I spent a few hours before writing this post “umm-img” and “ah-ing” on whether or not to dedicate a whole post to our short stay in Diessen, Germany. It was really a choice of convenience because we were only in the area to visit Munich, but accommodation in Munich is expensive so we made the 1 hour commute each day and came back to our hotel afterwards. I wouldn’t consider this a sacrifice though, I liked Diessen a lot. For whatever reason, it’s stuck out in my mind amongst all of the other places we visited in Germany and beyond, and so that’s why this little town is getting its own post.
The post might be short and boring, but you know, maybe it won’t 🙂
Getting to Diessen, Germany
Diessen was a 5 hour bus ride away from our last stay in the Dolomite mountains of Italy. Luckily, we broke up that journey with an afternoon excursion to the gorgeous Innsbruck, Austria. Diessen is about 1 hour Southeast of Munich, and so that was another perk to staying here.
First Impressions of Diessen
Maybe I felt a connection to Diessen because when we arrived, the sky was grey and cloudy, it was very cold, and the ground was covered with crunchy brown leaves. In shorter terms: the environment is startlingly similar to that of winter in my home-state of Missouri.
What is most certainly not like Missouri is that Diessen is about as traditionally Bavarian as it gets. Most of the town’s residents wear the lederhosen or dirndl, which I was fascinated by as my dad lived in Bavarian Germany for 5 years as a kid and used to describe them to me. Now I was seeing the real thing! The town even has a Maypole which was visible from our room’s balcony.
The blue and white striped maypole is just barely visible in the distance, I’d love to be in Diessen in spring!
We stayed at the Seefelder Hof hotel which showed it age but was overall very nice. It also included breakfast and dinner (more on that later)! Our professor told us that the little town of Diessen had a cute town square with a fisherman statue and access to the shores of the Ammersee lake. While the fisherman statue sounded mysteriously cool, we decided to explore the lake area.
Ammersee Lake
Despite the bad weather, I was determined to not make the same mistake I had in Innsbruck, and after dropping our things off in the hotel room, my friends and I left to take a walk down the Ammersee lakeshore. As to be expected in late October, there weren’t a lot of people around the chilly lakeside, however the lake was still very pretty. There are some docks and plenty of benches that we stopped at to enjoy the views over the water, and there were also huge flocks of ducks in and around the lake. Lots of them were species I’ve never seen before which was exciting as a wannabe bird-watcher, and there is even a placard with info about the different species although it is in German.
A resident duck at lake Ammersee
A little ways down the road there was a playground that we stopped at which earned us some weird looks, but no kids were there so no harm no foul if I slid down the slide just once (or twice). Nearby, there was a group of older fellows playing a game where they all formed a circle and threw metal balls into the center of a pile. I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt their game by asking about it, and so I was wondering if any of you knew what this game is and what it is called? I love to learn about games and traditions from new places but I never really know how to ask about it and haven’t found anything on the internet.
In the summer, I bet that Ammersee lake is a vibrant and even more beautiful place to visit and enjoy the peaceful vibe of Diessen.
This looks like a contemplative jazz album cover
Eating in Diessen
As it started to get dark, we returned to the hotel to clean up before enjoying a fancy dinner right in the hotel. So nice not having to leave the hotel to find food considering we are moving North and approaching November, so it is getting cold!
The dinner started off with my first pint of German beer! I am not used to being served a full pint at a time so I was worried about finishing it, but it lived up to its reputation so it wasn’t too hard 🙂 . Next came the entree which I’d been excited to try for awhile: deepwater lake trout caught fresh from Ammersee lake! There were some potatoes and greens on the side and it was a fantastic meal. For dessert, apple strudel. Again, great start to Germany with a great first meal.
Our lake trout dinner, yum yum yum
Breakfasts were amazing as well with a huge spread and tons of options. I am a huge fan of the pretzel bread in particular.
Overall Thoughts:
Like I mentioned earlier, Diessen stuck into my mind even months after the trip ended. I think this is because unlike many of the other places we’ve stayed, there are virtually no other tourists here which makes the whole town feel nice, unhurried, and relaxing. The quiet is also perfect for sleeping, and I slept like a baby during our whole stay.
The only con to staying in Diessen is that we would often leave Munich late in the night, and after getting on the bus there was a whole hour or hour and a half until we could get to bed. This wasn’t a huge deal though because I’ve gotten pretty good at bus-napping during this trip.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend using Diessen as a home base to visit Munich if you don’t mind the commute. You will probably save money on meals and accommodation, and it’s a great place to experience small-town, lakeside Bavarian Germany.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Where did she come from? Innsbruck, Austria
Where is she going (next)? Munich, Germany