vibhav

Folks,

Need some help with planning out a detailed itinerary for this region... We will be based in Berchtesgaden .. We are 4 adults (couple and parents) and 4 year old son ... We know that we have less days in this region ... BUt we have to maximize it the best we can ... We arrive from Munich at about 7 PM and then we have 3 nights and 2 days staying in Berchtesgaden ...

Here are our interests ... My husband is a photographer ... So looking for unique sights and alpine beauty (which we know will be abundant in that region) ... Since traveling with parents and a kid, we are looking for driving, boat rides, cable cars and short hikes (2-3 mile round trip or less) ...

Need some help to detail out the plan for the two days ... We have been to Salzburg before (10 years back though) .. So we are not planning to spend more than one evening in Salzburg ... We were thinking of doing Berchtesgaden and Konigsee on Day 1 till early evening ... Then take off to Salzburg for dinner, walk around on the MOzart street, grab dinner ... On Day 2, we are planning to make it a whole day trip to Hallstatt and then if we feel like going to Salzburg again, go back again for dinner ...

I know this is going to be a lot of cramming in ... but we are prepared for it .. Just need to know the best places/ not to be missed places for Berchtesgaden, Konigsee, Salzburg and Hallstatt ...Here is what I have so far ... Need more details like where to go for boat trip, where to o for salt mines, what else to see ..

Berchtesgaden - Eagle's nest, Salt mines
Konigsee - 2 hr boat trip
Hallstatt - Boat trip, Salt mines

Thanks a lot for all your responses, in anticipation ...

Sakshi

ozgirl

Hello vibhav, we spent a few days in this area a couple of years back and it was spectacular. Sounds like you have the first day well planned. The second day you might want to try and include the Grossglockner route. We did this on the same day we visited Hallstatt. I asked for advice on these areas and gots of useful advice, have copied thread below:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ing-please.cfm

Have a great trip.

pef1234

I visit these areas often and might suggest the following:

The 'Eagles Nest' . . . be aware of the weather. Leave time for a possible rearrangement of your schedule. Look up to the Kehlstein. If it is even partially obscured by clouds then change your schedule if the vistas from there are important, as well they should be. Take the B319 (Salzberg Strasse)just east of the traffic circle near the train station in Berchtesgaden. It crosses the river and winds up through the forest, past a golf course and takes you right into the parking lot at the Hintereck, from where the buses take you the remaining way up to the Eagle's Nest. Two hours is plenty of time up there. When you get off the bus at the top of the mountain it is important to go immediately to the nearby kiosk to book your return bus time. If you don't do this promptly you could be obliged to wait considerably beyond your planned return time for the first available bus back down. This could possibly mess up your entire schedule for the day.

Lunch at the Eagle's Nest can be a treat . . . either in the dining room or on the terrace; not pretentous or overly priced and quite good fare. Check the menu at their web site http://www.kehlsteinhaus.de/en/index.php

A mostly overlooked opportunity exists near the Hintereck Parking area to go down into the tunnels and bunkers directly under Hitler's former 'Berghof' and other infamous sites from the NSDAP era. Just out of sight over the edge of the small hill at the opposite end of the Hintereck parking area is zum Turken Gasthaus. http://www.hotel-zum-tuerken.com/index.html Alongside this small inn is a kiosk from where you can access an interesting maze of tunnels and bunkers. This is privately owned, the cost is nominal and the experience is more 'real' than the bunkers at the nearby Documentation Center.

RE the Königsee . . . we usually use this hotel as our base when in the general Berchtesgaden/Salzburg area http://www.hotel-schiffmeister.de/ It is right on the waterfront, directly in front of the boat docks from where you go out to St. Bart's. It also has a dubious place in history as Hitler and party often stayed here during his early years in this area. You can drive and park only steps from the front door. You need to tell the gatekeeper at the general Königsee parking area that you are staying at the Schiffmeister and he/she will waive the parking fee and wave you through. You need to negotiate a narrow street/tourist lane for 200 meters to get to the waterfront. This hotel is also not pretentous, has lots of 'local' charm and is privately owned. Rooms have balconies facing down the lake and there is a wonderful local style restaurant a short walk around to the opposite shore of the lake http://www.echostueberl.de/ It's operated by the nephew of the hotel owner and is situated at the base of the nearby World Class Bob Sled Run. (Check the 'Bildergalerie' for an visual overview of this place.)

