I’ve just been out to Bavaria to check out the hotel – Schloss Elmau – where the G7 is having its big annual Summit over the 7-8^th June 2015. And a truly lovely place it is, too, with all imaginable top-end luxuries in a spectacularly pastoral setting in a valley of its own, surrounded by mountains.

The likes of Barack and Angela should feel well looked after in the very short time that they have here, because the hotel has a staggering array of restaurants – seven – and spas – four – for its 162 rooms. I’ve done a detailed report on the place which will appear in due course in the travel section of the Financial Times.

There is already a huge security presence sweeping the valley. We were stopped in our car by a man with a gun in his waistband, who didn’t want to know anything about us, but just kept us stationary for a couple of minutes whilst something else was going on, somewhere else.

Black saloons came and went from the front of the hotel, and CIA operatives have been attending the hotel’s morning yoga classes. A rumoured 17,000 police have apparently been assigned to the task of keeping everything safe, which is more than were on duty for the London Olympics. The locals are, of course, grumbling about the costs, plus the potential closures to their roads and railways.

What the G7 leaders won’t have time to do is explore the surrounding area, which is a shame. Some two hours hiking directly up the hill from Elmau is Schachen, the extraordinary mountain lodge built by ‘Mad’ King Ludwig II, with its pseudo Turkish interiors. One of Ludwig’s even more extraordinary palaces, Linderhof, is a hop and a skip away.

Elmau is in a deeply traditional and very Catholic neck of the woods, with the huge baroque monastery of Ettal and the quiet town of Oberammergau – scene of a huge Passion Play every ten years – within a half-hour’s drive.

The resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen lies 18km to the west, with the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain, towering over it. The Zugspitze has a cog-wheel train and cable car to the top plus a glacier which the Germans cover with plastic in the summer to stop it melting. All very organised.

We were lucky enough to have an Alpenhorn lesson with Elizabeth Heilmann up on the Zugspitze’s peak, which certainly attracted the crowds.  Regrettably, however, this is not something the G7 will have a chance to do, although they’ll no doubt be making lots of noise of their own.

Otherwise, they’ll just whizz in, and whizz out again, 24 hours later. Maybe they’ll see enough of the region to make them want to come back again some other time.

Granted, if you do a quick Google search for skiing in Germany, you won’t get a list as long as the one for France. However, that’s exactly why hitting the slopes in the German Alps is such a good idea. No high-rise developments and mega skiing. German ski resorts have kept their original character. Everything is a bit smaller, a bit more old-fashioned maybe but also a lot more gemütlich (cosy) with mountain huts and bags full of character.

There’s Garmisch-Partenkirchen, for example, home of the 1936 Winter Olympics, host of the  2011 World Ski Championships and arguably the country’s major winter sports destinations. The Zugspitze, a glacier and Germany’s highest mountain with 2,962 metres, is skiable from early autumn to late spring and together with the Alpspitze has 62 km of slopes. In preparation for the World Ski Championships next year, lifts were modernised and the famous Kandahar downhill run was modified.

Skiing in Germany: cosy mountain huts and bags of character

Berchtesgaden and its surrounding area with 50 km of pistes is less well known internationally but for many who know it a real Alpine gem. The town is situated at the foot of the Jenner mountain and the Berchtesgadener Land region is a good place for family skiing holidays with a wide choice of easy slopes and skiing schools for children. Since 2005, Berchtesgaden also offers something for luxury lovers with the five-star InterContinental Berchtesgaden Resort, calling itself Germanys’ first “Mountain Resort”. Shaped like a horseshoe and providing maximum mountain views with all-round glass on all four room floors, its modern design is not everyone’s cup of tea. For some, however, the luxurious interior including a mountain spa is the fulfilment of their dreams.

Then there’s the Allgäu region in south-west Bavaria as Germany’s largest skiing area with about 500 km of slopes and towns like Oberstdorf and Oberstaufen. Or Oberammergau, the Passion Play village where the Royal Air Force trains every year. Or Ruhpolding, another one of those hidden gems, in the Chiemgau region and three great mountains for skiing. The list goes on.

Last but now least, there’s one specific skiing holiday feature that stands out in Germany: Munich, Germany’s third biggest city, is within easy reach of a number of resorts which means going skiing can be combined with a city break. Garmisch-Partenkirchen , smaller resorts such as Spitzingsee and Schliersee or Oberammergau are all conveniently accessible by car or public transport with special bus or trains offers for some of the destinations. A  – by the way, very affordable –  day of skiing can be followed up with a night on the town in one of Munich’s many fabulous restaurants and stylish bars. Just another of many Germany skiing ideas.

Skiing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Skiing in Oberstaufen

Skiing in Oberstdorf

The Alps are threaded with long-distance paths, many of them originally routes used by cattle drovers, bandits and the military. In Germany they are well organized, carefully signposted and made more accessible thanks to a network of mountain refuges, or alpine huts, which mean you don’t have to carry a whole lot of gear, or even food, when you set off for a high-level hike.

These alpine huts are often substantial buildings, maintained (and usually staffed) by the local alpine associations, sometimes with sufficient accommodation for 60 or 70 people. Many of them serve hot food (bewirtschaftet in hut specifications), and have bunk beds with mattresses, arranged in a combinations of dormitories (Matratzenlager) and smaller rooms. Overnight costs are minimal, although food and drink is likely to be a bit more expensive than down in the towns and villages below, if just because of the transport involved. Supplies (including the mountaineer’s essential, beer) arrive via a choice of methods: either by rugged all-terrain vehicle from the nearest road end, or by improvised cable car system, or even by helicopter.

You don’t have to carry the world on your back

However they are serviced, these huts transform the upper alpine experience. They allow hikers to set off with only a small pack, containing only clothing and personal effects, and the opportunity to kick back on a sunny deck and enjoy a beer and a magnificent view after a hard day on the trail. There’s usually plenty of international camaraderie, and hut meals are hearty and simple.

Coming out of the resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, for example, there are a handful of huts in the Oberreintal region, just below the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak. If you start out from Elmau, one of the main access points, you can reach the first, the Schachenhaus, in around three hours, and two thirds of the way up you pass the Wetterstein-Alm, a high pasture where cows spend two or three months in the summer, where the herdsman run a refreshment hut and sell their cheese. The rambling, full-service Schachenhaus itself was originally the staff quarters for King Ludwig’s villa at Schachen, so isn’t really your typical alpine hut, but up beyond it another couple of hours is the Meilerhütte, a more rugged and exposed place where mountaineers gather, ready for early morning assaults on the peaks. Alternatively at Schachen you could choose to go on towards the Zugspitze and stay in the Reintalangerhütte before returning to Garmisch on a path that brings you out by the giant ski jump.

Huts like these are generally open from June to September or early October, and usually have a telephone contact, so it is possible to check in advance that there’s not going to be a shortage of space (actually very rare).

And although they facilitate quick and relatively un-burdened sorties up into the Alps, they are not there to encourage recklessness: you do need to check the weather before setting out, to make sure you know your route and your abilities, and to carry suitable emergency supplies.

A website for huts in Germany (including Meilerhütte and Reintalangerhütte).

Schachenhaus hut website. (site in German only)

For more informationon the region: www.bavarian-alps.travel/zugspitze