Andechs Monastery

Benedictines have held the Holy Mountain since 1455, and the abbey grew as a pilgrimage site around a collection of relics kept in the church, still displayed in a chapel. Brewing is recorded here from 1455 and the monastery brewery now produces several beers sold in the abbey's own large beer garden and inn, which draws around a million visitors a year, most of them for the beer and the walk rather than the pilgrimage. The composer Carl Orff is buried in the abbey church. The classic approach is the walk up through woods from Herrsching on the Ammersee, taking about an hour.

What you actually see

• The abbey brewery - monastic beer served in a large hillside garden.
• The rococo church - a remodelled interior above the relic chapel.
• The Orff grave - the composer buried in the church.
• The walk up - a wooded path from Herrsching taking about an hour.

When to go

April to October; the beer garden is the point in warm weather and is packed on summer weekends. The church closes during services. Winter is much quieter.

Honest expectations

It is extremely busy, especially on fine weekends, and the atmosphere is a beer garden rather than a monastery. Parking is limited. The walk up is uphill throughout.

Nearby

The Ammersee lies below; Lake Starnberg is east.