Bavaria — Ammersee / Herrschinger Kreuz

Ammersee / Herrschinger KreuzAmmersee / Stegen

1. 

   Ammersee / Herrschinger Kreuz

   lake

   Herrschinger Kreuz is the Munich crowd's front-wind spot on the Ammersee.

   intermediateadvancedsmall rigging room

   In seasonSep to May

   1. Jan, riders' monthJ18
   2. Feb, riders' monthF19
   3. Mar, riders' monthM21
   4. Apr, riders' monthA18
   5. May, riders' monthM8
   6. JunJ5
   7. JulJ6
   8. AugA6
   9. Sep, riders' monthS7
   10. Oct, riders' monthO10
   11. Nov, riders' monthN23
   12. Dec, riders' monthD16

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

   Ammersee / Herrschinger Kreuz: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Ammersee / Herrschinger Kreuz

   West and southwest come in onshore to side-on across the Herrschinger Bucht, and the days that work are frontal days between autumn and spring; summer is the quiet time. Between the shore and the cross there is a lagoon about 250 x 120 m, ankle to hip deep depending on the lake level, which is where you launch and also where the wind is worst, with holes and rotors near the trees; the clean wind starts outside. The access is a tight strip of roadside north of the cross with room for almost nothing, so you walk south to the land tongue, rig on the grass at the side, start from the water a few metres out and land behind the tree, in the water or with help. Not a beginner spot: you need to get away upwind from the first metre, because if you lose height the drift takes you into Herrschinger Bucht. The bottom is stones, shells, shingle, so wear shoes; the water is 19-24 C in summer and 3.5-6 C through the winter half of the season. From early November to late March a voluntary agreement asks watersports to stay off the lake for the birds, which overlaps the best wind months, and how strictly it is applied to kiters is unconfirmed. The regulars have little patience for anyone who blocks the launch or drops a kite on the path, so keep the path, the launch and the landing zone clear and yield to landing kites.

   Getting on the water

   A very tight roadside access north of the cross. Kiters walk south toward the land tongue before launching so the access stays open, rig on the grass at the sides with the path and landing area clear, start from the water a few meters out, and land in the water or with help behind the tree.

   If it goes wrong

   No paid kite rescue and no boat on standby. Lost gear or a rider in trouble is a 112 call: say what went missing, give your contact details and say you are safe. If you are the one missing, call 112 yourself, stay on site and stay reachable. Rescue is not billed unless it was set off deliberately. Found equipment is reported to the local water rescue station on +49 8152 969809. Write your name and phone number on kite and board in permanent marker; that is what keeps a floating kite from becoming a search.

   Rules and access

   2026: the start and landing zone is very tight; leave it as soon as you are up, and landing kites have priority. Rig and pack only on the grass at the sides, keep the walking path and the landing area clear, start from the water a few metres out, and do not stand around in the lagoon. Enter farther south on the land tongue near the cross, stay away from the reeds, and use the big shallow area there to launch. From early November to late March a voluntary agreement asks watersports to stay off the Ammersee for the birds. No official kite ordinance specific to Herrschinger Kreuz exists.

   Everything on Ammersee / Herrschinger Kreuz

2. 

   Ammersee / Stegen

   lake

   Stegen is the north end of the Ammersee, by the ferry pier at Inning, and it is the easy-access alternative to Herrschinger Kreuz: a gravel beach, grass to rig on, a big paid car park at the pier, and in front of you the largest standing-depth area on the lake before the bottom drops away.

   intermediateadvancedmedium rigging room

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   1. JanJ23
   2. FebF18
   3. MarM18
   4. AprA10
   5. MayM5
   6. JunJ2
   7. JulJ10
   8. AugA6
   9. SepS3
   10. OctO6
   11. NovN25
   12. DecD13

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Ammersee / Stegen: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Ammersee / Stegen

