Berchtesgaden & the Königssee

glide the emerald lake in silence beneath the Watzmann, hear the boatman's flügelhorn echo off the wall, land at the onion-domed chapel

Germany's only alpine national park with a guide — Watzmann viewpoints, the Wimbachklamm gorge or the Zauberwald at Ramsau

Germany's oldest active salt mine — the miners' train 650 m in, wooden slides, an underground salt lake by boat, the floodlit salt cathedral

at a Nazi perpetrator location, the reopened documentation centre confronts the "Idyll and Crime" of the Obersalzberg

by special mountain bus and a tunnel elevator, this stone building carries a dark past and now serves as a viewpoint/restaurant

the season's first quiet crossing, the echo to yourselves, a lakeside table with the Watzmann overhead

a five-star perch 1,000 m up on the Eckerbichl with Watzmann views, infinity pool and two-Michelin-star PUR — the area's ultimate romantic base

a candlelit tasting menu at the Kempinski's two-Michelin-star PUR, one of only a handful in the Bavarian Alps

reach the mirror-still Hintersee and Ramsau's St. Sebastian church at first light — before the coaches

the miners' train, wooden slides and underground boat make the Salzbergwerk a genuine hit with kids

ride the full lake past St. Bartholomä to Salet, walk the fairytale Obersee shore to the Fischunkelalm

floor-to-ceiling-glass gondolas lift you to a 1,800 m top station with a panorama restaurant

a short, thunderous limestone gorge in Ramsau — wooden footbridges over water carving Dachstein rock

the 15.4 km ring road to ~1,570 m for a windscreen-filling panorama over Salzburg and the Salzach valley

from the chapel peninsula the Watzmann-Ostwand rears ~1,800 m straight out of the lake

the tiny St. Sebastian church at Ramsau framed from the Malerwinkel is one of the most photographed scenes in Germany

Jenner is now a freeride and ski-touring mountain rather than a groomed resort

for families and non-skiers, Jenner keeps a natural-snow toboggan run, groomed winter hiking trail and snowshoe routes off the gondola

900 m² of thermal water under the Watzmann

a 1,400 m² spa with indoor and outdoor pools facing the Watzmann, Untersberg and Kehlstein, sauna world and full treatment menu

an adventure pool with an 80 m timed slide, a parent-child play area and warm brine pools with a Watzmann view

a short boardwalk over roaring water through Dachstein limestone

the world's first artificial-ice bobsleigh/luge/skeleton track offers pro-piloted guest runs in season — a genuine adrenaline set-piece