A tour of Germany's Five Lake Region

These shores are home to so many scenic piers, villages and beer gardens that there's always something new to discover. Throughout the year, you'll find Bavarians coming here to kick back at resorts and rental cabins. Many tourists don't realize how easy, but also worthwhile it is, to take a day off from sightseeing in Munich for a little bit of lake-hopping.

I decided this time to pop into some of my favorite haunts around the region's two biggest lakes, Ammer and Starnberg, but also to see what new spots I could find.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay

Lake Ammer, or as it's known in German Ammersee, is Bavaria's third largest lake and the sixth largest in the country. The eastern shore is a piece of cake to reach by taking the S-Bahn suburban train to the town of Herrsching, otherwise it's an hour’s drive from Munich.

It's always a nice ride by car, as the city landscape unfolds into lush green pastures, farmhouses and fields of pick-your-own sunflowers and apple orchards. On this particular day, Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the dock of the bay" played on the radio and we all sang along to the iconic tune about watching waves crash in and out until sunset.

"What a perfect day to be sitting next to a lake," the announcer said in a deep Bavarian accent. And he was absolutely right. It was a bright and sunny day.

Our first stop was Gasthof Fischer am Ammersee, part of a cluster of restaurants overlooking Lake Ammer, in a small town called Inning. The beer counter was already covered in half-empty maß liter beer-jugs and crumbs from brezeln and fresh fish rolls. A lot of people were even wearing lederhosen, in honor of the big Oktoberfest in Munich.

After a lunch of potato salad, knödel dumplings and roast pork, we continued onto Herrsching, another town on Lake Ammer that's popular for bicycle tours, hiking and water-sports. In the summer, it's normal here to see windsurfing and sailing on the lake.

Gothic meets Rococo at Andechs

Herrsching's most famous attraction is the Andechs Abbey, a hilltop pilgrimage site and brewery overlooking the lake. Since 1455, the monks here have been making some of Germany's best beers, served around the world including at the famous 'Zum Schneider' restaurant in New York City. But whenever I'm at Andechs, I like to drink the signature Apfelweiß, homemade apple juice mixed with white beer in a hefty maß liter jug.

It's hard to get a seat on the outdoor terrace (especially in the summer), but that's truly the best spot for digging into pork knuckle and a brezeln slathered in homemade chive cream cheese. The cakes and cookies are also simply divine, from cheesecakes made with quark to crumbled cake squares baked with lots of cream and Bavarian love.

Andechs is also renowned for its Gothic collegiate church and its vibrant Rococo interior. Built from 1423 to 1427, the biblical artwork accented in gold makes this one of the most significant churches in Upper Bavaria. Since the 12th century (and to this day), thousands of people make the pilgrimage over Kiental and up the Holy Mountain to Andechs Abbey. There they light a candle in a vault, which has been blacked over the years by the burned wax of hundreds of candles lit here, and pray inside the church.

From the municipality of Herrsching, you can take the steamboat to various other scenic points around the lake, including the town of Dießen on the west bank. It's possible to rent paddleboats or sailboats here for as little time as half an hour, or simply sit on the dock and watch the waves roll in and out. It's also wonderful for bird watching, and in just a couple hours I saw seagulls, swans and what looked like mallard ducks along the jetties. I tore up some semmel bread roll and threw it towards a pair of the beautiful white, long-necked birds and their gray-feathered (yes, still kind of ugly) offspring, who ate up the offering cordially.

Poetry, history and art on the water

I knew about Lake Ammer's next-door neighbor, Lake Starnberg, long before I knew much about Bavaria. In high school, we studied a prolific poem by T.S. Eliot called The Wasteland where he sentimentally describes a day by the freshwater, crystal-blue jewel:

“Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee

With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,

And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,

And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.”

From Munich's central station, it takes around an hour and a half to Starnberg by S-Bahn train or around 45 minutes by car (with a beautiful view of the Alps peeking out over the fields and trees along the way). The water's too cold to dip into, but the benches are still a great way to lounge by the water's edge. Along the promenade, there are cute cafés serving cake and ice cream with a perfect scenic view.

There's also plenty of sightseeing to do via steamboat around Lake Starnberg, and a full tour ticket only costs €17 (19 USD). The shore-side village of Berg was once the home of Bavaria's famous 'mad king', King Ludwig II, the man who had Neuschwanstein Castle built. In fact, in 1886, he mysteriously drowned in Lake Starnberg despite being known to be a good swimmer. A memorial cross off the shore marks the spot where King Ludwig's body was found.

Across the water in Possenhofen, there's even more Bavarian royalty history to be found at the Possenhofen Castle, located on the western shore of the lake. This is where King Ludwig's cousin Sisi, otherwise known as the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, grew up. And for something more modern, there are fantastic expressionist art exhibitions at the Buchheim Museum in Tutzing. Both Possenhofen and Tutzing are reachable by steamboat or S-Bahn train.

It's impossible to cover everything in one day, not to mention the three other smaller lakes which are just as good for water sports, hiking and hanging out as the larger Starnberg and Ammersee. So on this, my most recent trip I didn't accomplish much besides walking by the water and spending time with loved ones - which is exactly what I was looking for this time around. But that's why I know I'll always find myself coming back to these lakes, because they are always so full of surprises.