Altötting

Altötting is one of the most important and most visited Catholic pilgrimage destination in Europe. The city is in Upper Bavaria, close to the Austrian border.

Understand
First mentioned in the 8th century (although the first settlements probably date back more than 3000 years), Altötting's ascension as a Catholic pilgrimage destination began in the 9th century with the construction of a first monastery by King Carloman of Bavaria.

By plane
There are two airports that are suitable for a trip to Regensburg:
 * Munich International Airport, one of the busiest airports in Europe, is located 80 km (50 mi) to the west of the city with many international connections.
 * Salzburg International Airport is situated 60 km (35 mi) to the south of Altötting and has mostly domestic (Austrian) and a few European connections.

By train
Altötting station is conveniently located just south of the city center, but due to its very small size lacks most amenities of a modern train station. There are hourly connections to Munich (90 min) and Landshut (75 min), and a bihourly connection to Salzburg (105 min). With all connections there is a change of trains in Mühldorf am Inn.

By car
With its rather remote location close to the Austrian border, Altötting isn't so well connected to the German highway network. The most important ones are autobahn A 94 to Munich and federal highway B 20 to Salzburg.

On foot
Altötting, given its importance for German Catholics, is a major destination of pilgrimage. These pilgrimages are mostly organised and go for 120-200 km and 3-5 days.

Get around
Given the city's small size, Altötting is easily navigable on foot. Furthermore, basically all main attractions are located around the central town square.

Buy
Around the central Kapellplatz square are numerous shops for devotional objects, such as Black Madonnas in several sizes, rosaries, figures of saints and angles, icons, candles, crosses, and the like. There are also some bookstores on religious matters.