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Nostalgia Ride

78 year old mountain locomotives

The Nostalgia Rides of Bayerische Zugspitzbahn offer a most impressive journey through time into the past. Because the almost 80 year old mountain locomotives let you enjoy pure locomotive charm and history – mountain enthusiasts already rode up Zugspitze in these train cars back in 1930.

You can ride down memory lane in the retired original trains from the founding days of Zugspitzbahn on selected days from May through October of 2010. As soon as you get on board, you become immersed in the past in the train's historic interior: Horsehair cushions on wooden seats, chunky metal fittings and old paint let you experience the ambiance of the 1930s.

The old mountain locomotive still claws its way uphill from one toothed rack to the next as reliably as ever. Enchanting picturesque views of mountains and valleys take turns, and right before the train enters the tunnel at Riffelriss, you can get off for a short photo stop. Here, the nostalgia of the old mountain locomotive meets the wild romance of the emerald-blue shimmering Eibsee lake – a magnificent way to experience nature on the climb up Zugspitze.

After a two-hour climb, you reach the mountain station at Zugspitzplatt where the SonnAlpin Glacier Restaurant has a nostalgia buffet with a Bavarian touch waiting for you. After an invigorating meal, you ride up to the summit at 2,962 meters (9,717 feet) above sea level in the Glacier cable car. Enjoy the awesome 360° view and dive even deeper into the history of Germany's highest mountain: The Zugspitze exhibit retraces the moving history from 1820 until today in impressive exhibits and films. An exclusive guided tour is included in the Nostalgia Ride ticket.

Then it's back down into the valley, this time, behind the modern double locomotive of Bayerische Zugspitzbahn. The past and the modern age merge on a timeless day of adventure on Zugspitze.