When looking to visit Zugspitze, the highest mountain top peak in Germany you can actually take three different routes from two different countries, Germany and Austria. When at the top you will have the same viewing area and services, you can bounce between both country’s viewing areas with a breeze. We chose to take the Austria cable car, even though we were staying in Garmisch Partenkirchen in Germany, you can read below why. First let us compare the different routes you can take.

3 Ways To Get To The Peak By Cable Car

1. Germany’s Cable Cars

Eibsee-Seilbahn

This cable car starts near the Eibsee Lake. You can easily park in the public parking lot for a small fee. This cable car currently holds the world record for the longest freespan in a cable car at 3,213 meters. The Eibsee Cable Car opened in 2017. This cable car takes you directly to the top of Zugspitze in about 15 minutes.

If staying in Garmisch Partenkirchen this will be about a 20 minute drive.

Address: Am Eibsee 6, 82491 Grainau, Germany

Gletscherbahn Cable Car (Glacier Cable Car)

The Gletscherbahn Cable Car, also known as the Glacier Cable Car, is another option of getting to the top from Germany. This route takes you by both cogwheel train and cable car.

To take this cable car up you will need to get on the cogwheel first. This will take you up to a platform called Zugspitzplatt. This is where the glacier cable car with take you the rest of the way up to the Zugspitze peak.

2. Getting to the Zugstizplatt by Cogwheel

By Car

If tight on time you can drive yourself to the Eibsee Lake and hop on the cogwheel train there. Here you can leave you car in the public parking lots. This is a great place to park as if you decide to come down the mountain by the Eibsee Cable Car, you can then still reach your car by foot. Or travel vise versa, Eibsee Cable car first, then down via Glacier Cable Car and Cogwheel.

Address: Seefeldweg 1, 82491 Grainau, Germany

By Train

If you do not have car you can still get to Zupsitze by following this route.

At the Gamrisch train station you will take the train to Zugspitzplatt, which will be a 90 minute ride to the Glacier Cable Car. Do not get off at the other stops, it will stop at Grainau and Eibsee along the way. After the Eibsee stop the cogwheel makes its final stop at Zugspitzplatt. This train is known to have good views and a few tunnels along the way.

At Zugspitzplatt you can wander here, take in the the views and even get a bite to eat before heading up to the peak by using the Glacier cable car. This cable car takes about 10-15 minutes to reach the peak from here.

The travel time by cogwheel plus glacier cable car is 35 minutes from Eibsee.

Check out the Zugspitze website here.

***The perk of using the Germany Cables cars is that your round trip ticket can be used for any type of transportation on the Germany side. Take the cogwheel train and glacier cable car up from Eibsee and then take the Eibsee cable car down to change up the view on your return. All is included in your ticket for the same price (price comparisons below).

3. Austria’s Cable Car

The third way to use a cable car to get to Zugspitze would be to use Austria’s Tiroler Zugspitzbahn.

This cable car is only a 30 minute drive from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Only a ten minute longer drive from the Eibsee Cable Car.

This cable car will take you 3600 meters in just about 10 minutes.

When at the top you have that same access to the resutrents, viewing areas, museusms and more that the Germany side has. There is really no difference once you get to the top.

The positive of using this cable car is that it doesn’t seem as popular as the Germany cable cars. Often here there is not as long of a line as the Germany side. Which also means that your cable car may have more room in it. We could easily move around in ours, looking at the different sides to see the scenery around us.

The other positive to this route is that it is cheaper than the Germany’s side ticket.

More on Tiroler Zugspitzbahn here and here.

Short Comparison of the Three Routes

Prices (Summer 2019)

Eibsee + Cogwheel + Glacier Cable Car- Round trip using any ways of transportaion- 58 Euros (about 66 USD)

(Summer Prices – here; Winter Prices- here)

Austria’s Tiroler- Round Trip Adult- 45,50 Euros (about 53 USD)

(Summer Prices- here; Winter Prices- here)

Time One-Way

Eisbee Cable Car- 15 minutes

Cogwheel + Glacier Cable Car- 75 minutes from Garmisch, 60 minutes from Grainau, or 35 minutes from Eibsee

Austria’s Trioler- 10 minutes

When it comes to the two main cable cars there is not much of a different besides the option of the cogwheel train included for the Germany routes. We decided use the Austria side due to the fact that is was a cheaper price for only a ten more minute drive. Another factor was that the crowds and lines were supposedly not as bad at the Germany side. When travelling in the peak season for tourism that it one thing we like to account for, lines are going to naturally be longer during the high travel season.