Lunch or dinner in the garden or in the pilgrimage hotel at St. Bart's can also be a wonderful experience.

The Berchtesgaden Salt Mines can be visited in 1-1/2 hours. You can optimize you time here by parking close to the ticket kiosk rather than in the general parking lots. Take the second street to the right off the B305 when going from the traffic circle toward Salzburg. I believe it's called Salzwerke Strasse. It crosses the river and leads to a smaller lesser known parking area right in front of the entrance saving quite a hike. The map on their web site is poor at best http://www.salzzeitreise.de/

A spectacular drive in the area encircles the Kehlstein Mountain http://www.rossfeldpanoramastrasse.de/ This is a short toll road with undisturbed vistas . . . several places to stop for snacks, photo ops, etc. The route starts near the Hintereck Parking Area.

I offer all the above with the primary idea of making the most of your short time in the area while experiencing the least stressful encounters.

pja1

Hi Sakshi,

Your plans for your 2 day (3 night) stay sound reasonable. Day 1 sounds good. If you can and the weather is clear, drive the previously suggested Rossfeld route. You can hike/walk around the area of the Konigssee if you like or the Jennerbahn (cable car) is right by the Konigssee. This pretty much keeps you in the Berchtesgaden area and you won't be spending your entire day in the car.

www.jennerbahn.de

Hallstatt is just 1:30 drive from Berchtesgaden. We visited it from Ramsau (Berchtesgaden). We spent the afternoon there and were in Salzburg for dinner around 6pm.

I don't know if you'll need to "do" two salt mine tours. I'd pick one and spend some time doing/seeing something else.

Your husband is a photographer... he'll love the Berchtesgaden area and Hallstatt, including the drive to Hallstatt.

If you are looking for a place to stay, we can highly recommend the Pension Mayringerlehen in Ramsau, where we stayed in '06, '07 and '09.

www.mayringerlehen.de

If interested, we have some photo's of these area's at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel15.html

Just a recomendation, we loved having dinner at the Gebirgshausl, just 10 minutes from Berchtesgaden on the B305.

www.gebirgshaeusl.de/index.php?de_willkommen

A few people have also recommended staying here to me, but we love the Mayringerlehen.

Hope this helps.

Paul

vibhav

Thanks a lot Ozgirl .. I have read your post earlier and even saved the link to read a couple more times ... ... Thanks!! We are driving on the Grossglockner on our third day on our way to venice ... So that is taken care of outside these 2 days ...

Thanks a lot pef1234 for all the amazing nuggets of inside info ... Lunch at the eagle's nest, bunkers from the Hintereck parking, dinner at the http://www.echostueberl.de/, the mines tour and driving teh Rossfeld route is something that we have added to our itinerary and willd efinitely try to do ... This was incredibly helpful ... Thanks a lot ...Our hotel is already booked in berchtesgaden ( the Alpenhotel Denninglehen) but your suggestion looks drop dead gorgeous being right on the lake ...

Paul .. Thanks for your Jennerbahn cable car suggestion ... We are trying to understand how many cable car rides to do ... On our trip in this region of Austria/ germany and also in the Dolomites, seems to be dotted with cable cars ... While the view is nice from up top, my husband the photgrpaher, is not really too excited for the views from up there as they do not mostly offer a very exciting foreground or interest ...But I will definitely research the jenner cable to check out the views ...

Using your suggestions on some of my earlier posts, Paul, we have already booked our hotel at th Alpenhotel Denninglehen... So we are good there ... have already checked out your photos too ) which have inspired me every time .. Thanks for the Gebrigshausl suggestion for dinner ..>W ill definitely look into it .. Also about to post another thread for restaurants and bakeries in the region ...

One question I have ... On our second day, we might want to come back to Salzburg a second time or even the first time if the 1st day we are not able to make it to Salzburg .. So on our second day we have two choices ... Go to Salzburg in the morning, have lunch and then head out to Hallstatt, stay for sunset/ dinner and then head back .. Or go to Hallstatt in the morning and then Salzburg in the evening ... Any recommendations?? From a photograpoher's perspective, is Hallstatt and its lake ideal for sunset ? Some places are better in morning light and some in evening light .. Any recommendations??

Thanks you all for helping me to research this in so much detail ...

pja1

Hi again,

I think I would do Halstatt first and Salzburg second. Try to get on the footbridge over the Salzach river for views and photos of Salzburg at sunset.

Paul