The Plansee is a picturesque lake in the Ammergau Alps, which is also perfect as a swimming lake on hot summer days. With an area of just under 3 km², it is the Second largest natural lake in Tyrol. Lake Plansee is easily accessible by mountain bike or e-bike from the Hotel am Badersee.

Tour profile

Difficulty level: easy to medium
Route length: 43 km (total)
ascents: 350 hm
descents: 350 hm

Royal blue skies and bright sunshine announce a wonderful summer day. It goes without saying that it's time to go out into nature. Since my boss is spending his free weekend in Grainau today; his daughter was visiting the hotel on Lake Badersee and is leaving again today; I offer him the opportunity to go on a tour with him. Since I know that he likes to ride an e-bike, I suggest renting e-bikes from the hotel and riding from Grainau to Lake Plansee. I have never ridden an e-bike myself, but since I will also be riding the route to Lake Plansee for the first time and I don't know how high the climb will be, it makes sense for me to try out an e-bike.

10:45 a.m.: The bikes are ready, the height of the saddle has been adjusted again, then you're ready to go. Since it's downhill through Grainau for now, the E mode remains “off”. We drive along the Eibsee and Loisachstraße to the “Untergrainau” station junction, where we turn left onto the road that takes us to the B23. Here we follow the cycle path towards Griesen/Austria. The cycle path runs steadily parallel to the B23 and always along the Loisach.

While my boss has already switched to “tour”, I continue to use my own muscle power, after all, the process is pretty smooth and at this point in time I don't feel compelled to use any additional drive. And so we continue cycling at a certain distance from each other and enjoy the natural landscape along the way. However, I have to admit that the way to Griesen seems quite long to me. Of course, by car you always travel fairly quickly to the Austrian border, now on a bike I notice how far the route actually is. Strictly speaking, it is 10.8 km and about 30 minutes later we also reached the “village” or the few houses of Griesen. Here we now cross the road to the parking lot. Behind it is the trail that will always lead us along the Neidernach river to Lake Plansee. First we have to open the pasture gate, now in summer there are numerous cows grazing in the meadows again, then we can continue cycling again.

11:30 a.m.: The first part of the trail is very familiar to me again, as I have already been on foot here several times and know that this is just a long way off. So my e-bike isn't being used yet. After several kilometers, however, unknown terrain also begins and we are really impressed by the landscape that presents itself to us along the way. Sometimes the river flows through a deeper gorge, then it widens again; so it's no wonder that I also have to stop to take a photo or two while my boss is just cycling away from me and later asks where I'm staying for so long. As marketing and sales manager, I would of course also like to present the most beautiful tours in our region to our guests. And a beautiful picture is worth a thousand words.

Since most of the trail was only moderately uphill, this is now changing after we reach the bridge, which we cross over the river to continue on the way to Lake Plansee. This is also where we officially cross the border to Austria. However, there is no border control; the border crossing is smooth and without you actually realizing it. Now I'm also going to make use of the e-bike's drive and go on tour for now. That's actually enough for me to feel some more footwork and not leave the climb entirely to the e-bike.

Once up to the top, we have a nice view back towards Griesen. Now it's not far to Lake Plansee and the rest of the stretch is just downhill, so you can let yourself roll by bike almost all the time. And then it finally appears before us: the Plansee. With an area of just under 3 km², the Plansee is the second-largest natural lake in Tyrol. It too is probably a remnant of an glacial meltwater reservoir that once covered the entire intermediate gate up to the Ehrwald Basin.

12:30 p.m.: I would have loved to dive into the turquoise blue water of the lake and treat myself to a refreshment, but today we're only out and about for a bike ride. For now, our tour ends at the campsite. The bathing meadows are already well visited, no wonder with these sunny warm temperatures. The Plansee is of course very popular with tourists as well as locals from the Austrian-German catchment area. The lake is a mecca for water sports fans: surfing, SUPing, sailing, and there is even a diving school here. In addition, a ship sails on the lake between May and autumn and offers round trips. It is one of the highest commercial shipping lines in Austria.

On the other hand, we drive over to the inn to enjoy lunch on the sunny terrace. We briefly consider whether we should make the return trip via Linderhof Castle and then along the peak hiking trail stage 9. However, I don't know whether there is a cycle path between Lake Plansee and Linderhof Castle. So we'll ask at the inn. Unfortunately, that is not the case. To drive from here to Linderhof Castle, we would have to cycle along the road. Not really a nice thing when you consider that there are numerous motorcyclists, cars and even racing cyclists on the track and board up and down the curves. The other alternative would be to drive to Reutte or Heiterwang and back to Germany via Ehrwald, but that's a long way off. We don't feel like doing that today, so we're going to go back the same way, which was really very nice.

The return trip is then pure pleasure. Except for a slight climb back up to the altitude, the trail then only runs downhill. In no time at all, we are back in Griesen and drive back towards Grainau along the B23. One last time, however, we use the power of the e-bike for a short cut across the Höhenrain Panorama Trail and the Kriegergedächtniskapelle back to Grainau, where we sweeten our conclusion with an ice cream sundae.

It will certainly not be the last time that I set off on this wonderful route by bike, but it will certainly be in summer with swimwear in my luggage.

Tips & info:

• Total distance: approx. 43 km back and forth
• Route mostly flat, after Griesen always slightly ascending to the bridge. Then over a few loops uphill. For experienced cyclists, the trail is certainly feasible with a normal mountain bike.
• MTB and e-bike rentals are available at the hotel am Badersee.
• Places to stop off: Griesen: There is a small kiosk here. Plansee: several restaurants available.
• Alternative return trip: via Reutte, Heiterwang, Bichlbach, Lähn, Lermoos and Ehrwald back to Grainau: approx. 49 km from Plansee
• Other options: Plansee circular trail and many others

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