If any place in Germany is worth coming back time and time again, it would be Ruhpolding. Actually, you could live here the rest of your life and still not manage to do or see everything this family-friendly town has to offer.
It is both a summer and winter sports paradise — and offers all sorts of festivals, cultural activities, historic old buildings, and a few museums. Yeah, try doing that on a week’s vacation. ;-)
Because Ruhpolding lies along the Bavarian Alps, the winter activities are wonderful. Try some cross-country skiing, regular skiing, or whatever else you can possibly think of when the white powder arrives.
Don’t like it cold? It’s OK, some people don’t. So, when the weather’s warm you can head to the Vita Alpina, an Adventure Park that has a Wave Pool. There’s also a regular Outdoor swimming pool, if you’re interested.
What else is there to do in Ruhpolding? Try paragliding, miniature golfing, fly fishing, mountain biking, tennis, archery, or riding the cable car to the 1,671 meter high Rauschenberg mountain.
Forget neighboring Austria, I think I can see Africa from here… ;-)
No matter the season, Ruhpolding has something going on. The Village Festival is held in August, while the Oberkrainer Festival is in early June. Same month as the Corpus Christi Procession, come to think of it. September has the St. George Ride, and during Advent there are all sorts of activities at the Holzknechtmuseum (Woodcutter Museum).
That’s just one of the museums in Ruhpolding. There’s also a Heritage Museum, a Motorcycle Museum, and the Glockenschmiede Museum (about church bells and stuff).
On top of everything else, Ruhpolding has some beautiful old buildings. The former Jagdschloss (Hunting Lodge) dates to around 1587; then there’s the Our Lady of Snow in the village of Urschlau (one of its 73 hamlets). The St. George Church is really popular — I guess everyone wants to see its Romanesque Madonna.
No, I think they come to see the richly decorated Rathaus (Town Hall). You ain’t never seen a government building this beautiful with its painted windows, flowers, balcony.
No wonder people spend more than one million “nights” in Ruhpolding every year — and why it has earned a spot on the German Alpine Road, a scenic route of epic proportions.
This has to be one of the best places in not just the Chiemgau, but in all of Upper Bavaria. No wonder it would take a lifetime to see and do it all.
