Other activities

The resort has an excellent swimming pool, the Alpspitz-Wellenbad (753313), with a wave machine, diving platforms up to 15 feet, kids pool, baby pool, solariums, saunas and hot tubs. The pool is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and closes at 7 p.m. on weekends. Entrance is included for one day with your visitor’s card. Then it will cost around €3.60 (more on Sunday) for three hours or €4.60 for an unlimited admission. Kids pay €2.10 (€2.30 on Sunday) for three hours or €2.80 (€3 on Sunday) for unlimited stays. There are reductions for 10-day tickets and families. Saunas cost €5.20 alone or €7.20 when combined with swimming.

The ice stadium offers ice skating during the season. Two hours of skating costs €2.6 and rentals cost €3. Call 753291 for information.

Within an hour’s drive are world-famous attractions. Chief among them is Munich, the Bavarian capital. Above all, visit the Deutsches Museum, the German technical museum that rivals the Smithsonian. Central Munich, around the Marienplatz, should be included on any tour. Best view of the city is from the 1,000-foot television tower on the Olympic grounds.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen also has an excellent English-language movie theater that shows first-run films. Kinocenter Garmisch & Aspen-Theater im Lamm is on Marienplatz. Call 2470 for the current movie schedule. Many hotels and bars offer discount coupons off admission prices and Mondays and Tuesdays have discounted shows.

Oberammergau, site of the famed Passion Play, is about a half-hour away by bus or car. Visit dozens of woodcarving shops displaying the work of artisans, many of them trained in Oberammergau’s woodcarving school.

Along the road to Oberammergau, take a trip up the Graswang valley to Schloss Linderhof (photo above), the ornate palace built by Ludwig II, the Mad King of Bavaria. Also consider a full-day trip to Neuschwanstein, the most famous of Ludwig’s castles (near Füssen) and to Berchtesgaden.