Hiking Holiday - Day 6

For many people in Bavaria, Monday the 10th of September meant the beginning of school after 6 weeks of holidays. For us, it meant the start of our second week off work, with another three days ahead in the Bavarian Forest.

Just before 9 am on our balcony

Our plan for today was to visit the Treetop Walk, only a short bus ride from our village. We already knew this would not take up all day, and so we looked at our maps and little guide book again and worked out a route to walk back to the hotel from there.

The Treetop Walk is a great way to explore the forest from a different perspective, and it is combined with information to make you learn about the animals and plants that are around you. Much of it is clearly aimed at children, but adults can have fun (and learn something!), too. The walk is essentially a board walk; no hard climbing or steep ascent is required. You can either access it via stairs or a lift/elevator from ground level.

Parts of the path were made so that you could view the ground - but you could always stay on the boards without having to look down. I have no problem with heights and liked the "see-through" bits:

At a height of 20 m, this metal mesh is meant for people to lay down on (it is not uncomfortable, a bit like a hammock, just cold because of the metal) and experience the forest from a different perspective. You know we did that!

 
Of course, the highlight is the "tree house", an egg-shaped wooden structure that has a walkable gallery inside, leading to the top at 44 m heigh, built above a small group of trees - that way, you end up above the tops of the trees and can look down on them as if you were a bird flying above.

 
I found the whole thing fascinating; the only negative bit was that right at the top of the "egg", hundreds of wasps made it impossible for anyone to stay longer than a few moments.

We made our way back through the game enclosure, where we had already been two days before; this time, we explored all the rest of it where we had not yet been. This time, we saw three wolves, a forest cat and a large owl. No lynx.

Walking back to the hotel meant once again a long ascent towards our village as the last bit; we were truly ready for cake and coffee on the patio and then some relaxing in the spa after that, as it was also very warm and no shade for that last uphill part. 

Another wonderful day for us, with a beautiful sunset to match!

You can read more about the Treetop Walk here on the official website.