Month: April 2025

Our first day, and a good breakfast to start the day!  It was a leisurely start as we didn’t leave the hotel until 10am.  The first part was on a good road past a couple of small lakes.  The route then went  on to a graded track which zig-zagged up the hill.  We finally reached the top where there was a restaurant just over the border in Austria.  We both opted for the apple strudel with custard.  I’m not sure whether this was elevenses or lunch as it was about 11:30 when we ate.  The track then became a lot narrower as it wound up through the trees.  The route followed the border and there were numerous markers.  The newer ones were marked Germany and Austria, while the older (1844) were marked Austria and Bavaria.  There were great views to the north across the German plains, and at other times south to the mountains.  The path (signed as the E4, Maximillian Way, and Via Alpina) worked its way along the ridge and finally reached the highest point.  From there it was gradually downhill, then a steep descent, before reaching the road.  The road took us through meadows before reaching the outskirts of Meilingen.  We unfortunately didn’t bother reading a sign, and 400m later discovered the path was blocked.  A quick march back, and it was down a village road, before rejoining the official route.  We then had a couple of kilometres through the town to our accommodation on the west side of Pfronten.  This means that we can get on to the route quickly tomorrow.  We walked back in to town and had a great meal; proper Wienerschnitzel and Christine had white asparagus with hollandaise sauce (and a cocktail each to start).  This was a fairly easy day to start our trek; we have a few more easy days before heading into the mountains

We decided to have just a coffee and a pastry in the BA lounge and have a “full English breakfast” on the plane.  We should have known better.  First the departure was delayed because an arriving passenger was stuck on the plane (the wheelchair couldn’t get down the aisle) and then when we boarded it was announced that there was no food on the plane because the catering truck had broken down.  Breakfast therefore consisted of a packet of crisps and some biscuits, and a few glasses of champagne.

We arrived in Munich and walked past all the new (taped off) Schengen area registration machines.  We joined the large queue for passport control and finally got to the desk – Where are you going?  How long are you staying in Germany?  I’m not sure if he understood our explanation, but we were stamped into Germany.  We went to the luggage hall and found that the luggage from the flight still hadn’t been delivered despite the hour at passport control.  Our rucksacks arrived and we headed off on our rail journey to Fussen.  At least we still had plenty of time for our train connections.

The first leg was on a train to the Munich East station where we had a 45 minute wait.  The station was mobbed, with numerous hen parties and traditionally dressed men and women heading from there into central Munich.  We discovered that today is a big Munich festival with dancing and bands going on all day and night.  

The next train took us west and south of Munich.  The scenery gradually changed from flat plains to more rolling countryside, with the Alps in the distance.  More pine trees started to appear, and almost every farm had an array of solar panels.  There were large fields of panels and houses and factories were covered with them.

There were works on the rail track, and the final leg of the journey was by bus.  There was a rush for the bus, followed by a lot of people getting back off when they were told that it was the non-stop bus to Fussen, and the other bus was stopping at intermediate stations.  Forty five minutes later we arrived in Fussen, lying at the foot of the Alps.  Neuschwanstein Castle, which we walked past a few years ago on the Maximillianweg is just to the east.  That year we left Fussen and followed the Lech path upstream along the river.  This year we will initially head west along the Maximillianweg.  This is part of the E4, which goes from SW Spain to Greece, and we will be walking on it through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, to the French border.

There’s still plenty of snow on the high Alps, but we should be below the snowline, we hope!