Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa Cultural Hideaway Hotel, Bavaria

I have a personal connection with Bavaria because as a teenager I spent some time there as an exchange student. Coming from the Paris suburbs, I was astounded by the physical beauty of the place. (I’m talking about the landscape, but the women are very pretty as well.) The Alps surge up from the foothills, and you can really feel their size in a way that’s more dramatic than the wide, gentle valleys of Austria and Switzerland. I spent the winter in the town of Füssen, and I remember afternoons of hiking, sledding and devouring box upon box of plätzchen (cookies traditionally eaten around the holidays) baked by my host mother.

Das Kranzbach Hotel Wellness Retreat, Kranzback, Bavaria

But Bavaria is a wonderful place to visit in the warmer months too. The lakes are stunning year-round, and the countryside is dotted with picturesque villages and centuries-old castles that surely have provided plenty of inspiration to the people at Disney. It is a fairytale land, a refreshing contrast to Berlin’s austerity.

Seehotel Uberfahrt Hotel, Rottach Egern, Bavaria

I love that the Bavarian people are relatively happy and laid-back. They’re German, but with a Latin, Mediterranean influence — not just the culture but the food as well, which is much more than just meat and potatoes. Even in Munich, which has a reputation as an uptight business capital, I found everyone to be smiling and jovial. I was recently there, checking in on our German partners, and was reminded of how livable the city is. I’m typically more attracted to places with a less orderly, more anti-establishment kind of feel, but I found it very appealing, in a comfortable, bourgeois sort of way.

Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa Cultural Hideaway Hotel, Bavaria

Bavarians are also charmingly set in their ways. If there’s any downside to living there, this would be it. When life is comfortable, there’s nothing broken that needs fixing, no cultural renaissance or revival on the horizon. It’s not exactly a hotbed of innovation. But as a traveler, that’s something I appreciate. To visit Bavaria is not to chase after the latest hot thing — you come for the opulence and grandeur of classic hotels, a rich culture and stunning landscape.

Das Kranzbach Hotel Wellness Retreat, Kranzback, Bavaria