Blue rider, blue land - around the Murnauer Moos

There are 200 bicycle parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of the railway station.

If you are travelling without a bike, you will find what you are looking for at the "Radlstadl" bike hire shop at Bahnhofstraße 10. At the roundabout in front of the station building, turn into Bahnhofsweg and follow it for about 5 minutes on foot.

Then turn right and immediately left again into Bahnhofstraße. You will arrive at the hire shop after around 10 minutes.

Whether city bike, children's bike, e-mountain bike or e-cargo bike: Radstadl bike hire offers a large selection of bikes to explore the area around Murnau. A day's hire costs 12 euros for a city bike and 35 euros for an e-bike. Please enquire about the current availability of bikes and opening times before travelling.

From Bahnhofstraße, cycle a little way down Burggraben and turn left towards the old town via Höllgasse and Untermarkt into Schlossbergstraße. You can already see the tower of St Nicholas Church on the right-hand side. The cycle route in Höllgasse and to St Nicholas leads over steps.

The parish church of St Nicholas, consecrated in 1734, dates from the late Baroque period and is one of the most beautiful churches in the Blue Country. The simple exterior barely hints at the imposing rococo interior. The light-flooded nave, topped by a mighty dome, emphasises the architectural details. This building had a significant influence on the development of Bavarian religious architecture. St Nicholas also became famous when it served as a motif for the expressionist Wassily Kandinsky's oil painting "Murnau with Church" in 1910.

Dates for free guided tours are announced on the website.

Cycle southwards back to Untermarkt until you come to a cycle path. This takes you left to the Loisach. There you cycle along a well-surfaced dirt track in the direction of Eschenlohe, where views of the Murnauer Moos against a spectacular mountain backdrop are captivating.

After around ten kilometres you reach Eschenlohe. If you want to take a break from cycling here, the Luidl bakery in the village square offers regional delicacies. Behind the bakery, it is worth taking a look at the late baroque parish church of St Clemens with its impressive frescoes.

At the village square, turn into Höllensteinstraße and follow it until you cross the motorway bridge, then turn right again. After about 15 minutes you will reach the feeder road to the Murnauer Moos nature reserve, which will take you directly to the Langer-Köchel lake. Please stay on the main paths and do not enter the protected areas of the Murnauer Moos. The route continues along the Bodensee-Königsee cycle path.

Pure idyll in the former open-cast mine: on the western edge of the Murnauer Moos lies the shimmering turquoise Langer-Köchel lake, where you will find plenty of peace and quiet far away from the often busy Moos circular hiking trail. The lake is not of natural origin, but is instead the open-cast mining pit of the former Werdenfels hard stone works. Hard stone used to be quarried at Lange Köchel. After mining ceased, the lake filled up naturally in a short time. Natural forest grows on the ridge of the Langen Köchel. It is hard to imagine that blasting was regularly carried out here - in the middle of the Murnauer Moos - for 70 years.

Between 1930 and 2000, glaucoquartzite was extracted here, which was mostly used as ballast in railway construction. Since the excavators stopped, nature has reclaimed the Lange Köchel, and you can now observe rare animals such as the pygmy dragonfly alongside adders and corncrakes. The lake is part of the Murnauer Moos nature reserve, so please note that swimming and fishing are not permitted here.

Back on the road, the route continues to the small village of Grafenaschau, with its Café Habersetzer. After one kilometre, turn right at the bridge into Murnauer Moos, back to Murnau. As pedestrians are given priority in this area, please be considerate. At the edge of the path, there are always places to rest and enjoy the views.

A little further on, the Ramsach church of St. Georg, which served as a motif for the painter Gabriele Münter in 1928, greets you on the left. Popularly known as "Ramsachkircherl" or "Ähndl", it is one of the oldest churches in the region. It is worth a visit for its hand bell, which is believed to be over 1200 years old and was rung by the Iro-Scottish missionaries in Bavaria. Opposite, the "Ähndl" inn invites you to enjoy a rustic cyclist's snack.

It could hardly be more idyllic in Bavaria: on the left, the small church "Ähndl" (ancestor) with its onion domes, on the right the rustic inn of the same name, behind it the Murnauer Moos with its mountain panorama. "Ähndl" is a popular excursion destination for hikers and mountain bikers, but also for Murnau gourmets. Owner Thilo Bischoff is one of the top chefs in the Blue Country and can already boast a Michelin star. In addition to his own refined creations, the menu offers a wide range of Bavarian classics - such as crusty roast and Kaiserschmarren - as well as snacks and cakes. In summer, the beer garden offers marvellous views of the Alps.

After the Ramsachkircherl, turn right past the Alpenhof Murnau, then left into Mühlstraße and from there left again into Kottmüllerallee. You will find the Münter House at number 6.

It is considered to be the birthplace of the expressionist artists' group "Blauer Reiter": the impressive Münter House at the gates of Murnau's old town. The artist couple Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinski spent their summer holidays here at the beginning of the 20th century with painter friends such as Alexej Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin. Soon dubbed the "Russenhaus" by the people of Murnau, it quickly became a meeting place for the avant-garde of the time.

Gabriele Münter acquired the house on Kottmüllerallee on 21 August 1909. The Murnau landscape, the house itself and its garden became important sources of inspiration for Münter and Kandinsky. They often used the view from the window of the church, the castle and the mountain range as the motif for their abstract works. Franz Marc, who lived in nearby Sindelsdorf, also visited, as did fellow painter August Macke and composer Arnold Schönberg.

When the First World War broke out, Münter and Kandinsky fled to Switzerland, as Kandinsky was categorised as a Russian in the enemy camp. He returned to Moscow in November 1914, where he remained until 1921. Gabriele Münter lived in Sweden and Denmark from 1915 onwards. Münter returned to Germany in 1920. From 1931 until her death, the painter lived in the Murnau house again, from 1936 with her partner, the art historian Johannes Eichner. In the cellar of the house, she kept an immeasurable treasure trove of paintings by the "Blue Rider" and his circle. Münter saved numerous works from being destroyed by the National Socialists.

At the artist's request, the Münter House has been open to the public as a place of remembrance since 1998. Parts of the original furnishings, numerous paintings, prints and reverse glass paintings, furniture painted by Münter and Kandinsky as well as examples from the popular collection of the two artists can still be seen today.

Cycle back onto Burgraben and follow the road northwards until it joins Bahnhofstraße. You can return your bike there and walk to the railway station via Bahnhofstraße.

If you still have time and fancy a dip in the cool water, you can pay a visit to Staffelsee, which is just a few minutes' cycle away. To do this, cycle towards the railway station and follow the subway south of the station via Seeblickweg and Bergstraße to the lake. There is a lovely lido with a snack bar here.