Postcard Perfect Parish Church St. Sebastian In Ramsau

In the previous post I mentioned that there were two places that remain very dear to my heart and mind during my recent Euro trip. One, as I wrote before was Obersee, the smaller lake nearby Königssee. So the other one is Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden.

After spending quite some time exploring Königssee and Obersee, we returned to Berchtesgaden to catch the bus to Ramsau. To get to Ramsau,  take bus 846 from Berchtesgaden to Ramsau Kirche stop (Saint Sebastian Church). The stop is right in front of the church on the opposite side of the road. 

Ramsauer Ache River flowing in front of St Sebastian Church - Photo by my travel buddy

A church by the river. I call it the postcard perfect scenery. How can it not be postcard perfect... The river was crystal clear, the leaves were golden with the surrounding mountains rising in the background. It was also calm and wasn't overcrowded with tourist. 

We spent a couple of hours here, trying to take in as much view as we can. To be honest we were pressed for time and didn't have enough to really explore Ramsau. If you have the luxury of time there are a few other places that you can explore. You can explore the village of Ramsau, walk along the river, go to Hintersee (lake) and Wimbachklamm (gorge) just to name a few. Too bad we had to return to Berchtesgaden that evening to catch our way back to Salzburg.

A closer shot of St Sebastian Church. See the bus stop, Ramsau Kirche stop is right opposite the road.

Another shot of St Sebastian Church. Should have taken from a lower view instead, with the bridge in the photo

Anyways, this won't be a long entry as I'm afraid my poor writing won't do this place justice :p. So I will let the photos do the talking.

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustav Flaubert

Ramsau Village in autumn. A breathtaking view. Golden. 

Till the next post. I pray that there will be. There is so much to share about my euro trip but lets just hope the lazy bone in me doesn't interfere :D.

Magical Obersee and Königssee in Germany

Euro trip again! I just came back recently from a 2 and a half week travel in one of the European regions.

My recent trip is obviously still very fresh in my mind as well as in my heart. If you ask me, all the places that I went were beautiful and special in their own ways. Every single place were insta-worthy, you can take my words for that. However, of all those places, 2 are going to remain a little longer in my heart and mind. Both places happened to be in Berchtesgaden, in the Bavarian Alps of southeastern Germany.

 

Here’s the first one, I can never forget the view along the bank of Obersee (the smaller lake near to Königssee). You see, the day before it was raining in Salzburg, so our trip to the lakes nearby Salzburg, Mondsee etc was not as I had hoped for, not that they weren’t beautiful but because of the weather, the sun refused to shine and it was gloomy all day.

Magical Obersee. I can just sit here and do nothing for the whole day

 

We left Salzburg to Berchtesgaden early morning by bus when it was still dark. Then hopped on another bus to Königssee where we took the ferry boat tour all the way to Salet the second stop. It was so foggy ever since we arrived and left the pier in Königssee and throughout the boat ride to Salet. The visibility was less than 10 meters maybe. We hopped off the boat at the pier in Salet and walked for about 15 minutes to the wooden house on the bank of Obersee. There weren’t many people yet as it was still early but it was not the view that I had hoped for. The view that I googled thousands of time prior to the trip. Already feeling a little disappointed as this place was on the top of my bucket list. Then we walked the trail to the right of the wooden house. It was a beautiful walk despite the thick fog.

 

See how foggy it was at the pier in Königssee

Still very foggy at the pier in Salet

The famous wooden house on the Obersee bank. The water is still not as clear.

After hundreds of photos away, we decided to return to the pier. Around 5 minutes of walking, the sun suddenly appear. I don’t know how to describe this as I am never good with words. But here it is, slowly it became brighter and the fog started to disappear. The water now looked emerald green and it was then onIy I realized that there were mountains across the lake. It felt so magical to see the gorgeous views of the mountains and cloud reflected in the mirror-like surface. And we were snapping hundreds of photos away..again. But honestly, none of the photos we took could really display the beauty of that moment. It was wonderful, some kind of wonderful. My kind of wonderful.

 

Something wonderful. My kind of wonderful

Tips:

 

1. If you’re going to Berchtesgaden from Salzburg, I suggest that you purchase BGL-Tages Ticket Bus & Bahn from the bus driver or from the outdoor machines at the Salzburg station bus depot. It costs 12 euro per person. Just note that on weekdays the ticket is only applicable from 9am onwards. If you are in a group, you can buy Bayern ticket as it's cheaper (1 person – euro 25, 2 persons – euro 31, 3 persons – euro 37, 4 persons – euro 43, 5 persons euro 49). If you buy BGL-Tages Ticket Bus & Bahn you will get 10% off the ferry boat ticket.
2. Salzburg to Berchtesgdaden – Take RVO Bus 840 (covered by the tickets in 1.)
3. Berchtesgaden – Königssee – Take Bus 841 (covered by the tickets in 1.)
4. Ferry ticket to Salet and return at 18.50 € (10% discount using BGL-TagesTicket Bus & Bahn). Note: Only during Summer schedule the ferry goes to Salet (19 Apr - 14 Oct. Please check the website for the latest information). Other than that the ferry only goes to 1^st stop, St Bartholoma.
5. Last RVO Bus 840 from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg is at 6.15pm. If you miss it, train is available until 11pm (covered by the tickets in 1.)