Anti-G7 protests staged outside the summit

Elmau

On the official agenda as leaders huddle in the luxury Elmau Castle resort are issues from climate change and Ebola to women's rights, and the fight against Islamist militancy.

Also hoping to grab attention will be protesters who have vowed to march toward the venue, which is protected by a ring of steel with more than 22,000 police.

Around 4,000 people staged colourful and largely peaceful protests Saturday.

Police reported isolated incidents and in one case deployed pepper spray to disperse some protesters but the noisy demonstration in the city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen was mainly good-natured with music pumping out in sweltering temperatures.

Early Sunday morning, a handful of protesters staged a sit-in demonstration to block the main access road to the castle, meaning journalists were transported by helicopter to the location.

The protesters told AFP they had managed to sneak through the woods unnoticed by police in the early hours of Sunday to get into position.