Mountains, covered with snow, a moon-like landscape riverbed, forests, and an amazingly beautiful, clear meltwater Alpine lake: Königssee – a fjord-like lake in national park Berchtesgaden (Gemeinde Schönau am Königssee), Bavaria.
Königsee is perfect for a relaxing day trip. The lake is almost entirely surrounded by forested cliffs, which makes the lakeshore barely accessible by foot. From the parking lot near the lake, you walk along some traditional Bavarian houses until you reach the harbour Seelände. From there, electric boat shuttles go frequently to St. Bartholomä – a chapel at the lakeshore. This small, hidden place is quite a tourist attraction in summer. Out of season, it is less crowded, but you may not be able to access some walking paths because of snow and ice. There is a restaurant at St. Bartholomä with a big outside area, where you can buy reasonably-priced traditional Bavarian food.
From the chapel, you can follow a short, flat, easy-to-access walking path (which is not too exciting though but suitable for not too fit people and small children). Reasonably fit people can walk up to the Eiskapelle – an ice cave at the mountain. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it there due to too much remaining snow (beginning of April), so I cannot assess it. You can also walk a bit along the river bed, but will soon reach the forest area which is a nature reserve and should thus not be accessed away from the walking paths. In general, the tourist part of Königssee (around the harbour and the chapel) is not a place for long hikes as is it so inaccessible. However, there is the possibility for a few one to several day hiking trips in the mountains around the lake, but this should be checked and planned in advance.
