If you live in Munich, chances are that you have already visited Garmisch Partenkirchen. The train ride from Munich to this hiking town is simply beautiful. As the regional express glides away from the hustle and bustle of city life, the landscape gets dominated by the Ammergauer Alps. Minutes from the final destination, there is a lone mountain looming towards your right. This beauty is Kramerspitz and in this blog post, I spill all the details to hike up this gorgeous mountain.
Contents
- Why Kramerspitz?
- Getting to Kramerspitz
- Public Transportation
- Car/Motorbike
- Hike to Kramerspitz
- Best time to visit Kramerspitz
- Things to know about Kramerspitz
- Costs
- Transportation
- Food
- My Kramerspitz experience
- Ready, Set, Go!
Why Kramerspitz
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a hiking town that is very easily accessible from Munich. If you fancy a day hike from Munich with ridge walks, exposed sections and unobstructed views, Kramerspitz is your best bet. On a bright, beautiful, breezy day, the summit will simply blow your mind.
Disclaimer: This hike is not beginner appropriate. There are sections with steep drops. Sure footedness and hiking shoes are an absolute MUST. If you are new to the world of hiking, I highly recommend reading my beginner’s guide to alpine hiking. If you feel intimidated by Kramerspitz but still want to feel the adrenaline rush of conquering a summit, I suggest ascending Rotwand. The view over Mangfall Ranges from its summit is equally stunning.
Getiing to Kramerspitz
As mentioned earlier, this hike is best done as a day trip from Munich. Therefore, this section will feature directions from Munich. If you are reading this blog from elsewhere in the world, feel free to add this hike to your Bavarian Itinerary to experience one of the finest views in the Ammergauer Alps!
Public Transportation
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is one of the most accessible hiking towns from Munich. Any regional train departing from Munich to Mittenwald, Seefeld or Innsbrück Hbf will halt at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Trains run hourly and mostly depart from platforms 27 – 29 (at the far right corner of Munich Hauptbahnof). The entire train ride takes close to 90 minutes. More information regarding the train schedules can be found here (The departure and arrival stations must be mentioned as ‘München Hbf’ and ‘Garmisch-Partenkirchenen’ respectively).
After alighting from the train, head to the bus terminal just outside the train station and continue further with Bus Number 1 or 2 to Archstrasse. The bus schedule is linked here. The trailhead is at Berggastof Almhütte. This is roughly a thirty minute walk from the bus stop. Upon reaching the gasthof, you will come across the first yellow boards indicating directions to Kramerspitz!
By Car/Motorbike
If you would rather drive to the starting point of the hike, put these GPS co-ordinates in your navigation device and you are good to go! The co-ordinates correspond to a parking lot close to Berggastof Almhütte which is the trailhead of this hike. The drive time from Munich to this location is a little over an hour.
Hike to Kramerspitz
Trailhead : Link
There are two popular hiking trails to Kramerspitz,
- Berggastof Almhütte (800m) – St. Martinshütte (1040m) – Kramerspitz (1985m)
- Berggastof Almhütte (800m) – Stepbergalm (1592m) – Kramerspitz (1985m)
Both of these trails start at the same point. It is common among hikers to ascend one way and descend the other for a varied and complete hiking experience. When I hiked up Kramerspitz, I chose to ascend via Stepbergalm. However, I would recommend ascending via St. Martinshütte and descending via Stepbergalm as the former trail is slightly more exposed, the thrill of which is best experienced during an ascent!
Alternatively, you can also opt to ascend and descend the same way!
Ascent via Stepbergalm
If ascending via Stepbergalm, the trail initially winds through a forest path which quickly transitions to a narrow path specked with wooden steps. After approximately two hours of hiking, the path evens out leading to Stepbergalm. This is a great spot to break up your hike before continuing to the summit! There are also several trails from the alm to nearby mountains like Hoher Ziegspitz and Hirschbichel.
There are no more mountain huts on the trail to the summit after Stepbergalm. Therefore, in case you don’t have enough food to last through the hike, it would be a good idea to fuel up in Stepbergalm.
Moving on, follow the signs to ‘Kramerspitz’. The trail to the summit is a bit rocky, quite steep and takes anywhere between 60 to 90 minutes from Stepbergalm. Thus, sure-footedness is extremely important for this part of the hike. There is a probability of slipping on loose gravely rocks! Nevertheless the view from the summit overlooking Garmisch at the base of Wetterstein and Karwendel ranges is definitely a sight to behold!
The total ascent takes about four hours with an altitude difference of 1200 metres. However, if you like me decide to stop on the way to take pictures or just soak in the beauty of nature from time to time, add in an extra hour! Depending on your fitness level, the entire hike (i.e., the ascent and the descent) takes anywhere between eight to ten hours.
As mentioned earlier, the descent is either possible as a round trip via St. Martinshütte or back the same way you went up.
