Bavarian Highs

Despite being landlocked, Bavaria in southeast Germany has a thriving wind surfing scene due to its plentiful number of lakes that sit high above sea level in beautiful countryside, fringed with views of the hills and mountains. Andy Lachauer and Michael Krumm give us a guide to some of the area’s best spots.

- Andy Lachauer and Michael Krumm

Bavaria is mostly known for its beer, the Oktoberfest (locally called ‘Wies’n’), traditional costumes called Lederhosen for men and Dirndls for women, the most famous river wave in the world called Eisbach or the biggest mountain of Germany called Zugspitze. But there is even more to the area than all that for a windsurfer. Around 100 km from Munich there is a large number of lakes and for every wind direction there is a place to sail.

LAKE AMMERSEE

Ammersee is the place to go with westerly winds and is just 30 minutes from Munich. Typical conditions are a mix of sunshine and rain with a wind strength between 10 and 50 knots. When the lake is ‘boiling’ from high winds it delivers the best waves for jumping in the area. Best place to hit the water is in the bay of Herrsching; it has good parking, toilets and restaurants. For no wind days, visit Kloster Andechs, a monastery just up the mountain from Herrsching for traditional food and drinks in a great atmosphere.

LAKE STARNBERG

Just 10 minutes away from Ammersee is the next lake called Starnberg. It has pretty similar conditions to Ammersee except is normally a few knots less wind. There are several entry points around the lake (Ammerland, Ambach and Sankt Heinrich) and best wind directions are SSE-S-SW-W. If you need spares, there’s a windsurf shop right next to the lake called Surftools Starnberg (www.surftools.de).

LAKE WÖRTHSEE

Between Ammersee and Starnberg is another lake called Wörthsee, and is the place to go when the wind comes from the east. It’s a pretty small lake with nice water colours and mellow light wind conditions for freeride and freestyle with the wind peaking around 5 p.m., right on time for a sunset session. Best entry point is at “Rossschwemme”, which has good parking and a shop and café right at the spot.