I was looking to base myself in Berchtesgaden for several days to visit the Alps over the last weekend in September however much of the accomodations in the area are already booked. I'm looking for other towns in the Bavarian or Austrian Alps with good train acess from Munich and onward to Vienna. Salzburg is an obvious choice but we will be staying in 2 larger cities later in our trip so I was hoping to stay in a smaller town or village. As always any advice is appreciated!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen could be good - well situated for day trips to Ludwig's Fussen castles and also his Linderhof and also Oberammergau, Mittenwald and even Innsbruck are nearby - Innsbruck would be a gateway to Salzburg and Vienna by trin from Garmisch.

Garmishc als has the Zugspitze and the train that climbs that famous highest peak in Germany.

Garmisch teems with cozy guesthouses and is a nice nice town at the foot of the Zugspitze - for lots about trains in Germany and Austria check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Closer to Berchtesgaden would be the resort of Bad Reichenhall. Have you checked with the various Zimmer Frei and gaestehaus in Schonau and Konigsee? Try: http://tinyurl.com/ltvzb3v

Wherever you end up be sure to look into the possibilities of using the local bus services to get to specific places such as the Ludwig castles...going by rail from east to west in that area is not convenient.

This may not be the direction you were thinking of, but what about Werfen, Austria? It's about a 40 minute drive from Berchtesgaden.

Thanks for the replies! I was able to book a gasthaus in Berchtesgaden through Otzi's link though I'm still going to keep an eye out for something else. How far out is Bad Reichenhall?

I don't know what your budget is but we booked here, looks like a lovely area outside Berchtesgaden

http://www.rehlegg.de/

If you check Ramsau there are several small B&B's, but I don't know how it would work without a car.