Ski Week: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

As part of our research for this week's Ski Week Special, we took a two day trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a quaint little town in the German alps. This town is not only home to the highest mountain of Germany, the Zugspitze, but also where Germany's best skiers come from. We wanted to see for ourselves what makes this town so great and of course, where Maria Höfl-Riesch and Felix Neureuther made their first turns on the precious white gold.

Garmisch-Classic is a huge skiing area, which has something on offer for everyone. There were a lot of good local skiers doing their thing during the week so you can expect it to be a little more touristy on the weekends, especially since it's only an hours drive from Munich and one of the best ski areas in Germany. The best thing to do in Garmisch is to get up early. You'll be greeted by wonderfully prepared  slopes, with long downhill slopes that will still be empty in the mornings. Throughout the day, it'll get a lot more busy, especially as school finishes up. Garmisch-Partenkirchen has two ski clubs so it's no surprise to see kids training and having an immense amount of fun, doing what they love after school. Some slopes will be closed off for training but it's so much fun to watch these young talents speed down the hills and jump over moguls as if they could fly! 

Garmisch is also one of the most anticipated stops on the FIS World Cup tour. The Kandahar race is renowned for being extremely steep and fast paced. On a normal day, the course is open to the public and you can even have a little look at the start house right at the top of the first drop. It's a pretty tough course and not one for the beginner but a lot of fun if it's not too icy. 

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is such a beautiful little tourist town. It has lots of cute little shops and a really nice town park. You're bound to find a great hotel, guest house or even hostel here. And if you're taking the day off from skiing, it's always fun to visit the Olympic Park, which hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and still hosts part of the 4-Hills Ski Jumping Tournament every year. You could go to the top of Germany, the Zugspitze, take a winter hike or go swimming. Garmisch has so much to offer!

Discover more at www.gapa.de or www.zugspitze.de