Best Time To Hike Kramerspitz
Kramerspitz stands tall at an altitude of 1985m. This means that even with the slightest bit of snowfall, the upper part of the mountain would most likely be a gateway to Narnia. Although the beauty of a snow covered peak is alluring, the advent of winter could result in a thick layer of black ice over the narrow trail. This coupled with exposed terrain makes this hike quite dangerous in the winter months. Moreover, I would also not recommend embarking on this hike after or on a rainy day due to the rocky terrain close to the summit!
Therefore, Kramerspitz is best experienced on a warm summer day. Late spring days or early fall days are also perfectly alright as long as there isn’t a lot of snow on the trail. You can check if the mountain is in a climbable state by following the live webcam footage here.
Things to Know About Kramerspitz
- Kramerspitz is located in the Ammergebirge (Ammergauer Alps). The entire mountain range is a nature reserve (Naturschutzgebiet). Thus, flying a drone is strictly prohibited! The image below clearly shows the Ammergauer Naturschutzgebiet (in red) and the location of Kramerspitz.
- Unlike popular hiking trails, Kramerspitz does not have a restaurant at its summit. Therefore, do not forget to fuel up either at Stepbergalm or St. Martinshütte if you do not have sufficient food or water for the hike. On the contrary, I would highly recommend carrying sandwiches or energy drinks and having a picnic at the summit instead.
Costs
Transportation
If you are traveling from Munich with a group of friends, I would highly recommend purchasing the Bayern ticket. Bayern Ticket is a day ticket that lets you travel all around Bavaria in regional trains. This Ticket costs 26 EUR for one person and 8 EUR for every additional person (upto 5 people). i.e.,
- If you are traveling alone, you would pay 26 EUR
- If you are traveling with a friend, you would pay 26 + 8 = 34 EUR (for 2 people, 17 EUR per person)
Food
If you are planning to dine at either Stepbergalm or St. Martinshütte, a meal with a drink of choice would cost you anywhere between 10 to 15 EUR. In addition, I would expect some expenses in the form of high calorie indulgences to keep up the energy levels during the hike. I typically get trail mixes, snickers and banana. The snack costs for two people from a decent supermarket would be around 10 EUR. If you need some insight regarding the kind of snacks to buy for a hike, the ‘smart snacks’ section of this blogpost should give you a fairly good idea!
My Kramerspitz Experience
I hiked Kramerspitz with a dear friend on a crisp autumn day way back in October 2018 aka., a time when masks were not yet available in drug stores for the general public. My Kramerspitz experience was totally unplanned because when we started the hike that day, our plan was to summit Hoher Ziegspitz. Thus, in line with our plan, Stepbergalm was indeed our first checkpoint.
Kramerspitz was a rather well known mountain among my circle of friends. In fact, one beloved friend of mine accompanied yet another mountain enthusiastic colleague of ours on one of his first hikes to this very mountain. They coincidentally chose a rainy moody day and summited Kramerspitz to see nothing but fog. Four hours of strenuous hiking to see the fog?
Where do I sign up?
Jokes apart, I was very grateful that he came back alive for we went on to become such thick friends. So, imagine my surprise when I stumble upon a tiny yellow board pointing to Kramerspitz during our break at Stepbergalm! Naturally, the desire to see the view from the summit and shove it down my friend’s face was at an all time high. The ascent to Hoher Ziegspitz was quickly aborted and mission Kramerspitz became the only goal for this hike!
Roughly an hour later, we summited Kramerspitz. Although the view from the summit was nothing short of extraordinary, we ended up having to descend back to civilisation mostly in darkness. Since this hike was a spur of the moment decision, we largely underestimated the timeframe. The sun sets relatively early in October. In the mountains, it gets dark even earlier! As we summited quite late in the day complete with a nice long picnic, we didn’t realise the time fly by. Therefore, the daylight quickly dwindled and was replaced by the flickering beam of my dying phone.
Long story short, Kramerspitz was THE hike that finally propelled me in the direction of head lamps. Thus, in addition to a stellar summit experience, I also learnt a valuable hiking lesson. Win win!
Ready, Set, Go!!
Every hike has a story and this summit will forever be one of my favorites. Now that you have read my Kramerspitz story, I cannot wait to hear your experience as you conquer this beautiful peak. Thus, I highly recommend adding this spot to your summer hiking itinerary and experience the magic yourself!
Before you embark on your hiking adventure, I highly recommend skimming through my mountain hiking guide for an unparalleled overview on alpine hiking. All the necessary equipment required to hike in the Alps is listed in this blog post.
If you are looking for another hiking experience, I cannot recommend the following hikes enough:
- Schrecksee – The highest mountain lake in the German Alps
- Archenkanzel – Hidden viewpoint over lake Königssee
- Rubihorn – A complete Allgäu Experience with postcard views
- Rotwand – An easy beginner appropriate summit hike
- Olpererhütte – Austria’s best kept secret view
Have any questions about hiking Kramerspitz? Leave them in the comments below!
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