Wimbachschloss

Wimbachschloss is an 18th-century hunting lodge turned seasonal mountain restaurant, set at about 940 metres in the Wimbachgries. Go if you want a proper valley walk with a historic hut as your destination; this isn’t a quick roadside stop, and the path continues farther into the mountains. Check that the restaurant is open before you count on a meal here.

Start at the paid parking lot at Wimbachbrücke and follow the signed Alpine Club trail 641. The lodge is reached on foot. One-way estimates range from about 90 minutes to two hours, so allow roughly three to four hours for the return walk before your break. The route climbs steadily, and you come back the same way.

Near the start, you can pay to walk through Wimbachklamm on its boardwalks and bridges, or take the steeper bypass. The paths meet again about a kilometre farther on. If you want to see the gorge, include it in your timing; it’s an optional extra on the way to the inn.

Joseph Conrad von Schroffenberg, Berchtesgaden’s last Prince-Provost, had Wimbachschloss built in 1784. After Bavaria took over the region in 1810, it became a hunting lodge used by King Max II and later Prince Regent Luitpold. Today it serves hikers as a seasonal mountain restaurant.

The lodge sits beside the broad Wimbachgries scree stream, which runs west from Trischübel Pass between Watzmann, Hochkalter and the Steinernes Meer. The pale walls, metal roof and antlers on the gable stand out against the steep rock face; include both the building and the cliff if you want the setting in your photo. The trail continues past the inn to Wimbachgrieshütte and high-alpine country.