I am wondering if anyone knows how long it takes to go up on the bus, elevator, visit the summit and then back down. From my vague recollection I think you could book the return trip down an hour after the bus ride up? Is that correct? I'll be there first thing in the morning and am traveling with someone who just wants to go to the top before our drive to Fuessen. He doesn't want to go to the documentation center, etc. We have reservations for the 3:55 tour of Neuschwanstein so need to be there by 2:55. Do we have enough time?

I can't remember how long the bus trip took. It doesn't take long to take the elevator up. There was a little wait, but not long. It is worth a visit if you have time. I snapped some beautiful pictures and walked around for a while. I was gone from the hotel and back about 4 hours. I didn't do the Documentation Center either. You can do it in less time I'm sure. I don't know the time it will take to get to Fuessen by car.

bettyloo, these notes are from my trip report regarding our visit to the Eagle's Nest:

Kelsteinhaus: It cost us 2.50E to park and 29E for the bus ride and admission. Once we arrived at Kelsteinhaus, we saw that there was a tour in English scheduled for 11:40 AM. Since it was the last tour of the day in English, we decided to wait around for it. The tour guide charged 5E per person and the tour lasted 30 minutes or maybe a little longer.

We returned to the parking lot on the 1:30 bus.
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I imagine that we got to Obersalzberg around 10:30 AM, purchased our tickets for the bus and arrived at the entrance about 11:15. So everything took around 3 hours.

Thanks so much!!

I did this in September '05. My recollection is consistent with Betty K's, but I have a strong idea that time of year is important besides time of day, i.e., you will encounter larger crowds in summer. I agree you can make it up, through and back within 3 hours if you don't take more than an hour up top. I remember the bus ride being maybe half an hour with beautiful scenery.

I also took a tour on top that was interesting but not very long, as the place is not very large. You are free to walk around and the views are exquisite up there.

I bought the book, "History of the Eagle's Nest, a complete account of Adolf Hitler's alleged 'mountain fortress'" by Florian Beierl which I have read twice and loaned to people. I think it is an excellent reference book, loaded with photos, that helps me remember what I saw there.

I think it is great you are going. This place is really a fantastic look at history but a bit overlooked since it is not easy to get to.

I don't know where your hotel accommodations are, but I stayed at a wonderful place (spa) called Alpenhof http://www.alpenhof.de/ which was located near Eagle's Nest, Koningsee and the beautiful countryside there. The air up there is fantastic and I would love to go back there just to breathe it! Happy trails, Kathleen

Our trip was also in September 2007. Unfortunately, bettyloo doesn't say when she will be there, but hopefully the timing won't be off too much.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I will be there next week! I moved some things around so we now have the whole day to see Eagle's Nest and make it to Fuessen by 6pm. So, I don't have the same time crunch I did last week, but I appreciate the replies!
bl