Majestic mountains rising from the lake and reaching for the clouds. The clouds themselves, more like a linen scarf on a hot day, flitting through the green forested mountains, rather than a thick winter blanket. The mountains, like green giants, lying down in slumber. Below, a quaint Bavarian village that tourists have not discovered yet. Painted window shutters and cottages dating back to the 1800s. We are in Tegernsee, and loving it.

Tracing its history back to the 6th century, Bavaria holds its traditions close and its beer even closer. The ‘Octoberfest’ that people travel to Germany for every year is a way of life every evening, with locals heading to the nearest beer garden (like the 300-year old Bavarian beer garden in the photo below) and drowning (oh, sorry – downing) jugs (can’t really call them mugs) of beer. But the region, and the land we now know as Germany, is so much more than just beer and schnitzel.

A picture postcard town with a cute little church by the lakeside and a promenade to walk along, Tegernsee is blissfully unaware of so-called overtourism. The only other tourists you may see are local Germans, out for a day in the mountains. They look at you in surprise, wondering how you ended up here. But it’s more out of curiosity, rather than animosity or resentment.

It is these kind of holiday spots that I love most of all. Scenic, real, honest. The gelateria where you go for your daily supply with ever-changing flavours. Days filled with hikes in the mountain forests, discovering numerous waterfalls. Evening strolls interspersed with tournaments of who can skim stones the farthest on the lake’s surface. And no tickmarks to sign off.

We landed up in Tegernsee by chance. The original plan had the bigger names on it – Prague, Salzburg, Munich, the likes. But after a few days of adrenaline-pumping mountain adventure activities in the equally stunning Zell Am See in the Austrian Alps, we decided to drive up north across the German border and explore a German lakeside town as well.

It’s tough to say which one I like more. The bustling alpine town of Zell Am See, where you will find a Benetton and a sunset panorama boat ride on the lake. Or the quieter, hidden enclave of Tegernsee, where the entire town can be covered on foot and a different turn takes us down a path with a gurgling stream or a beautifully restored cottage with bright pink blooms in the windowsills.

It says something though, that I find myself typing away on a borrowed laptop, spilling my words onto this page faster than my fingers can keep up. As much as I loved tracing Sound of Music sites in Salzburg or marvelling at the medieval architecture of Prague, it is here, in the quieter towns of Tegernsee or Český Krumlov in Czechia that inspiration compels me. Questions my lack of expression. And almost forces me to capture this fleeting but overwhelming sense of awe.

So, even if you’re a city bird like I sometimes think I am, or an explorer at heart, allow yourself to go off the trodden path once in a while.

Leave the tourists behind and go where the locals head. Blend in, take a moment, and just be.

And it is here, that perhaps you will find the answer to questions that have been lingering in your mind, if you only ever took the time to sit with them and find the truth within. It is only surrounded by silence that you may, like me, hear your heart speak.