Leonhardifahrt Bad Tölz

Every November 6 — or the nearest date that isn't a Sunday — church bells ring out across Bad Tölz at 9 a.m. to open the Tölzer Leonhardifahrt, one of Upper Bavaria's best-known horse pilgrimages. Up to 80 decorated four-horse wagons and riders in traditional dress assemble in the Kurviertel and process through the old town — down Badstraße, across the Isar, along Marktstraße — before climbing the steep Maierbräugasteig to the Leonhardikapelle on the Kalvarienberg, circling it twice, then returning down Marktstraße to the Mühlfeldkirche, where a priest blesses the horses, riders, and wagons around 1 p.m. Unlike a Volksfest, this is a religious procession first: free to watch along the entire route. Plan a Wirtshaus meal in Bad Tölz before or after the procession. What it has instead is scale and setting — a mile of decorated wagons climbing to a hilltop chapel above the Isar valley, with the town's Kurort character as a backdrop. Getting there by car takes planning: large parts of the Altstadt close to traffic from early morning, and the Schloßplatz lot is accessible only until 8 a.m. Arrive early, wear shoes that can handle a steep uphill-and-down finish, and expect the day to wrap up around 1 p.m. back at the Mühlfeldkirche, with the traditional Goaßlschnalzen (whip-cracking) in Marktstraße as the ceremonial close. A commemorative Leonhardizeichen pin (€4) goes on sale from the town's Tourist-Information starting October 5, for anyone who wants a keepsake beyond the procession itself.