Going skiing? Try Munich | Skiing holidays

Going skiing? Try Munich

Standing on the parapet of Old Peter's Tower in the centre of Munich, the Alps seem close enough to touch. It is this proximity to the mountains that makes the Bavarian capital the ideal city break destination for anyone with a passion for winter sports. It's easy to stay in the city and make day trips out to the resorts, or combine a night or two in each for a mixed short break.

There are a few really good, less crowded resorts within an hour's drive of the city, like Wallberg or Alpspitze, but the best option is Zugspitze, the highest (2,100m) and most snow-sure mountain in Bavaria, 90km from Munich and the centrepiece of Garmisch-Partenkirchen's ski area. In combination with Alpspitze, the home of the famed Kandahar Olympic downhill run, it boasts over 62km of pistes and some of the region's best avalanche-safe backcountry. As a glacier, Zugspitze is skiable from early autumn until late spring, and this year opened on 24 October after particularly good early snowfalls.

Road links from Munich to Bavaria's resorts are fast and easy to follow, but can become congested at the weekends, so bus and train services from the city are an easier and sometimes cheaper means of getting to the snow. Groups of five or less can travel anywhere in the state on a Bayern Ticket, which costs €28 for the group and gives discounts on connecting mountain trains and lift tickets.

The first Garmisch train to leave Munich departs at 5.30am, but I opted for one an hour later. Although standing in the concourse of Munich's Hauptbahnhof in full mountain attire among the detritus of Munich's nightclubs left me feeling like the guy who'd lost his way to a fancy dress party, keeping the fresh snow at the end of the line in mind made the humiliation bearable.

The train glided out of Munich through Bavaria's orderly farmsteads and forests and within half an hour, at the salubrious suburb of Starnbergersee, the Alps appeared reflected on a velvety lake backlit by pink-stained cirrus. At each stop more skiers and snowboarders clattered on board until the aisles were full of gregarious, fresh-faced athletes and precariously stacked equipment. Within an hour and a half the train pulled into Garmisch-Partenkirchen where all the passengers alighted, and charged to the Zugspitzbahn to make the final 75-minute ascent to the peak.

Garmisch and Partenkirchen were once two separate towns, but were encouraged by the National Socialists to unite for the 1936 Winter Olympics. The neoclassical amphitheatre of the games remains intact and the recently modernised ski-jump catapults out a procession of Lycra-clad kids throughout the winter months. If Munich's bid to host the games is successful, Garmisch will again host the ski and snowboard events of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The Zugspitzbahn rattled through the valley of the twin towns past the main gondola of Alpspitze and then climbed to the frozen lake of Eibsee.

Slightly sad that I was staying in the city and not at the lakeside Hotel Eibsee, I remained on board until the train burrowed into the mountain, re-emerging at 2,600m on the snow of the Zugspitze glacier. The entire journey took roughly two and a half hours and was the most convenient and worry-free mountain commute that I have ever made. Catching the 6.30 train from Munich meant I was drawing lines in fresh snow by 9.30 (the lifts open at 9am). The best runs on Zugspitze were to the left of the groomers under the Sonnenkar, especially when the snow is fresh, or right from the top T-bar to the far right of the resort.

After a fun day's riding, I returned to the city to relieve the muscle burn in the typical Munich way – a sauna session followed by the local brew. The most beautiful of the city's public baths is Müller'sches Volksbad (Rosenheimer Str 1), situated just south of the city centre on the banks of the Isar. Built in the late 1800s it is a stunning example of art nouveau architecture. Ornate wooden doors open into a glorious lobby adorned with marble pillars, Greek statues and intricate ironwork. The pool area and warren of saunas is equally resplendent; the only downside – for an Englishman at least – is the "textile free" policy of the saunas, although it's impossible to remain modest for long when those around you are casting off their towels and sprawling in poses usually reserved for the privacy of one's home.

To rub shoulders with like-minded mountain hounds in the evenings, the neighbourhood of Glockenbach, perhaps Munich's trendiest, is the place to head, with a watering hole in every stuccoed street. Back in the centre, find Bavarian beer halls (complete with rotund gentlemen in leather shorts and women bursting from dirndls) like Gaststätte Fraunhofer (Fraunhoferstrasse 41) and the more contemporary MC Mueller (Müellerstrasse 8) just up the street. The host of bars off Gärtnerplatz are popular with the cream of the European snowboarding and free-ski. My personal favourite is the Holy Home (Reichenbachstr, 21), a dark den of a bar frequently full to the point of overflowing.

By day, I also spent some time trawling the ski shops, including GDSTF on Rosenheimerstrasse and Planet Sports (Oberanger 16) where the cool kids hang out, and the more mainstream multi-sports stores of Sports Schuster (Rosenstrasse 1-5), which has its own indoor climbing wall and via ferrata. It is in shops like GDSTF that you'll find the best advice on snow conditions and where the best parks or backcountry stashes in Germany are to be found. The kid behind the counter probably spends as much time on the hill as he does serving customers, so knows what he's talking about; you just have to hope that he is not too cool to pass on the information.

Although Bavaria's resorts are smaller and lower than many in the Alps, they have an old-fashioned, friendly charm that has been lost in most European resorts and lift passes, and accommodation and food on the hill are also cheaper. Using Munich as a springboard to the mountains is so much more rewarding than just staying within the insular confines of a resort. You can ride all day, then enjoy the city by night – there is nowhere better for a cosmopolitan mountain enthusiast to hang out.

Motel One is a chain of budget hotels, with four across the city from €49 per night single and €59 double, room only. The Eibsee Hotel (00 49 8821 9881 0) in Eibsee, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, has doubles from €80 per night, half-board or €55 B&B. EasyJet flies to Munich from Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh. Resort details at zugspitze.de, lift pass for the day, €37pp.

Danny Burrows is editor-in-chief of Onboard snowboarding magazine

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