One of the truly lovely things about planning an upcoming trip away is take the time to look back before. It’s nice to do from time to time, as it not online inspires you for your upcoming trip, but it also helps show you how far you have come. And for me looking back on my trip last year to Munich and Paris is a wonderful reminder to myself at just how far I have come - mostly I think because at the time, I just couldn’t imagine how things could possibly be ok. Even if I was in a beautiful place with very close friends, I still felt very alone.

The lovely part about my time in Munich with my friends is that they were also discovering what to do as they hadn’t been there for very long. So one day, we all bundled into the car and had a day trip to a really lovely lake town called Tegernsee. It’s a beautiful and incredibly charming town nestled on Tegernsee lake, it just over an hour’s drive from Munich and is such a nice place to visit for the day. In summer you can of course take boats out onto the lake and spend the day drifting along - but because it was Autumn while we were there we didn’t make it very far past probably the most beautiful cafe I have been in for a very long time. If you ever visit Tegernsee, you really must visit a cafe called Aran, and then spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying all the incredible food they have to offer.

The second we walked inside the three of us completely fell in love with the warm, fresh yet cosy decor - where you will find trestle tables covered in cookbooks, shelves of preserves, chocolates and teas to purchase, large vases filled with even larger hydrangeas and of course the incredible selection of food on offer. For three foodies, we were in absolute heaven - and naturally spent the next few hours working our way through the tasting platters filled with breads, cheeses, cured meats and every possible flavour of dip and spread. It was perfect. And then quickly followed by nearly one of everything in their dessert cabinet. Not only is the food perfect, fresh and wonderful for sharing, but the view over the lake towards the mountains and chasing Autumn leaves is simply magical - we loved it so much that we visited again with other friends before I left.

And of course, once you have eaten more than your fair share - take a lazy generous stroll around the edge of the lake, take in the scenery take a quick peek into their all white and pastel church. All in all, it’s s perfect day trip for anyone planning a visit to Munich this year. x

​Aran, Tegernsee

Cafe am Schloss Tegernsee GmbH

Seestraße 8

83684 Tegernsee

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