The Staffelsee in Murnau is a popular destination for locals and holidaymakers, as the lake offers numerous opportunities to spend a perfect leisure day. Various cycling, hiking and jogging routes lead around the lake, you can spend hours on the water with a canoe, kayak or stand-up paddle board, there are swimming areas, boat rentals and restaurants.

Tour profile

Difficulty level: easy
Route length: approx. 22 km (full round)
ascents: 50 meters
descents: 50 meters

Lake Staffelsee is easily accessible by train from Grainau/Garmisch-Partenkirchen and there are also plenty of parking spaces around the lake. In addition, Staffelsee is a year-round destination, although with restrictions on boat traffic and swimming areas, but otherwise you can actively experience Lake Staffelsee all year round.

If you want to travel by train or car, use the stops and parking spaces in Murnau or Uffing am Staffelsee. I'm starting my tour from Uffing am Staffelsee. The circular trail around Lake Staffelsee starts in front of Seerestaurant Alpenblick, which offers a very good range of food, a beautiful winter garden, as well as a great beer garden in summer and even its own boat dock. It passes the beach in Uffing and the marina. The first spring flowers bloom in the meadows and the Canada geese pick the tasty dandelions.

Behind the marina, the trail turns off and moves away from the lake for a few hundred meters. Then it's back along the shore, which invites you to relax with its large meadows and numerous park benches. The first stemless gentian blossoms in April, a real treat for the eyes. The wide trail around Lake Staffelsee comes to a fork in the road. Here you can just run the short Staffelsee round and make the detour back to Uffing. The short relay session takes around 1 hour. I follow the trail further along the shore of the lake and am lucky enough to meet a fox early in the morning. Unfortunately, the fox is not so eager to make my acquaintance and makes quite a sprint to get into the nearby thicket. But this time I was still able to catch him with the camera.

If you are lucky and are in the right place at the right time, you may also discover a deer grazing in the meadows around the lake.

After another bend, the trail first leads away from Staffelsee and runs in a sharp triangle first in the direction of Uffing am Staffelsee and then back towards the lake in front of the first houses at an acute angle, although you will not see anything of the lake for a longer period of time. Instead, it goes across meadows, forests and moors through the countryside.

Passing a few branches that lead to Bad Kohlgrub, Oberammergau or Bad Bayersoien, I follow the signs for the relay lake tour. The park benches have now become a bit rarer, and it will probably take a while for a cozy break. The active time has now begun. Shortly before noon, I meet more and more cyclists as well as joggers. The trails are simply predestined for sporting activities and the weather is once again fantastic.

The trail curves along the protected moor areas that surround Lake Staffelsee. These bogs are protected and cannot be entered between March and October, as there are breeding nests of various bird species here. Finally, a bank is in sight again and after a 2-hour tour, there is also a break for pleasure.

On the last third of the way back to Murnau, the trail runs close to the lake again and I discover various waterbirds that enjoy the beautiful weather as much as I do. Grebes, cob or sniper ducks as well as swans and geese are out and about on the lake. Locals and nearby day trippers share the lake with the waterfowl, they paddle across the expansive water in canoes, kayaks or even stand-up paddle boards, while others treat themselves to a short break on the lakeside and soak up the sun.

The relay tour from Uffing am Staffelsee to Murnau is just under 13 km long and takes 3-4 hours, depending on walking speed. Once in Murnau, there are numerous opportunities to extend or end the relay round:

• You can easily travel by train from Murnau back to Uffing am Staffelsee, or even back to Grainau if you have traveled by public transport.
  It takes another 2 km to access the parking spaces from the platforms. The train runs every hour. Timetable at bahn.de
• A nice alternative to the train is to cross Lake Staffelsee by boat. From the Achele pier, you can take a round trip across Lake Staffelsee and get off again in Uffing. More info here.
• If you want to get sporty, you can also walk or cycle back to Uffing am Staffelsee on foot or by bike. The entire lake circuit is 22 km long. Don't forget provisions.
• By bike, you are very flexible and can extend the route. You can start the relay round by bike from the Hotel am Badersee. It then leads via Farchant — Oberau — Eschenlohe through the Murnauer Moos to Lake Staffelsee. This route can also be divided by taking the train from Murnau or Uffing am Staffelsee back to Grainau.

However you want to plan your tour, a visit to Staffelsee should be part of every vacation at the Hotel am Badersee and the Zugspitze village of Grainau.

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