Discovering Bavaria, Part 3: tree-top walks, boogying bears, and frozen feet

The journey wraps up.

From Angels, Eagles, the Nibelungenlied, and a Wonky Bridge, to Norse mythology, beer-making monks, and cruising down the Danube; I’d been spoiled during my time discovering Bavaria.

For my last weekend in the beautiful state, my friend decided that we needed to visit the Bavarian Forest, a particular favourite of hers filled with special memories from her childhood.

So, we set out with the car packed with snacks and a couple of overnight bags, stopping at a glassblower in Mauth on the way.

Glasblaserkunst Mauth

The glassblower explained, through my awesome translator, that the art is slowly dying in Germany. With gas and energy prices continuously rising and the high cost of the trade, younger Germans are choosing more financially viable and less complicated professions, allowing the art of glassblowing to die.

As I watched him create a few birds and a fish, it saddened me that the beauty of this skill was coming to an end.

I could have paid to blow my own glass object, but with my already burgeoning luggage and funds slowly running out, I had to turn down the offer. It is something I’d like to try in the future though.

Bavarian National Forest

After marveling at the beauty on offer in Mauth, we headed to our main destination, the Bavarian National Forest.

The entire forest spans two countries with only about one-third of it in Germany, the other two-thirds are located in the Czech Republic and is exquisitely named “Bohemian Forest.”

We began our journey through the forest with the tree-top walk. With a total length of 1,300 metres, including the ramp in the conical-shaped tower at the end of the walkway, we wound our way through beeches, firs, and spruces as we marvelled at the height of many of these trees.

Ranging from 8-25 meters above ground, we found plenty of learning and activity stations along the way, including carved sculptures of many woodland creatures — and you know how much I love woodland creatures!

Finally, we arrived at the highlight of the walk, the 44m high conical tree tower built around the mammoth trees standing tall. My knees were very happy that we only had to climb a ramp and not stairs as we scaled the massive structure to reach the tree tops.

The view from the top was spectacular and definitely worth the climb.

Then it was time to head into the forest’s animal sanctuary. We saw many different types of birds, including a large variety of owls, which I love. We passed some wild pigs and thoroughly enjoyed the show that an otter put on for us through underground windows built into his pond.

We spent a solid hour watching some European bison and a couple of lynxes who remained pretty well hidden among the foliage of their enclosure. With the help of a pair of binoculars, we were mesmerized by them.

We weren’t fortunate enough to see the wolves but this bear couple put on a show for us and were the highlight of the day.

We saw the male bear first, watching him closely as we followed him along the fenceline as he foraged for food before the female made an appearance, boogying on down as she had a good scratch up against a tree. Afterwards she looked up at us as if we were dinner and I can’t say I blame her.

After a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast in the garden of the Airbnb we had rented for the night, we headed off to sample a little Kneipp Hydrotherapy in freezing cold water.

German Catholic priest Sebastian Kneipp discovered that water could cure many ailments when applied through various methods, temperatures and pressures.

The wooden barriers built in crystal-clear mountain water near Spiegelau provide a walkway through the sub-zero water and if you want a good laugh, click on this timestamped video to see whether I enjoyed the experience or not.

Suffice it to say I was not “frozen and happy” as my friend claimed I would be, but it did feel good once the pain subsided and I made it back to the other side.

Drying off and sliding back into the little black VW, it was time to say goodbye to our wonderful weekend away, and a few days later, I said goodbye to Bavaria as I began my long journey home to Canada.

I hope you enjoyed my jaunt through Southern Germany.

You can read the more about my time in Bavaria in these articles.