Tickets

The best part is that you can buy tickets online (also recommended). Summer ticket costs are as follows:
72€ for Adults, 57.5€ for Youth (16-18 years old), 36€ for Child (6-15 years old), 61€ for Disabled Persons.

You also have the option to buy it at the ticket counters in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Grainau and Eibsee but it’s highly likely that they’re sold out if you’re going during peak season. So better to be safe than sorry and it also is sustainable as it saves paper, stays with you all the time and is safer as it doesn’t crumble and damages the QR code or is lost completely.

How to reach there?

There are multiple options to reach there depending on where you are and how long have you got. For me, due to living in another state of Germany, the car was the best option as I reached there in about 3.5 hours. The ticket I bought was of next day so that I can simply relax on one day and then go to the summit early next morning. This is also how I’d advise to plan your trip and reach a nearby town a day before your summit so that you can take in all the beauty of the German towns and also be energetic the following day for your adventure. The price of petrol was about 79€ in total (to and from my home).

If you go by car, you can park your car in Parkplatz P4 (Kurhaus und Zugspitzbad Grainau). This parking place has the option to park for 4 hours completely free. After that you pay 9€ for 12 hours. From here you can walk to the train station which is about 8 mins away and take the train to Eibsee. This train ride is included in the Zugspitze ticket.

If you live in nearby town or in Munich, you can come the same day as well. You can buy a combine ticket that includes the journey from Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and back. The price for it is 83€.

International travel without the hassle of manual money conversion!!
When traveling, going to the money changer is often hectic and the question always arises as to how much should be exchanged. If you convert more, you’ll lose money by converting it back to your local currency, and if you convert less, you may have to pay ridiculous amounts later. But Wise is here for you. You will receive the amount you see on Google (not possible with physical money changers) for a very small fee. Simply convert the amount you need and calculate it back again. You can sign up here* and make your trip even more enjoyable by eliminating this unnecessary additional burden 😉

Where to stay?

The best place to stay would be in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen or in Grainau as they’re the closest to the Eibsee station. If the accommodation here is fully booked or out of your budget, then you can try to go a little further to Farchant, Oberau or Oberammergau. These towns are a bit out of the way (beautiful though) and could take longer to reach Zugspitze from here.

As I started to look for accommodation very late, 2 weeks before my trip and also in end of peak season (July-September), the hotels were fully booked and had to book Hotel-Gasthof Rose in Oberammergau. Oberammergau is a town in the north of Zugspitze and is about 40 mins away by car. I obviously checked that before my trip and calculated the timings. It’s roughly 7 mins away from the center and has breakfast included. A tip from my end to try to book a place which has breakfast included as it saves you the energy and time to look for something before you go. The price ranges from 90-120€ depending on the season and how early you book it.

Transportation options to Summit

This ticket includes the roundtrip to and from the summit. There are 2 options available in both directions; cable car and cogwheel train. You can either take the same thing both times or you can do a mix. I’d recommend using the cable car to go to the top as it is faster and you want to get to the top as soon as possible as it can get very crowdy. Then you can use the cogwheel train (not so fancy but a good experience 😉) to come down. This will also give you time to relax and prepare for the next destination (Eibsee).

Eibsee

This is located right at the bottom of Zugspitze and is walkable from Zugspitze cable car station. It’s one of the beautiful lakes in Bavaria and is very mesmerizing. You can/should swim if the weather permits but be cautious that there are small stones on the shore all around. There’s also a small beach where you can lay down and enjoy the sun after a swim or enjoy a good book. If you’re shy like me or want to enjoy with only your family, then there are some spots all around where can lay down the blanket and enjoy in privacy.

There I’d also recommend to take a boat ride and go into the middle of the lake. There are small islands also in the middle near which you can ride your boat and enjoy the beauty. The prices for the boats are as follows:

Rowboat: 9€ for 30 mins, 13 Euros for 60 mins
Paddleboat: 11€ for 30 mins, 16 Euros for 60 mins
Slideboat: 12.5€ for 30 mins, 18 Euros for 60 mins

How can you survive that long without eating? 😀

As you already know, I’m a big supporter of booking a hotel with breakfast included. If you’re smart like me, then it’s sorted already. But if you’re unable to find one, then there would be at least one bakery near to where you’re staying. Do some research of your own 😛

You can have lunch at the summit (which is of affordable and reasonable price) but due to too many tourists, the inside sitting place gets full quickly and outside it’s windy so I waited until I came back down plus I had a good breakfast. The place where I had lunch was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen known as Shaka Burgerhouse. It was good quantity and very tasty. It costed us 27€ (tip included).

My Trip’s Total Cost

Now let me tell you how much did it cost

Accommodation: 117€/night

Food: 62€

Car Fuel: 79€

Zugspitze Tickets: 72€ * 2 = 144€

Total = 402€