Salzburg- to use as a base or not?

Salburg is a good central point for the areas you mentioned. You might like staying at the Am Moos B&B in Salzburg a short bus ride from the Alt Stadt.
If you haven't been there Munich might be a good bet for part of the trip. Check out the Uhland Hotel near the Oktoberfest grounds and not too far from the city center. In Munich there is a lot to do including museums (art and the Deutsches science museum). You probably won't need or want a car in Munich because of traffic and parking issues.

Hi,

How many nights total do you have?
You say "stay there 3 nights and the rest in Berchtesgaden or elsewhere?"
That's a bit confusing as to how much time you really have.

Salzburg is pretty central for day trips to the Salzkammergut and the Berchtesgaden area. We prefer basing in the Berchtesgaden area (Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden in particular) for our visits to Berchtesgaden area, Salzburg and the Salzkammergut.

Paul

i have a total of 5 nights....sorry....meant to write that in there.

If you were using the train, I would pick Salzburg. But with a car you have the option of anywhere in the area. You might want to consider staying at a 'bauernhof' (a farm accommodation) outside the city but near enough. We stayed at www.neuwirtgut.at which is just outside Salzburg. There are several others in the area you are interested in.

Check out Bavaria Ben's site - www.bensbauernhof.com for trip reports and reviews of these interesting accommodations.

Hi M,
Ditto AisleSeat.

Get the Salzburg card http://www.salzburg.info/de/sehenswertes/salzburg_card/index

You might wish to spend a night or two in Hallstatt or other smaller town in the Salzkammergut.

More details at Ira Visits Europe – (Salzburg, Fuessen, Bodensee, Burgundy, Alsace)
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=35014078

Ira...so Hallstatt instead of Berchtesgaden?

Hi monica71,

With 5 nights you could actually stay in 2 locations. For us, we love the Berchtesgaden area as a base. Since 2006 we've stayed 10 nights in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden and 4 nights in Schönau am Königssee. Ramsau is about 30 minutes from Salzburg, an hour or so from the Salzkammergut (St. Gilgen for instance), and 1:30 from Hallstatt.

Depending on where most of your interests lie, perhaps 3 nights in Berchtesgaden area and 2 nights in the Salzkammergut, or vice versa. Salzburg can easily be done as a day trip from either location.

The reason for our many stays in Ramsau is it's a pretty central location to many sights, the mountain scenery, the small village of Ramsau and the fact that we love staying at the Pension Mayringerlehen. The owners are simply wonderful, it's a very nice place, the views are terrific plus they run an orgainic farm. They have goats, cows, chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, a horse and a llama.

www.mayringerlehen.de

www.worldisround.com/articles/355548/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338872/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/324607/index.html


Paul

pja1 unfortunately looks like they(mayringerlehen) are booked for the time we are there

would it make sense to stay in Salzburg 3 nights with a day trip to Salzkammergut and then go down to Ramsau area and stay about 2 and see the salt mines, eagles nest the Konigsee lake etc?

A Salzburgerland Card might be a good deal for you and your family. The ticket costs 49 Euro for adults and 23 Euro for children, good for 6 days. And...one of those days can used as a "Salzburg" Card !! It covers nearly 200 attractions in and around Salzburg Land and Salzkammergut.

As far as where to base yourself, there is much more to do in Salzburg, although Berchtesgaden is also wonderful...just not as accessible to other attractions as a Salzburg base, especially if you do not have a car.

We will be in both Salzburg and Berchtesgaden in late May-early June. Gute Reise!!!

Just noticed you are renting a car. Many options!

Hi M,

>Ira...so Hallstatt instead of Berchtesgaden?<

That is what I would do.

We stayed at http://www.gasthof-simony.at/

I think that the kids would very much like a visit to the salt mine and the ice caves
http://www.hallstatt.net/about-hallstatt/sehenswertes-en-US/familienerlebnis-salzwelten-en-US/
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hallstatt

We liked our visit to the Toplitzsee very much. On the weekends, some Austrians dress up in traditional costume and come out there for a family picnic.

However, you will enjoy your visit, whatever you do.

Hi,

To try to answer your question, me, I'd split the nights 3/2 between Berchtesgaden area and Salzkammergut. I'd visit Salzburg as a day trip from either base location.

We've visited Salzburg from ramsau many times. Many times we went from ramsau to Salzburg simply for dinner and a walk afterwards. It really is pretty close by, a 20 to 30 min drive.

You simply need to figure out where you'd like to base, whether to split the time into 2 bases, and what your sightseeing priorities are. The last (sightseeing priorities)should determine the other.

Paul

I think only because we are arriving from Prague i'll do 2 nights in Salzburg perhaps a day trip to Salzkammergut area so perhaps a 3rd night in salzburg just for that(we will rent a car on our last day to save some money). Then we'll drive down to Berchtesgaden....see the salt mines, eagles nest, the Konigsee late and a few other places during our 2 night stay. I want to see the ice caves Ira but i'm wondering if the hike up and down isn't going to be too much for my 5 year old? but it sounds intriguing. The card is a good option and i'm going to do that as well. Thank you so much to you all for your wealth of information. Ira...you have helped me countless times over the years and I appreciate your input!