   The catch is the wind. Stegen wants south to southwest, side-on; west works some days with wind shadow along the shore, and on any given front it is gustier and weaker than Herrsching, so people here are often still waiting while the cross is already riding. It is not a beginner spot despite the shallows: you have to edge upwind off a busy shore into open water, and in bathing season (busy May to September; the exact dates are unconfirmed) the shallow area is a swimming lawn you stay out of, board-dragging or walking to its edge before you ride. Watch the landing stage and the ferry, the sailboats anchored south of the entry from spring to autumn, the stones near shore, the trees. Water is 21-24 C in summer and 3.5-6 C in winter. Stegen is sometimes left off the Ammersee kite list altogether in favour of Herrschinger Kreuz and Eching, which tells you how conditional it is.

   Getting on the water

   Gravel beach and grass at the north end of the Ammersee, with plenty of room to set up. It is a bathing lawn first; keep the launch and landing strip clear and work upwind away from the shore as soon as you are up.

   If it goes wrong

   No kite rescue and no lifeguard watching the water. For a lost board or a kite you had to release, call the water rescue station on 08152 969809, which is not an emergency line, or 112 if someone is in trouble. If you are the one being searched for, stay where you are and stay reachable; a search costs you nothing unless you set off a false alarm deliberately. Write your name and phone number on board and kite in permanent marker so found gear does not start a search at all.

   Rules and access

   2026: no kiting in the shore and standing-depth area while bathing is on; keep the start and landing zone clear, landing kites have priority, and when the swimmers are in, board-drag or walk to the edge of the shallows and ride outside them. Foilers stay out of the swimming zone to protect the front wing and the mast as much as the bathers. The wind arrives onshore, so work upwind away from the shore. From 1 November to 31 March a voluntary Ammersee agreement asks watersports to stay off the lake for wintering and migrating birds. No municipal kite ordinance specific to Stegen exists for 2026, and no signed bathing-season dates were found for the launch itself.

   Everything on Ammersee / Stegen

• Munich (MUC), roughly 60-70 minutes' drive/transfer to Herrsching

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Known for Germany:RyanairTUIfly

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. Protected reed zones are mapped, seasonal and policed. There is an entry ban across the reed edges from April to October, riders have been intercepted on the water, and the community's own fear is that a handful of people ignoring it brings a blanket ban on the whole lake.

   consensus×5 riders

2. The Kreuz is described as properly gusty rather than merely lively, and the lee is the reason locals steer newcomers away: a reed belt and trees sit downwind waiting for a dropped kite.

   consensus×4 riders

3. The shallow patch everyone asks about is small, stony and only reaches to a stone bank — riders say calling it a standing area oversells it, and it is not the practice ground visitors expect.

   consensus×4 riders

4. It is a light-wind day that causes trouble, not a strong one: when the bay drops to marginal the shallow lagoon fills with people practising, and the collisions and right-of-way arguments follow from riders who should not be out at all.

   majority×3 riders

5. The local crowd is described as a bit intolerant of anyone who is not obviously competent, but approachable if you talk to them first — and that same group has organised itself into a recognisable set of locals.

   majority×3 riders

6. Access is a walk, not a drive-up. The workaround riders pass around is parking in the village and carrying gear a couple of hundred metres to a launch with proper rigging space, which they present as a trivial price for keeping the lake open.

   majority×3 riders

7. This is a cold-season lake. The months riders name run from autumn through to spring, sessions are logged in December and February, and summer is the part of the year they treat as the write-off.

   majority×3 riders

8. Wind fills in further out. Riders report roughly five knots more a couple of hundred metres off the bank, which is part of why the inshore area feels underpowered and why people get dragged into going out further than planned.

   majority×2 riders

9. Riders and the lake rescue service have deliberately built a working relationship here, training together on how to recover an expensive kite without wrecking it — the community treats staying on good terms with the rescuers as part of keeping the spot.

   majority×2 riders

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Bavaria' the name riders actually use for this area?
• Whether Stegen has any car-free access option
• Nightlife/social options beyond beer gardens
• Exact camping or short-stay options near either spot