With its picturesque old houses — particularly in lovely Frühlingstrasse — Garmisch sits idyllically on the banks of the 114-kilometer-long River Loisach flowing from Austria. 

A pleasant stroll through this small community takes you to the Kongresshaus, the community center set in pretty Michael-Ende Kurpark, named in honor of Germany's most famous 20th-century storyteller and a former resident (Ende wrote The Neverending Story).

The park is a quiet oasis filled with places where visitors are encouraged to become one with nature by walking barefoot on soft mosses and smooth stone pathways.