König-Ludwig-Weg, 5. Etappe, Variante: Rottenbuch - Trauchgau

Author's tip:

Restaurants
Rottenbuch, Wildsteig, Wies, Steingaden, Prem, Halblech, Buching, Trauchgau

Accommodations Rottenbuch
Campingplatz am Richterbichl, Solder 1, Tel. 08867/1500
Ferienwohnung Donderer, von-Heeren-Str. 1, Tel. 08867/266
Gästehaus Heiland, Weihanger 34, Tel. 08867/1364
Gästehaus Schratt, Ziegelfeld 4, Tel. 08867/707
Kunstcafe am Tor, Klosterhof 1, Tel. 08867/921040
Landhotel Moosbeck-Alm, Moos 38, Tel. 08867/91200
Gästehaus Bayer, Voglherd 7, Tel. 08867/223
Schellehof, Kreit 6, Tel. 08867/581
Holiday apartment "Gänse-Blümchen", Augustinerstr. 6, Tel. 08867/1570

Accommodation in Wildsteig
Pension Oswald, Riedstraße 21, Tel. 08867/1002
Elisabeth Klein, Unterhäusern 1, Tel. 08867/557
Gasthof "Zum Strauß", Riedstr. 16, Tel. 08867/372
Gasthof "Zur Post", Kirchbergstr. 43, Tel. 08867/221

Accommodation in Buching
Hotel Bannwaldsee, Sesselbahnstr. 10, Tel. 08368/9000
Hotel Berghof, Moorbadstr. 21, Tel. 08368/9148990
Alpchalet Schwanstein, Romant. Str. 16, Tel. 08368/9148090

Accommodation in Halblech
Irmgard Büchl, Branntweingasse 9, Tel. 08368/676
Gästehaus Krainhöfner, Bergstr. 2, Tel. 08368/222
Gästehaus Alpenland, Falkenstr. 14, Tel. 08368/699
Gasthof Geiselstein, Füssener Str. 26, Tel. 08368/260

Accommodation in Trauchgau
Hotel Sonnenbichl, Sonnenbichl 1, Tel. 08368/91330

Equipment:

Hiking without luggage

King service - just enjoy, no ballast. Your luggage will be transported to the hotel reserved for you by the tour operator. You can discover the magnificent Bavarian Alpine foothills without a care in the world. The King Ludwig Trail is offered in four variants with 6-9 overnight stays, the LechErlebnisWeg with 6 overnight stays. The package deals with accommodation, luggage transport and hiking maps can be booked at:

• Feuer und Eis Touristik GmbHTM, Südliche Hauptstrasse 33, 83700 Rottach-Egern, Tel. 08022-66364-0, [email protected], www.feuer-eis-touristik.de/wanderreise-koenig-ludwig-weg
• Alpenland-Touristik, Postfach 101313, 86833 Landsberg a. Lech, Tel. 08191-308620, Fax 08191-4913, www.alpenlandtouristik.de, [email protected]

Way description:

Through the southern gate building you leave the former monastery and then the village. The view sweeps to the Hoher Peißenberg and a little later from a hill above the Schwaigsee to the Ammergau mountains. Shortly afterwards, you reach Wildsteig, a charming village with flower-decorated houses in the middle of a landscape shaped by the Ice Age. After the district of Holz, a remnant moor has been preserved between the moraine walls, and alternating between forest and meadows, the route leads over gentle humps and through lowlands to the Wieskirche World Heritage Site, where there are two inns.

The Wieskirche is the masterpiece of Dominikus Zimmermann, a baroque wonder of light and space. His brother, Johann Baptist Zimmermann, was responsible for the precious furnishings. The name of the church goes back to the "farmer in the meadow" who owned the miraculous image (1730) in the high altar and for which he built a small chapel when he saw it weeping tears. As a result, pilgrimages began, which increased so much that the abbot of Steingaden Monastery commissioned the present church in 1745.

The path now heads south towards the high mountains, passing through three small hamlets to reach the Birnbaumer Filz with the Hainzenbichl, which was already used as a place of worship by Celtic druids. Now it's not far to Trauchgau with several places to stop for refreshments and overnight accommodation.

Pfaffenwinkel hiking map, scale 1:40,000, HW-Verlag, nominal fee EUR 1, available from the Pfaffenwinkel tourist office, www.pfaffen-winkel.de