Starnberg is a small city of about 20.000 people close
to Munich. As everyone probably knows, Munich is the capitol
of Bavaria, which is a state in the Federal Republic of Germany
There is also the county of Starnberg, until recent years the
only German county with head of the county's
admininistration from the Liberal Party.

It has good public transport and highway connections to
Munich, which can be reached in about 40 minutes by train
or car, considering normal traffic and going to the central
station. Starnberg stretches over many kilometers, because
it has several suburbs: Wangen, Percha, Hanfeld, Söcking,
Leutstetten and Perchting.

But the most winning feature of Starnberg is not its short
distance to Munich, but the beautiful lake named after it.
The Lake Starnberg (in German: Starnberger See or former
Würmsee), with the city situated at its northern tip, is
one of the main tourist attractions of the area. Carved
out of the ground by glaciers thousands of years ago, it
now is a wonderful place for recreation. And Starnberg is
the ideal place to start from.

On sunny days you can see the alps sitting almost directly
beyond the lake, which is most certainly crowded with sailing
boats on such a day. Most probably visitors will get this
view at the lake promenade first, where they can take a
hike to one of the recreation grounds for swimming, rent
a small boat or start with a boat cruise around the lake.

The lake area was always a playground of bavarian kings
and their aristocracy and so there are a lot of small castles
and beautiful houses to see. Of course, things haven't
changed much and still city and county are places where
rich people like to live and dwell. On the other hand
there are even more normal folks that suffer from the
prejudices of being rich, only for living in Starnberg.
But nevertheless, if you do live there, you have one of
the nicest surroundings to enjoy in Europe, maybe that
makes you rich, too, even if not in financial terms.

Starnberg offers all kinds of shops, though most people
prefer to go to Munich for shopping, at lower prices.
There are all levels of schools from elementary school
to High School (visited for years by the author :)) and even
the Munich International School lies in a suburb of the
city.

There also is an Adult Education Center (VHS) and a
vocational school (Berufsschule).
Access to higher levels of education is easy by going
to Munich with all kinds of Colleges and Universities,
only mentioning the LMU,
TUM and
FHM here.

There are also a few restaurants worth mentioning:
The "Starnberger Alm", run by Mr.Illguth and known for
its exquisite kitchen and its huge variety of German
wines. Everything for reasonable prices, one might add.

One of the best Ice Cafes around Munich is the "Dolomiti",
close to the railway station, where you really should try
the "Zitronenwasser". It's fresh lemon juice with one ball
of lemon ice in it. There's nothing more refreshing on hot
summer days!

Although there is a McDonald's around for some time now,
the place where kids went before McD arrived should
get more attention here. It's a "Kebap" joint called "Derby"
located at the station, where you can get burgers and fries,
too.

Finally you will most obviously visit one of the many
beergardens around. Sitting under old trees and enjoying
a fresh bavarian beer (or maybe a "spezi" if you are the
designated driver). "In der Au" is the only real beergarden
in the city, but if you leave town there are lots of nice places:
Obermühltal (with live Jazz/Dixie music on weekends), Maising
(at the shore of a small and beautiful lake) and Leutstetten.

The nicest places to sit directly at the lake are probably the
"Undosa" in Starnberg (rather expensive place for old folks), or
at a greater distance the "Midgardhaus" in Tutzing and the
"Fischmeister" in Ambach. The "Fischmeister" is supposed to
be one of the best places to see of the whole world, according
to the young German authors Christian Kracht and E.Nickel in
their book "Holidays forever". All of these are easily to reach
with the boat cruises!