A daytrip to Berchtesgaden

i had a car last year when i visited the area. the lake was very popular, you have options to either stop by the church on the late then return, or go to the end of the lake and then return. if you go to the end of the lake, you have the option to do some hiking. depending on what you want to do, you should always go to the lake first just in case the lines get too long after bus tours show up. the town is relatively small you can walk around for a couple of hours max. Maybe it's better to keep your option open with rental car just in case timing is difficult to control with bus.

David, thanks for answering (this one was languishing with no answers).

would you recommend that seeing more of the lake and doing some hoking to obersee would be better than going to eagles nest?

OK I drive with my own car, but my take... On a beautiful sunny day the Königssee and Nationalpark Berchtesgaden is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. The electric boats start at 09:00. Ready for a moderate hike do go farther to the Obersee and the Fischunkelalm; absolutely beautiful! The highest waterfall in Germany is also here, but not so Picturesque due the the surrounding forest. The Kehlsteinhaus (known as Eagles Nest); It's been a few years but the last guest I accommodated wanted to see it and we waited for two hours for the bus to get to the elevator. Wasted time in my mind. The bunker there is interesting, but nothing that can't be missed (striped of anything of value by GIs and Berchtesgaden folks) . My guest did not understand that Hitler visited the Eagles Nest like only three times and was confused with the Berghof Obersalzberg (bombed and later blown-up and destroyed). With a car you can tour the Rossfeld Panoramic Road (also Nazi era). Its a toll road but really nice and an alternative. Berchtesgaden (town) is nice, but I think you can stroll through the town in a few hours. I would save the salt mine for a bad weather day. You could look at the the new Jennerbahn too for a hike and views. Same parking lot for the walk to the Königssee boats. With a car you can also visit and see the famous view in Malerwinkel in Ramsau and Kirche in Maria Gern mit Watzmann:
https://www.ramsau.de/webcam-malerwinkel.html
https://www.berchtesgaden.de/wallfahrtskirche-maria-gern
https://www.jennerbahn.de/

I think it will be very difficult to pull off the salt mine, Königssee, Eagle's Nest, and a walk through Berchtesgaden all in one day on public transportation. If you really want to see all of those in one day, Panorama Tours offers a one-day bus tour from Salzburg that includes all those activities "from €99.00." A friend and I did that tour on a trip to Salzburg in 2014. We got to do the salt mine tour, eat lunch in Berchtesgaden (we packed energy bars and wandered town instead), go to Eagle's Nest where we he had a short talk and then spent about 30-45 minutes admiring the view, an then go to Königssee where we had about 60 minutes to take in views (not enough time to get on the boat). The tour convinced me I wanted to come back and spend more time in the Berchtesgaden area, which I did in 2018 (5 nights).

I agree with mchpp that Königssee is gorgeous, and I find the hike to Röthbach Waterfall (via Obersee, Fischunkelalm, and a beautiful Alpine meadow) very nice. Here is a YouTube video done by someone who did that hike, if you want to see what it is like. It would probably take around 3.5-4 hours to ride the boat to the far end of the lake, do the hike, and ride the boat back.

So, I would suggest starting at Königssee. Since you will be there in Sept, the first boat will run at either 8:00 or 8:30 (boat schedule here). I would follow it up with a trip up the nearby Jennerbahn, which will give you a view of the area from above that is not quite as good as Eagle's Nest, but still pretty good. Then you could finish up with a walk around Berchtesgaden itself (it is an uphill walk from the bus station to the main part of town). Or... you can shorten the trip to Königssee and prioritize whatever other activities you want to prioritize.

In 2009, I tried to buy a "Tageskarte" from the driver of an RVO bus, and he looked at me as if confused. It's called a "Tagesticket". According to the RVO website, it's now 10,40€/adult. The RVO Tagesticket is valid for the 840 bus between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden and almost all of the RVO buses in Berchtesgaden, including bus 841 from the Hbf to Königssee and 838 to the Kehlsteinhaus Busabfahrt, but not the bus from the Kehlsteinhaus Busabfahrt up to Kehlsteinhaus.

But as you observe, the last bus leaves the Berchtesgaden Hbf at at 6:15 pm. It stops at the Salzbergwerk at 6:22. If you want to stay later (or are afraid you might miss the last bus), buy a BGL-TagesTicket Bus&Bahn. It costs a little more, 14€/adult, but is also valid for the train between Berchtesgaden and Salzburg via Freilassing, which runs until 10:10 PM. A single ticket for the train back to Salzburg would cost 10,70€. According to the website a BGL-TagesTicket Bus&Bahn also includes discounts for the Königssee boats, the salt mine, the bus to Kehlsteinhaus, and others.

How much of all the things you can see in one day depends on how much time you spend at each venue. For instance, I went up to Kehlsteinhaus, spent some time there, had lunch, then came down and toured the Dokumentation Zentrum. That took most of a day. In my opinion, based on some experience, you could not visit the salt mine, Königssee, and the Eagle's Nest and spend quality time at each, even with a bus tour. Don't try it.

Thanks Lee, does anyone know if on the Tageskarte day ticket for 11 euros or the GGL train-bus ticket for 14 eurose. Are both of these only for travel 9am or after on M-F. We were wanting to get to lake early to beat crowds. Anyone know of best bus/train ticket to buy for travel to berchtesgaden from salzburg and back. Will be doing salt mine and boat trip to salet. We would like to leave salzburg by bus before 9 am. Thanks!

The BLB day ticket bus&train ("Bus & Bahn", €14) is valid on the bus all day, on the train after 9am monday through friday. The BLB day ticket Berchtesgaden & Salzburg is valid after 9am.

My suggestion is to spend the extra euro to get to Königsee early before the crowds arrive. Catch the first boat across the lake if you can (though this obviously is easier to do for those staying in Berchtesgaden than Salzburg).