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

Views that leave you speechless! The Allgäu Alps provide the perfect backdrop for a break at home. An absolute hiking highlight: the Guggersee lake, which you can reach from Oberstdorf. Your day trip to the Allgäu Alps starts at Oberstdorf railway station. From here, the number seven bus in the direction of Birgsau will take you to the bus stop of the same name in around 20 minutes. Follow the Birgsau road to Oberstdorf and take the bridge over the Stillach. Shortly afterwards, the signs for "Panoramaweg Nr. 442" will lead you across meadows and up a steep, sometimes serpentine ascent.

The challenging path winds its way through dense bushes and ends in a scree field, followed by a landscape of Allgäu mountain pines. After around one and a half hours, you have completed the most challenging part of the tour. The picturesque view of the Stillachtal valley and the Oberstdorf ski jump to the north will quickly make you forget the challenging metres in altitude. From here, it's around 30 minutes to the first view of the idyllic Guggersee lake in the Allgäu Alps after a small hilltop.

The best viewing spot on Lake Gugger

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. Weather permitting, you can enjoy a unique mountain panorama, the reflection of which is duplicated on the surface of the lake. Presumably, the Alps were looked at from this spot a very long time ago - hence the name: Guggersee.

Snack with Allgäu alpine flavours

For all hikers who want to end their excursion after 830 metres in altitude, the trail leads past the Vordere Taufersbergalpe back down into the valley. Be sure to pay a visit to the Buchrainer alp in the beautiful Rappenalp valley. The alp is part of the Manfred Kurrle Nature Conservation Foundation Allgäu High Alps. It is also one of the last alpine dairies in the Allgäu that still produces Sennalp mountain cheese in large copper kettles on an open fire. From a hearty snack to home-baked cakes made from spelt flour, you will find something to satisfy both small and large appetites.

Freshly fortified, it is only a 50-minute walk from the alp via a tarmac road to the "Alpe Eschbach" bus stop. The number seven bus takes you back to Oberstdorf railway station in around 30 minutes.

Cult hut with an animal surprise

If you still have enough stamina for two more hours at Guggersee, continue on to the Mindelheimer Hütte, built in 1920. Via Alpina number 442 points the way to the next destination. Until then, there are still two steeper climbs to master before the picturesque panorama of the Allgäu Alps and the Lechtal mountains at 2013 metres will leave you speechless. Hungry? Jochen Krupinski has been running the hut here for over 40 years and attaches great importance to regional cuisine in organic quality - even the pasta is homemade. The best thing to do is to drop by and see the legendary landlord's culinary skills for yourself. If you're lucky, you might encounter majestic ibexes on the tour as well as whistling marmots.

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