Allgäu Alps: Summit happiness in the mirror of the Guggersee lake

Views that leave you speechless! The Allgäu Alps offer the perfect backdrop for a time-out at home. An absolute hiking highlight: the Guggersee, which you can reach from Oberstdorf. Your day trip to the Allgäu Alps starts at the Oberstdorf train station. From here, bus number seven, direction Birgsau, will take you to the bus stop of the same name in about 20 minutes. Follow the Birgsau road to Oberstdorf and take the bridge over the Stillach river. Shortly afterwards, the signposts "Panoramaweg Nr. 442" will lead you cross-country across meadows and up a steep, partly serpentine ascent.

The challenging trail winds through dense bushes and ends in a scree field, which is followed by a landscape of Allgäu mountain pines. After about one and a half hours, you have completed the most athletic part of the tour. The picturesque view of the Stillachtal valley and the Oberstdorf ski jump in the north will quickly make you forget the demanding altitude metres. From here it is about 30 minutes until, after a small hilltop, the first view of the idyllically situated Guggersee in the Allgäu Alps.

The best viewing spot at Guggersee

Insider tip: If you want to experience the fascination of what is probably the smallest mountain lake at 1,725 metres up close, you have to walk around the lake once. The destination: the spot where the Allgäu main ridge with the Trettachspitze and the Mädelegabel is reflected in the water. If the weather cooperates, you will enjoy a unique mountain panorama whose reflection is doubled on the surface of the lake. Presumably, the Alps were peered into at this spot a very long time ago - hence the name: Guggersee.

Snack with Allgäu alpine delights

For all hikers who want to end their excursion after 830 metres of altitude, the path leads past the Vordere Taufersbergalpe back to the valley. Be sure to pay a visit to the Breitengehren alpine dairy in the beautiful Rappenalp valley. The alp belongs to the Allgäuer Alpgenuss association and is committed to promoting regional products in the local alpine economy. Treat yourself to homemade cheese and cake from the Schall couple on the sun terrace or in the rustic parlour while enjoying the picturesque view of the Rappenalp valley.

Freshly fortified, it is only a 50-minute walk from the alp via an asphalt road to the "Alpe Eschbach" bus stop. Bus number seven will take you back to Oberstdorf station in about 30 minutes.

Cult hut with animal surprise

If you still have enough stamina for two additional hours at the Guggersee, hike on to the Mindelheimer Hütte, built in 1920. Via Alpina number 442 points the way to the next destination. Until then, two steeper climbs have to be mastered before the picturesque panorama of the Allgäu Alps and the Lechtal Mountains leaves you speechless at 2013 metres. Hungry? Jochen Krupinski has been the innkeeper here for over 40 years and sets great store by regional cuisine in organic quality - even the pasta is homemade. The best thing is to come and see for yourself how the legendary innkeeper cooks. If you are lucky, you will encounter majestic ibexes as well as whistling marmots on the tour.

After a stop at the DAV hut, you return to the valley along the same path past the Guggersee lake. Take advantage of the descent to take in the unique summit panorama of the Allgäu Alps for the last time before bus number seven takes you back to Oberstdorf main station.