Experience nature in the foothills of the Alps - The Ammer-Amper Cycle Path

Your journey along the Ammer begins at the train station of the contemplative Oberammergau, which you reach with the hourly Ammergaubahn. The place is surrounded by mountains and nature reserves and is the venue of the most famous Passion plays in the world. Every ten years since 1634, the villagers have been playing Jesus' ordeal in gratitude for the plague that has survived.In one of them, the Ettaler Weidmoos, a good ten minutes by bike south of Oberammergau, the Ammer springs in the shadow of the Ammergau Alps. By the way, a few minutes from the source area lies the well-known Benedictine abbey Ettal.Your path begins flat and leads you through beautiful nature reserves along the young Ammer until you turn into the forest. The forest alternates with small villages, meadows and clearings.Directly on your way is the Schwaigsee, which is ideal for cooling off, and the Schönegger Käsealm, where you can not only enjoy the cheese, but also watch the production.Past the monastery of Rottenbuch, whose church is decorated in almost lavish Rococo, you follow the cycle path to Peiting. Your today's destination has preserved its Bavarian-village character and is surrounded by several hills.If you continue cycling for another five kilometers, you will reach Schongau, which is already on the Lech and has a very interesting medieval old town.

Once you have left Peiting, you will arrive in a beautiful forest and moor area. After about ten slightly hilly kilometers, the rest of the day will not give you any appreciable climb.Shortly before Peissenberg you reach again the bunting, which meanders wildly through the landscape here. The bike path leads directly along the banks of the river. Here you can wonderfully stretch your feet into the water to cool you down a bit.After the very beautiful way you drive a dangling to Polling with its enormous monastery, which today houses a hospice.Not far from Polling lies Weilheim in the heart of the Pfaffenwinkel. The historic old town invites you to linger. Surrounded by colorful houses, Marienplatz is also the ideal place for a cappuccino.Then you drive along the Ammer again, until after a good hour you reach your today's destination Dießen. The Ammer flows here in the Ammersee and is called henceforth Amper.Dießen is idyllically located on the southwestern corner of Lake Ammersee and is, among other things, a meeting place for artists who meet every year at Ascension Day at the famous pottery market. In addition, the place is the starting point for boat trips (seenschifffahrt.de/de/ammersee) and houses the Marienmünster one of the most important Baroque churches in southern Germany.

Right at the beginning of today's stage, you drive about 15 kilometers along the entire western shore of the Ammersee.Again and again invite gravel beaches for swimming, for example in Utting. From there you have a beautiful view of the lake and recognize on the opposite side of the monastery Andechs, as perched on a hill.Before the lake is over, between Schondorf and Eching you will find nearly two dozen contemporary works of art on the sculpture trail between the lake and the forest.From now on, you follow the river again, which is no longer called Ammersee Amper but Amper. Along the way, you will always enjoy a magnificent view of the Alps and the Ampermoos nature reserve. Just before Grafrath on the right is an ornithological station. From there you can watch the protected bird life of the bog formed in the last ice age.The beautiful route is now a little hilly than the first 25 kilometers of your stage. On your way lies the Amperkraftwerk in Schöngeising, which was built over 120 years ago.Through beautiful nature, past two 300-year-old oak trees, your way leads you to your stage destination Fürstenfeldbruck. Before you reach the city center, you cycle directly past the landmark of the city, the monastery Fürstenfeld. The huge monastery complex is an outstanding example of southern German late Baroque.We would like to especially recommend the beautiful gardens, such as the orchard, the baroque garden or very important for completing your stage: the beer garden.

Today you have a really relaxed stage in beautiful nature in front of you. From Furstenfeldbruck you drive on a beautiful bike path to Olching, but not directly on the Amper along leads. If you want to experience nature more intensively and do not shy away from gravel roads, you can also drive directly along the river.In Olching you drive through the beautiful Amperauen, a recreational area between the Amper and the Mühlbach. Here you will find a bird park, alluvial forests and a lot of untouched nature.After a relaxed journey you will reach your destination Dachau after a short time. The driveway to the castle is the only climb of your day and it's well worth it, because from the top you can enjoy a beautiful view.

Following the amper you leave Dachau. On the way, between the Würm and the Amper, you will find a small natural treasure on the Würmmühlweiher.A short detour takes you to the sad landmark Dachau. In the concentration camp memorial you will find mute witnesses of the darkest period of the last century.Your way leads you on small streets always near the Amper along. You will drive through alluvial forests, past the branches of the Amper and past the ponds, where you can cool off. Together with the many rivers and streams that flow into the Amper creates a branched river system in intact nature.After about 70 kilometers you reach Moosburg and thus the end of the Ammer-Amper cycle path. The beautiful old town with the historic town houses invites you to stroll or ice cream. The route ends at Moosburg train station. With the frequent regional trains you can reach Munich in about one hour.Just north of Moosburg flows first the Mühlbach in the Amper and then the Amper in the Isar. If you drive from the station about three kilometers to the north, you have covered the course of the Ammer from the source to the Ammersee and the Amper to the mouth in the Isar by bike.