Alternate Ways to Reach Zugspitze

Hike

There are 5 routes you can take to get to the Zugspitze Peak and viewing area. Some ride the cable car up and hike down, some hike up from the base. These all rank differently in difficulty but all are all one all day to two day hikes. Most people book huts to stay in over night that are along the trail. This site has a lot of great information on the 5 different hikes. If making these hikes a one day adventure make sure you leave plenty of time to make the last cable car down or you might be in quiet the dilemma.

Via Ferrata

We love via ferratas and completed a couple of them during our 5 week trip (here and here). Via ferratas are a fixed climbing course which requires a harness and helmet as your are often clipped to a wire rope. Here are a few options to get to Zugspitze by via ferrata.

Start from Austria’s Tiroler Cable Car and end at the Zugspitze Peak (more on the route here).

This route starts at the Zugspitze chapel and takes you to the very top as well.

Some other options are listed on this site as well.

What Is There To Do At The Top?

Viewing Areas

There are plenty of viewing areas to looks over the Bavarian valleys and see the endless peaks of the alps. Take it in, you can see the glacier and Eibsee lake from some of these platforms. The views on the sunny day sure are breathtaking.

Reach the Peak

Want to reach the highest peak in Germany? You can take a sketchy climb up to the top! Luckily we went so early in the morning this climb wasn’t too crowded. Take the ladder up and use the chains to make it to the peak of Zugspitze. If you are not sure footed I wouldn’t recommend this hike up. It is short but a quick slip could result in serious injury. We saw a few people start and then quickly turn around.

Restaurants

Visit the couple different restaurants at the top. We saw many people here enjoying a cup of coffee and breakfast first thing in the morning. Can’t beat those views while sipping on a hot drink. Many of the restaurants have indoor and outdoor seating so you can overlook the alps while you eat.

Drink At The World’s Highest Biergarten

Zugspitze is home to the World’s Highest Biergarten! We couldn’t pass on getting a cold drink here. They also offer traditional biergarten food here, sausages, pretzels, apple strudel and more!

Hike

You can hike a trail out and back at your allowed time frame. We settled with just going to the peak and the viewing platforms. It was still a little snow covered at the top and we weren’t dress appropriately.

Museum

The museum was included in the price of our ticket. If interested walk through to learn about how the cable cars were built and the history of the area around Zugspitze.

What To Bring

Layers- depending on the season this varies, but it is much colder at the top that the base of the cable cars. It was a hot sunny day when we left but by the time we spent some time at the top I was wishing I wore more than just shorts. These shirts are great for laying.

Water- I love taking these packable bottles for day trips as they pack up so well in a backpack or purse.

Camera– I used my Nikon and I am obsessed with my new wide angle lens (here).

Sunglasses- you care closer the the sun up there, when the sun was out I was glad to have them on me.

Cash- most of Germany still is cash only, always carry cash on you while in this country. Don’t rely on your credit card.

When To Go

The summer will give you better temperatures to be able to walk around more and enjoy the views with a more mild temperature. You can enjoy the outdoor biergarten (highest in the biergarten in Germany) in the warmer months.

The winter will be colder, but if interested in skiing down from the tallest point in Germany then this is perfect for you. Prices may vary for the winter season than what I posted above. Use this link to check winter season ski prices. I bet the mountain views are incredible from the top, covered in snow.

In either scenario make sure you go on a clear day. We got lucky by going very early in the morning, by the time we climbed to the peak, and took in the views the view decks were completely surrounded by clouds. Not much to see if it’s cloudy the entire time you are there. I wouldn’t think it would be worth your money to go. You can always double check their mountain cameras before you go, you can find them here.

Where To Stay

We based ourselves out of Garmisch Partenkirchen for 3 nights to explore this Bavarian alps. They have lots of accommodation and restaurants in town, a perfect small ski town. We stayed at this adorable AirBnB (use this link for $40 off). We loved this apartment, it is actually owned by the swanky hotel down the street. Great customer service, sports equipment rental options and many more perks.

Check this search bar for booking.com options.

Booking.com

What To Do In The Area

We paired this with a hike around Eibsee lake which took about leisurely 90 minutes.

If okay with a fast paced day you can drive to see the Neuschwanstein castle in the morning or afternoon.
We paired a day Neuschwanstein castle with a visit to Andechs Brewery.

If wanting to see the alps from another peak Alpspitze has a great cable car to the top as well. We took this cable car another day and then hiked to the base.