Schloß Possenhofen at Starnberger See was once inhabited by Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria and his family. His daughter is the greatly beloved Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich was also known as Sissi. Around the holiday season the movie Sissi is frequently on TV. 
Well maybe it’s a little bit early to start hitting the links around Munich, but I’ve been told that there are quite a few nice golf courses on the outskirts of the city. Munich’s best connection to golf exists around the BMW International Open, which usually takes place in June at the Eichenried golf club north of Munich. It is a quite popular tournament in the European circuit, because it represents the last chance for Ryder Cup points. And the highlight of the Open, is any golfer who makes a hole-in-one wins a BMW Z8. Crowds of more than 60,000 watch the action every year. When the tournament isn’t going on, the course is actually open to the public Mon-Thur, and has three nine-hole courses. Some of the other top courses include Golfzentrum Muenchen-Riem, Golfclub Muenchen-Riedhof, Golfclub Holledau, Golfclub Erding Grünbach. You can find a detailed list of courses here. But I’d give it a few weeks before it’s warm enough to play without the snow.
Just Southwest of Munich is a set of five lakes which have become amazingly popular as weekend getaways for Munich residents. Starnberger, pictured here, is the largest and in fact the fourth largest lake in Germany at 21 km by 4 km. We travelled out to Starnbergsee over the weekend, and were amazed to sit outside (yes Spring really is here) overlooking the water for lunch and a few beers with a handful of very friendly locals. Other lakes in the area include Ammersee, Pilsensee, Worthsee, and Osterseen. Most of the lakes are close enough to Munich to be reached by local S-bahn trains, but bring your bike as Starnbergersee has path ways clear around it. Starnbergersee is famous as the location where King Ludwig II was mysteriously found dead in 1886. After deposition as king and being ruled as suffering from Paranoia, King Ludwig walked along the shores of Starnbergersee with one of the psychiatrists that ruled against him. Both were found dead later that night, but with no explanation of death – despite many theories. Today the city of Starnberger and the lake’s claim to fame is as the wealthiest community in Germany, having the most disposable per capita income.
