Sunday 28th and Monday 29th October 2018
The small town of Oberammergau was within easy walking distance of our campsite and if you are thinking of visiting in 2020 for the once-a-decade performance of the passion play, then the campsite might be worth consideration.
Oberammergau is close to Ettal, with its huge Benedictine monastery, Garmisch-Partenkirchen with its alpine mountains as well as many other wonderful charming Bavarian villages and spectacular scenery, gorges, castles and walks.
The town of Oberammergau is also well known for the tradition of decorating the facades of buildings with frescoes, known as Lüftlmalerei, as are many other Bavarian towns and villages, such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen which we also visited.
A few well known examples in Oberammergau are the stunning Pilatushaus, or scenes from Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood on a couple of houses on the way into town on Ettaler Straße.
You will also see intricate wood carvings and sculptures in many of the shops and this handicraft and skill is evident in many of the surrounding towns and villages.
Visiting out of season means that you get to enjoy lots of places without crowds but often it is a time for renovation and maintenance work, as it was in Oberammergau, but that’s life.
The town was definitely gearing up for Christmas as many of the shops were transforming their window displays with carved wooden nativity tableaus and other handmade Christmas decorations. This would probably account for the coach loads of tourists we did encounter on our couple of visits.
Definitely a pleasant town to wander around and add to your itinerary if you are ever close by.
Linderhof Royal Palace
A short drive from Oberammergau was Linderhof Palace, Park and park buildings. The smallest of 3 royal castles built for King Ludwig II of Bavaria.
We could have used our free travel card to take the bus to the Schloss but opted for the car. During our stay we had been given a car parking permit for Oberammergau and other nearby towns, as well as a travel card for the local bus, which allowed us to travel free of charge to many of the surrounding towns and villages. A fantastic perk which we didn’t actually make use of.
The palace and grounds are currently undergoing lots of renovation work which was evident, especially around the palace and the Venus grotto.
Much of the outdoor masonry, outdoor fountains and statues had been prepared for winter and were either covered with wooden, hard foam or metal casings. So too were most of the outdoor buildings.
Despite this winterisation and restoration work, the palace was open for timed guided visits but we chose not to partake, although we have read that the interior is exquisite and well worth a visit.
If you are thinking of visiting, late spring would be perfect to make the most of the palace and its surrounding park and park buildings.