The "Bavarian Caribbean" in turn hit by overtourism

Buses full, parking lots full, roads jammed: the Eibsee, a turquoise lake in the Bavarian Alps, is also experiencing massive tourist traffic, with the town hall calling on visitors to show more "responsibility."

Monday morning, 10:00 a.m., at Grainau train station. About 30 people are waiting for the bus to the lake. But the shuttles are already full, and one group has to wait for the next one. Only one road leads to the lake. And with two parking lots also used to access the Zugspitze cable car, Germany's highest peak, free parking spaces are scarce. The result: a major traffic jam for the last few kilometers.

With its crystal-clear waters, islets, dense fir forests, and cloud-covered peaks, the "Caribbean of Bavaria"—as the tourist office calls it—has seen its popularity grow rapidly on social media in recent months. Photos and videos taken in its idyllic setting have garnered millions of views.

This enthusiasm is reminiscent of that generated by the medieval city of Hallstatt or Annecy, nicknamed the "Venice of the Alps", two Alpine towns in Austria and France respectively, affected by overtourism , this saturation phenomenon from which many popular travel destinations suffer.

"We didn't think there would be so many people, but it's really beautiful," says Clément, a tourist from Marseille visiting Bavaria for the first time. "The color of the water is impressive: so clear and transparent, which isn't often the case in lakes," adds his friend Marion.

After walking around the lake—7.5 km with their child, whom Clément is carrying on his back—they will return to their accommodation in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the large winter sports resort next to Grainau. Almost ten times smaller in comparison, Grainau has recorded around 620,000 overnight stays per year since the Covid-19 pandemic, says Deputy Mayor Christian Andrä. That's a daily average of 1,700 overnight stays, for a town of 3,600 inhabitants. The town does not have an estimate of the total number of visitors, including those who do not stay overnight.

Andrä compares this "form of overtourism" to a "big event" such as "a football match in Munich" or "a trip to Oktoberfest," the traditional beer festival. Grainau experiences the rush to the subway at the end of the match "in a toned down form," says the deputy mayor. The culprit is some visitors who "ignore the signs" indicating that the parking lots are full, "ending up having to turn around and worsen the traffic."

Opposed to a barrier system that he believes would lead to the same traffic jams, the mayor asks motorists to "show responsibility." Having come by car to spend the day, it took Max and Yan nearly an hour and a half to reach the lake. "I absolutely wanted to come back here" a second time, explains Max, 27, who came from Stuttgart (southwest).

While it's "a lot of people" for Yan, who lives in Paderborn (central Germany), the destination remains "easily accessible from Munich" and "a fantastic place to spend a day." In addition to the difficult traffic, Grainau has to cope with a "certain overload" in terms of waste collection, which requires "almost daily" disposal of garbage, the deputy mayor emphasizes.