Scenic route
Mittenwaldbahn
Munich → Innsbruck · Germany · Austria
Mittenwaldbahn in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 165 km
- Fastest time
- 2 h 05 min
- Average speed
- 79 km/h
- Top speed
- 120 km/h
- Operator
- ÖBB · DB
- Train
- ÖBB 4024 · DB 442
- Countries
- Germany, Austria
- In service since
- 1912
- Highest point
- 1,185 m
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Munich to the Tyrol over the Karwendel: the electrified 1912 Mittenwaldbahn climbs from Garmisch through Alpine meadows and horseshoe curves to the Seefeld saddle before dropping into Innsbruck.
The Mittenwaldbahn, or Karwendelbahn, was one of the first railways in the Alps built for electric traction, opened in 1912 between Innsbruck and Garmisch. Trains from Munich run through Garmisch-Partenkirchen, past the Zugspitze massif and the walled town of Mittenwald, then climb to the Seefeld plateau at 1,185 m before spiralling down to Innsbruck through galleries cut in the Karwendel’s cliffs.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 374783 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 27 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 8 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: ÖBB · DB — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
Along the way
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Mittenwald’s frescoed houses
- Seefeld plateau (1,185 m)
- Karwendel cliff galleries
- Descent into the Inn valley at Innsbruck
More scenic routes
- Glacier Express
“The world’s slowest express”: 291 bridges, 91 tunnels and the 2,033 m Oberalp Pass at an average of 36 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bernina Express
A UNESCO World Heritage railway: 7 % grades with no rack, the Brusio spiral, and the highest rail crossing of the Alps at 2,253 m.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bergensbanen
Northern Europe’s highest main line: over the bare Hardangervidda plateau at 1,237 m, through 182 tunnels.
Wikipedia ↗ - West Highland Line
Regularly voted the world’s most scenic railway: around Rannoch Moor and over the 21-arch Glenfinnan Viaduct of film fame.
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More train routes in Germany · Austria.
Planning this trip? Journey time & direct trains: Innsbruck → Munich · Munich → Innsbruck.