Summer in the Bavarian Alps | The Holiday Post

Friday, August 19, 2016

So last week I went on a little family vacay to the very south of Germany, where Bavaria meets Austria and spent two amazingly relaxing and beautiful days in the Bavarian Alps. The landscape there is simply breathtaking, as was the view from our cosy little apartment in Bad Reichenhall. This little get-away was exactly what I needed to switch off and just enjoy nature. I love being out in nature, going for little hikes or bike rides and doing all of that in this stunning environment was absolutely worth the nerve-racking drive there - we're talking absolute stand-still traffic for hoooouuuurs! The air smells of fresh grass and herbs and flowers and all sorts of greenery and sitting out on the balcony reading my book in the mornings before starting another active day was pure perfection! The weather gods were clearly on our side as well as we had the most gorgeous sunny summer weather throughout our stay.

Le geek c'est chic - salt mine attire :)

Bavarian dinner extraordinaire :)

We went to visit the salt mines in Berchtesgaden, which was something I have wanted to do for quite a while and it was really, really interesting to see and super fun too as there's not only little trains taking you deep into the mountains but slides too! Yes, SLIDES! There's two of them and they're super fast and lots of fun. I felt like being in The Hobbit and was expecting to see Smaug the dragon at any time.. I was only slightly disappointed when we came out again without a single dragon encounter..

My mum & me being blinded by the light :)

Resting... :)

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair 🎶

Seeing this really made me wanna go paragliding again! I had so much fun last time! :)

We also took a (slightly scary looking) cable car to the top of Predigtstuhl, one of the smaller mountains in the area at only 1613 metres. The wait for the cable car to the top was quite something I have to say, but fortunately so was the view from up there! With the weather being this perfect we were able to see for miles and miles - over all of Bad Reichenhall and the neighbouring towns as well as all the way over to Salzburg, Austria. It was stunning! We filled our lungs with the clean mountain air while hiking around Predigtstuhl and took in the amazing views, enjoying the lush green of the nature around us.

While in the area we also stopped off at Königssee, a natural lake in Schönau, surrounded by mountains and part of a national park. I have seen nothing like it before!! It's so so beautiful and I definitely wanna come back and do the boat tour on the lake which we didn't get round to do this time. I went to dip my toes in the lake as it was so hot that day and boy is that water cold! I still can't believe that there were several people swimming in that lake - in a BIKINI not a wet suit!

I had an amazing time and I think that just goes to show that there are so many beautiful places right where you are, or at least very close, that sometimes a holiday doesn't need to include hopping on a plane and going to far away places (not that there's anything wrong with that!). I for one intend to discover a little bit more of the country I live in in the future, visiting all the German states and bigger cities for a start.

What about you? Have you ever been to the Alps? What's your favourite place to go to, to switch off and enjoy nature where you live? Do you think you know your own country well and have visited lots of different areas in your country? Leave me a comment to let me know?

Lots of Love,
Jess xx