging point provide exciting experiences about the world of dinosaurs and the Triassic period - not just a brain-cell stimulating break for kids.
The free-floating viewing platform on the Steinplatte is really hair-raising. The transparent glass floor provides a spectacular deep view of the climbing wall. You might feel a slight boom in the stomach area.
From the Reit im Winkl district of Blindau, the gravel road leads epic uphill to the Klausenbergalm. Fortunately, the dense fairytale forest provides shade.
The Eggenalm, where the Straubinger Haus alpine hut is located, is a real feast for the eyes. Marsh marigolds, cobbler nails and gentians shine from the mountain meadows. The view of the summit round tempts you to indulge. The three-thousand-meter peaks of the Hohe Tauern and the completely assembled Zillertal Alps shine above the numerous barns. In front of it, the Kitzbühler Horn rises into the bright blue sky.
The heavily notched mountain range of the Wilder Kaiser looks like a monolith from here. The gently green Chiemgau Alps, on the other hand, appear almost lovely. From the little hill at the Eggenalm chapel, the view even extends to the Watzmann and the Hochkalter.
A cheese dumpling in the Straubinger Haus hut with a view of the Wilder Kaiser? Or would you prefer fresh roasts and homemade desserts from the Hindenburghütte's wood-fired oven? There the view extends from the beer garden to lake Chiemsee - the Bavarian Sea. Brave e-bikers not only get tasty, hearty meals there, but also a lot on their ears. When the hut owner Günter plays with his band, you might stay just a longer.
The three lakes loop is a bit more relaxed for e-bikers. On moderately steep forest roads we play our way east of Reit im Winkl over extensive green ridges. Soon lakes Weitsee, Mittersee and Lödensee are sparkling promisingly like alpine emeralds.
On the way back on the south bank of lake Weitsee there is no stopping it. We kick away the biking shoes, head into the waters. E-biking and swimming in such a postcard idyll, that alone is worth a trip to Reit im Winkl.
If the e-bike battery is still in the green area lets continue cycling around the town of Reit im Winkl.
The tour reveals an almost kitschy, romantic alpine movie. Cows stand like statues on steep slopes. Only their jaws move while meditatively chewing the flower-strewn meadow.
A mountain farmer whets his scythe, mows the steep stream embankment by hand. The mountain peaks sparkle golden. Down in the village, the geraniums glow in the flower boxes and the guild signs on the maypole seem to be painted on a background of clouds.
Kids often don't have an eye for the landscape. No matter how beautiful it is.
But pulling the handcart into the forest, painting stones, building a leafy hut, roasting stick bread on the river bank - the little ones think that's great. The free Reit im Winkl inklusiv Card includes a free kids programme. Parents can set out on e-biking without a care in the world knowing the kids live their own adventures.
For the three lakes or village tour, an e-bike with an upright sitting position, for the alpine tours to the Eggenalm or the Winklmoos-Alm, a full-fledged e-mountainbike with more profiled tires? No problem: the numerous e-bike rental companies in Reit im Winkls offer a wide range of the latest electric bikes. And the owners of hotels, apartments and restaurants have long since installed a few extra charging stations so that the power never runs out when e-biking.
An overnight stay on the rustic farm, in a cozy bed and breakfast, in a holiday apartment or in a hotel: Reit im Winkl has the right roof over your head for every budget and taste.
Norbert Eisele-Hein is a journalist and photographer. He has photographed many corners of Reit im Winkl: on the via ferrata, on snowshoe hikes into the evening hours and early in the cross-country skiing stadium, when it's freezing cold but the light is best for taking photos.
