Andechs
Andechs is a small town in Bavaria, Germany. It is popular mainly because of the nearby Andechs abbey.
Get in
By public transportation to Herrsching (S-Bahn S8, about 50 minutes), south west of Munich; from there it is an approximately 4km hike through beautiful scenery, or you can take a bus or cab. It is about 30km southwest of Munich but taking the car is not advisable, at least not if you plan on drinking.
If you are taking the S-Bahn then follow the small signs that state "Fußweg nach Andechs" which will lead you from Herrsching station to the abbey. About 7 minutes into the walk you get to the end of Andechsstraße where you will find a sign that points right (there is a steep hill with a staircase leading up to a church directly behind the sign) From here you can turn right as the sign suggests and then immediately left onto Leitenhöhe, or carry on forward up Kientalstrasse. Both routes go through pleasant housing then woodland, however the Kientalstrasse route is slightly easier. Going up via Leitenhöhe and then back via Kientalstrasse is the best of both worlds.
The Bus line 951 runs from Herrsching S-Bahn station with some more stops within the town. The bus station in Andechs is next to the monastery parking place. Note that this Bus is not operated by Munichs public transport company but by [Outline articles Ammersee Reisen], so you have to pay the fare even if you have a day ticket or something. The price is 2,20 € for one way.
If you are planning a visit, try to avoid the weekends: it can get quite full.
Get around
See
- 1 Kloster Andechs (Andechs Monastery), Bergstraße 2. is a baroque monastery and catholic church of pilgrimage, picturesquely located on a hill between the Ammersee and the Starnbergersee. It is surrounded by dairy pasture, and the Alps sit off to the horizon in the south. Take a seat, and just look around. No matter the time of year, the scenery is beautiful.
Do
Buy
Eat
- Bräustüberl, Bergstraße 2, ☏ +49 8152 376-261. The Schweinshaxe (Pork hocks) are very tasty, they are slowly roasted in a stone oven until the skin is very crispy and most of the fat is melted. They are made from pigs raised at the monastery (though the monks themselves do not touch the unclean animals) and they are fed the grain and hops used in the beer making giving the pork a very unique flavour that must be sampled at all costs. You can bring your own food in as well to add to the already large selection as most of the locals do. Your dog is also welcome and they are treated equally as well. The food is available in a smorgasbord style and you can pick out your favourite hunk of pig from the selection. The monastery also has daily specials such as smoked mackerel, Weisswurst, or Leberkase.
- Klostergasthof, Bergstraße 9.
Drink
- Bräustüberl. It is fair to say that most "pilgrims" these days come for a spirited experience, rather than a spiritual one. Bavaria is full of baroque churches, but Andechs is famous for its outstanding brewery. The monks of Andechs have been brewing beer for more than a thousand years. They have indeed perfected the art: among the locals the beer is rated as one of the best in all of Bavaria, thus possibly in the world. In the monastery's Schankstube (think pub, not restaurant) it is drawn directly from huge, oaken barrels and is just incomparably smoother than the carbon-pressurized stuff you might normally be served, and incomparably fresher than what you could get out of an exported bottle. Beer neither stores well nor transports well. If you like beer at all, here you can taste it at the source, and what a difference!. Enjoy either the light or the dark beer; tasting both might be a challenge since it is served in the traditional well-filled 1 Liter steins and the Spezial (special) or Doppelbock (double buck goat) are quite strong. The pretzels are the large kind that is typical of Bavarian beer-gardens, big as a plate, with a thin crust and a soft, bready interior, perfect with a large, white, thin-sliced radish, generously sprinkled with coarse salt. This would be your afternoon snack - outside, in the sun, or under the arched ceiling inside, this place breathes the spirit of old Bavaria like few other (and certainly few of those that are frequented by foreigners). Prost, Herr Nachbar !
Sleep
- 1 Hotel zur Post, Starnberger Str. 2, ☏ +49 8152 91820.
