Romantic Weekend in Tegernsee, Germany

Tegernsee was nothing short of romantic for our 1 year wedding anniversary. Expecting to sip coffee with mountain peaks reflecting off the lake, Tegernsee surprised me with its reality- snowy, foggy magic – begging us to stay inside an iconic chalet to celebrate our anniversary.

Located in Germany’s Bavaria, Tegernsee is one of many beautiful lakes in this southern Germany region. It is known for its nearby mountain range contrasting the stillness of the lake’s water, hiking, saunas, all surrounded by traditional German culture.

While there are towns lining the lake on all sides, we stayed in the town of Tegernsee because it houses the train station, and did not require any extra travel time. It is also a main hub to get to anywhere else on the lake, if we decided to explore more.

There are ferries to take you to the other side of the lake, but they stop running at some point in January for the rest of winter, so make sure to check the schedule!

Our intention for this trip was to celebrate our wedding anniversary weekend full of R&R in nature.

Day 1: Explore Lake Tegernsee, Coffee & Lunch, SeeSauna, Dinner & Drinks

We arrived from the train on a Saturday morning, only having one night in Tegernsee booked, as the hotels were expensive. Luckily, our hotel, Seehotel Luitpold, had our room ready for check in when we arrived after a short walk from the train station.

This town is set up for leisurely strolls, as easily accessible walking paths take you around the lake. We followed these, which took us to the highlights of Tegernsee.

Usually these views boast mountain views, but today we received a foggy, grey day, perfect for cozy coffee shops.

Coffee and Lunch to start our day at Seehaus Cafe Bar, with views overlooking the bright water.

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Now that we had some coffee and food into our systems, we decided it was time for beer! The walking path took us to a huge beer hall and restaurant, Schlosswirtschaft. We decided to try hausgemachter kaiserschmarrn, a traditional German dessert, which is similar to pulled pancake with fruit.

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Monte Mare SeeSauna:

This sauna was the most unique one I’ve ever been to. This was such an amazing experience – relaxing in the sauna … on a boat!

The whole sauna complex had more than just a boat sauna, though. It had multiple sauna rooms offering different services, such as aromatherapy. A healing heated pool, lounge areas, a bar and restaurant, and a beach! Even though we were there in January, was dark outside, and it was snowing… we still jumped in the water for a cold plunge after the 100°C sauna.

Just like all German saunas, you cannot wear anything in the saunas or baths! We used robes from our hotel to wear between saunas, but inside you are naked, and it is accepted and normal there, so no reason to be shy or embarrassed. For this reason, you cannot take photos inside, so I only have photos from outside, and from our hotel room! We could actually see the seesauna boat from our room, so if you look closely, you can see it below!

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The snow rapidly piled up, so we ate at our hotel this evening. To our luck, our hotel has one of the best rated restaurants and bars in the area, so we didn’t have to think too hard about this decision to stay in.

We stumbled to the bar for a drink to ring in our first wedding anniversary. It was just the two of us and the bartender from Hungary, so we spent time chatting with him about similarities and differences from our countries, and why we’re all in Germany. As the day changed to January 7th, our new friend clapped for us as we kissed at midnight.

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Day 2: Breakfast, Snowy Hike, Aran Cafe, Dinner & Drinks

Ending our first night hopeful the grey clouds would run from the sunrise, we awoke from our night’s sleep with multiple feet of snow on the ground.

There isn’t much we love more than a free breakfast with lots of delicious German bread.

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While the snow was beautiful and more plentiful than I had seen in years, it caused us to change our plans for the day. We had planned a long hike that would take up most of our day, as it went to a mountain peak for miles and miles of views. Since it was dangerously icy, snowy, and foggy, we decided to take a hike nearby. And it was amazing, well marked, and had stunning views of the water.

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Aran, a popular cafe, especially for a snowy weekend day, was a perfect spot for a warm cup of coffee. Located on the water, it stuns with its glass windows and delicious menu. Since it was so full inside, we chose to sit outside to have views of the lake, even though it was so cold and snowing!

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The energy of Bavaria is like no other, especially in a traditional beer hall. We had to end our weekend at Bräustüberl with soup to warm our souls, and of course, beer.