Germany, the assault on Bavaria's Braies. "On Lake Eib, it was like a rush to the subway at the end of the game."

Full buses, even more parking spaces, traffic jams: even the Eibsee, a turquoise lake in the Bavarian Alps, is experiencing yet another surge in overtourism , with the town hall urging visitors to be more "responsible."

This Monday morning report begins at 10:00 a.m. at the train station in Grainau, a small town not far from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the small capital of the German highlands. We're at the foot of the Zugspitze, the country's highest mountain, which rises almost 3,000 meters. About 30 people are waiting for the bus to the lake. But the shuttles are already full, and one group has to resign themselves to taking the next one. Hopefully.

Cable car parking causes chaos

Only one road leads to the lake. And with two parking lots also used to reach the Zugspitze cable car, free parking is scarce. The result is severe traffic congestion for the last few kilometers.

With its crystal-clear waters, islets, dense fir forests, and cloud-capped peaks, the site, which the local tourist office calls the "Bavarian Caribbean," has seen its popularity grow rapidly, especially on social media, in recent months. Photos and videos taken in this idyllic setting have generated millions of views.

Like Hallstatt, Annecy. And Braies

An enthusiasm similar to that generated, for example, by the medieval village of Hallstatt and its splendid lake in Austria, or by the "Venice of the Alps" in French Savoy, Annecy. Not to mention our own Braies . These are the emblematic locations of Alpine overtourism. But they're not the only ones.

"We didn't expect there to be so many people, but it's really beautiful," a tourist from Marseille, visiting Bavaria for the first time, told Agence France Presse. "The color of the water is impressive: so clear and transparent, something you don't often see in lakes," his travel companion adds. After visiting the lake—a 7.5-kilometer walk with their child, whom the man is carrying in his arms—they will return to their accommodation in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a small town of 30,000 inhabitants.

Almost ten times smaller in comparison, Grainau has recorded – according to Deputy Mayor Christian Andrä – approximately 620,000 overnight stays per year since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This represents a daily average of 1,700 overnight stays for a town of 3,600 inhabitants. However, the town does not have an estimate of the total number of visitors, including those who do not stay overnight. Andrä compares this "form of overtourism" to a "major event" such as "a football match in Munich" (which is just under 100 kilometers away) or "a trip to the Oktoberfest," the traditional beer festival.

“Ignore the 'parking full' signs”

Grainau is experiencing what's been compared to a "toned down" (but not too much) version of a "post-match rush to the subway," explains the local administrator. The cause is some visitors who "ignore the signs" indicating that the parking lots are full, "ending up having to turn back and worsening the traffic."

Opposing a barrier system that, he says, would cause the same traffic jams, the mayor is asking motorists to "show responsibility." Having arrived by car for the day, it took Max and Yan almost an hour and a half to reach the lake (just considering the local traffic jam). "I absolutely wanted to go back" a second time, explains Max, 27, from Stuttgart (310 km from Grainau). Although there are "huge crowds" for Yan, who lives in Paderborn (650 km from the destination), the destination remains "easily accessible from Munich (where they made a necessary stop - ed.)" and "a fantastic place to spend a day." In addition to the difficult traffic, Grainau faces a "certain overload" in terms of waste collection, concludes the deputy mayor, which requires "almost daily" management of the bins.