The Alpsee is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

in the

Ostallgäu Ostallgäu is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Oberallgäu, Unterallgäu, Augsburg, Landsberg, Weilheim-Schongau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and by the Au ...

district of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, located about 4 kilometres southeast of

Füssen Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau c ...

. It is close to the

Neuschwanstein Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The ...

and

Hohenschwangau Hohenschwangau is a former village and now an urban district of the municipality of Schwangau, Ostallgäu district, Bavaria, Germany. It is located between Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau and is visited by about 2 million peo ...

castles. The lake has just under five kilometres of shoreline and a depth of up to 62 metres.

Description

Alpsee is a popular tourist attraction, given its proximity to the castles and the wild

swan Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

s that inhabit the lake. Boats are available for rent and there is a wide variety of

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A His ...

trails in the vicinity. A circular path leads around the shore, and the "Fürstenstrasse" (Princes' Road) leads from

over the

Schwarzenberg Schwarzenberg may refer to: People * House of Schwarzenberg, Franconian and Bohemian aristocratic family which was first mentioned in 1172 ** Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (1771–1820), Field Marshal in Austrian service during the Napo ...

ridge (

Ammergau Alps The Ammergau Alps (german: Ammergauer Alpen or ''Ammergebirge'') are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Bavaria (Germany) and Tyrol (Austria). They cover an area of about 30 x 30 km and begin at the outer edge ...

) and down to

Pinswang Pinswang is a municipality in the Austrian Ausserfern region of the northern Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was histo ...

in the

Lechtal The Lechtal is an alpine valley in Austria, the greater part of which belongs to the state of Tyrol and the smaller part to Vorarlberg. The Lech river flows through the valley. Location The valley is bounded geographically by the Lechtal Alps ...

Gallery

Alpsee.jpg, View from

castle, with

Schloss Hohenschwangau Hohenschwangau Castle (german: Schloss Hohenschwangau) is a 19th-century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the G ...

visible in the lower right Hotel on the Alpsee (Alp lake) near Füssen.jpg, Hotel on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

2006 Lake of Neuschwanstein.jpg, View on a boat 2011 Alpsee, Schwangau, Alemania, 2012-10-06, DD 02.jpg, The Alpsee — with Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles

External links

Notes

Lakes of Bavaria Ammergau Alps {{Bavaria-geo-stub