To Tcreath, Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it!

To Kateny - Good question, I'd like to know about the roads as well.

kateny17, I wish I could give you better hotel info. There are so many in the area and they all looked so cute, but I don't know anything about them. Hopefully someone will see this and respond.

There are many restaurants in Schonau. Most are gasthofs, a mix of hotel and restaurant that look like they are in someones house. We ate at several that were popular with locals. I loved German food and did not have a bad meal there.

For a memorable dinner experience, consider driving to Ramsau one night and having dinner at the Hotel-Gasthof Nutzkaser. We found this recommendation in a guidebook I had. The food was good but the view was spectacular. We drove way up into the mountains and thought we were lost when we finally found it. We sat in an atrium-like dining room with beautiful views. Here is a link:
http://www.hotel-nutzkaser.de/engl/index.html. Click on "restaurant" on the right-hand side.

The road into Salzburg is a very nice road, extremely easy to navigate. We ate in Salzburg on two evenings, not getting back to our apartment in Schonau until after 9:00 or 10:00 each night. Schonau is in the valley; you won't be navigating any mountain roads so the drive is very easy.

Is Berchtesgaden in the valley too? I want to stay in Schonau, but the guesthouse in Berchtesgaden looks appealing. I will keep looking through the Schonau lodging options.

Also, thanks for the info on biking the Wachau region. Our family really enjoys biking and it would be nice to travel through Austria on two wheels.

Berchtesgaden is in a valley as well. Schonau is only about 5 -10 minute drive from Berchtesgaden so that should be fine. Berchtesgaden is a great little town and would be a fine place to stay. If you found one you like, I say go for it!

For pictures of both places, you may want to check out webshots.com and put in "Berchtesgaden" or "Schonau" to view other people's pictures. This should give you a good idea of what the area looks like.

Tracy

We did a simular trip a couple years ago with 3 teenagers.
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2
It was a great trip and hope it gives you some ideas.

Can anyone recommend a good guidebook to use for the region? I'd like to have one that has pictures in it also. Thanks!

Most books that cover the area cover large portions of Germany or the Bavarian Alps so its hard to get one with a whole lot of info. We used two books: Eyewitness Travel Guides Munich and the Bavarian Alps, and Fodor's Exploring Germany. Both had sections on the area, but I think Fodor's did a better job. The best thing to do would probably be to go to Borders or your local book store and browse through various books until you find one that you like.

I know you are also considering Austria so I will go ahead and say that we used Austria's Best Loved Driving Tours as well as Vienna and the Danube Valley to help plan our trip.

kateny17, I know I tried to send you the link to my pictures on a different post and it didn't work. If you are interested, I do have quite a few pictures from several of the areas you are planning on visiting, including the Wachau, Berchtesgadenerland, Munich and Fussen. I don't know how to get the link to work, but if you are interested you can feel free to email me at [email protected] and I can get on kodakgallery and send you the picture slideshow directly from their sight. I don't want to try to invade your privacy or anything so if you are not interested, I completely understand.

I couldn't find much information on this area myself before I went in May, so I understand all the questions completely!

Best wishes,
Tracy

I've never quite understood why people would want to take a guidebook with lots of pictures in it with them on a trip--they're going to be actually seeing and even touching the real thing after all. Do you look at the real item and then look at the photo in the guidebook to be sure that someone hasn't switched sights on you? Plus guidebooks with lots of pictures tend to be heavier to tote around.

Why would one need pictures? If you just want to see what the sights are going to look like before you leave, go to the library and check out a bunch of books for free. If you want a book of pictures for the memories after the trip, get a nice coffee table book which would have much better and bigger pictures.

That's my curmudgeonly rant for the day. So ignore me completely and get whatever kind of guidebook you like.

The choice of where to stay in this area should be guided by the types of activities that you enjoy, your experiences to date, if you have a car,how adventuresome you are, and how many people are going with you.
Berchtesgadener Land comprises a vast area including the towns of Berchtesgaden as well as the outlying areas of Schonau a. Konigsee, Ramsau, Bischofsweisen and Markschellenberg. Each of these areas has their own claim to fame, such as Konigsee Lake and the beautiful church in Ramsau.
If you stay in the town of Berchtesgaden itself, you will be able to easily walk to all of the restaurants and shopping and you can choose to use the bus or train to visit other areas if you don't want to drive.This is probably a better choice for larger groups or families with teenagers who may want to do a few things on their own. We used to stay in the town before we got into hiking and we always had a great time. If I were staying in town again, I would choose the Hotel Vier Jahrezeiten or the Hotel Post. Both of these places are close to all of the activites in town. The Vier Jahrezeitin is more upscale and has a great restaurant called the Hubertus Stuben (great fondue!!).The Hotel Post has great outdoor dining in the center of most activities in the town. There are also many, many other places to stay in or near town. If you go to this area and you are not sure of accomodations, you can always go to the Kur and Kongresshaus in town or the visitor center across from the train station and they will help you with accomodations. It is customary in this area to ask to see a room before you rent it, so don't be afraid to ask. It is also customary that the smaller hotels and guesthouses do not like to rent out for just one nite or two in the peak seasons.
Staying in Schonau will give you a closer drive to the Konigsee and quicker access to lifts and certain hiking areas and this is a popular spot in the summer for tourists. I personally would not stay in any of the lakefront hotels at Konigsee because of the hordes of tourists who flock though this area every day. At any given time, you may have several hundred people just a stone's throw from your hotel room. The Konisee area has a huge parking complex. At the back side of the complex ( dorf Konigsee) , there is access to the Jenner ski lift and some very large fields which are popular both in winter and summer. In summer, the hang gliders go up to the Jenner peak and enjoy a long flight down to these fields when there are sufficient warm currents. If you are looking for a quieter place to stay, this area will give you easy access to the sites mentioned and from here it is about a 10-15 minute drive into B'gaden. If I were staying in this area, I would pick the Hotel Bergheimat (www.hotel-bergheimat.de). There are also quite a few smaller guesthouses in this area and any would be fine. Unless you are very comfortable with the bus system, you would want a car staying in this area.
A recent favorite of ours is the Berghotel Rehlegg, which happens to be a Best Western.(www.rehlegg.de) This hotel is run by the family Lichmannegger and it is located in Ramsau, about 25 minutes away from Salzburg and about 20 minutes into the town of B'gaden. This is a great spot for hikers and those seeking peace and quiet and it is relatively near the Hintersee. You need a car if you choose to stay here.
I hope this helps everyone who reads it. Most importantly, it is hard to find a place that isn't nice. In general, the further that you stay out of town, the better you will get to know the German folks who live in this area.
Driving is generally easy, but if you go up the Kehlstein to the Eagles'Nest or over the Rossfeldstrasse, you will be driving on steep mountain roads. Once you get used to it, it really is fun and the road system is great!

Emily - Thanks for all the great information! I think we have decided to stay at a guesthouse in Berchtesgaden. I wanted to find one in Schonau, but didn't see any I liked as much as the one Berchtesgaden.