If
you are staying at a hotel in Pertisau or one of the other villages round the
Achensee, at the point where you check into the hotel each guest will be handed
an Achensee Guest Card to fill out. The
hotel stamps your card and confirms the dates of your arrival and departure, and
the card is valid for the duration of your stay.
It entitles you to free travel on the buses around the lake (as far as
Achenkirch in the north and Maurach/Eben in the south – show the driver your
card as you get on board; you may be required to state your destination).
It is also valid for those stretches of a longer journey – so, for
example, if you get on board the bus in Pertisau and ask the driver for a ticket
to Jenbach, showing your Guest Card, he will charge you only for the
Maurach-Jenbach leg of the journey. It is also valid on the last day of
your stay for the trip all the way back down to Jenbach at no charge.
The
Pertisau edition of the Achensee Guest Card also entitles you, according to the
information booklet, to horse and coach journeys (Hotel Rieser in Pertisau; how
could Rol the Horse Nut have missed that?), free use of the Karwendel Cable Car
(whether it’s multiple use or not is not indicated), entry to the Stone Oil
Museum, entrance to the Strand (beach) at Pertisau, and Hallenbad and Sauna in
assorted hotels. It’s a bit of a
grey area, really, knowing to what this card actually entitles you – but we
used it chiefly as a bus ticket and being free it was regarded as a bonus!
I.e.
“Adventure Card” and indeed, this card is well worth purchasing if you are
in Pertisau for more than a day trip. For
48 Euros (2006 price), the card entitles you to unlimited use of the lake
ferries, the steam train to Jenbach, the Rofan and Karwendel cable cars
(surcharge for paragliding equipment etc.), and entry into the Notburga Museum
in Maurach/Eben, for seven days from the date of purchase. 
The card can be obtained from the Tourist Information Offices in Pertisau,
Maurach and Achenkirch, or the Karwendelberg cable car and the Rofan cable car
ticket booths. If you arrive on a
Sunday, as we did, you might wish to purchase the card from one of the two cable
car booths which are open on Sundays, when the Tourist Information Offices are
shut. Note too that the Pertisau
Tourist Information Office required cash payment for the card, but the
Karwendelberg cable car office accepts credit cards for payment.
According to a little information booklet I collected from the Tourist Information Office, the Erlebniscard is only available to people with a valid Achensee Guest Card (see above) which would mean day-trippers could not purchase one. Rol was required to show her Guest Card when she purchased her Erlebniscard at the Pertisau Tourist Information Office but thinks that she and Kaz were not required to do so when they purchased their cards from the Karwendelberg cable car ticket office the previous year. You might like to try it, if you are on a day trip!
Your
photo will be taken by a digital camera at the time of purchasing the
Erlebniscard, and your photograph is printed direct onto your card.
The photo is – indistinct, to say the least, particularly since the man
operating the camera at the Karwendelbergbahn does not necessarily give you time
to whip off hat or sunglasses! Don’t
worry if it is a very poor likeness indeed!
When
you board the ferry, wave your Erlebniscard at the ticket inspector who will
scan the barcode printed on it (ferry ticket inspectors are somewhat grumpy).
You may also be required to show it when you disembark, when they collect paper
tickets off transient travelers! The
ticket inspectors on the steam train (usually more cheerful individuals) will
wish to scan your Erlebniscard too, so keep it ready to hand over once the train
has set off. On the cablecar you
pop your ticket into a reader which will allow you admission through a turnstile
onto the platform where you can board the gondala.
The official page of the Erlebniscard can be viewed here.