Driving from Munich to Salzburg near the end of May. Then on to Vienna. Will have one day available to Salzburg, next day to Vienna.
Is it worthwhile visiting the Eagles Nest at Berchtesgaden and if so, how much time to plan for?
What about Melk Abbey? Have always seen pictures of it taken from the Danube, but curious if visiting it from the land side is possible and worthwhile.
A visit to the Eagles Nest from Salzburg would eat up at least 4 hours. If you are only spending one night in Salzburg, when would you be sightseeing in that most lovely city?
Melk Abbey can most certainly be visited by car. The drive is almost entirely on the autobahn, and drive time from Salzburg to Melk and on to Vienna is less than 4 hours (stops en route not included). We found the Abbey very beautiful and very worth our visit, which took a little over 2 hours.
Note: you can always preview your driving routes on Google Maps. Street view is handy for identifying parking
It kind of depends on your interests. Clearly the Eagles Nest complex (you should not
forget the Documentation Center in your planning) is of extreme interest if you are into
history and WWII. You could easily spend an afternoon here. FWIW, the Eagles Nest
is more significant because of what it was, not what it is.
Melk Abbey can definitely be toured, and it is worth seeing if you are into ornate Baroque
churches.
There are frequent trains from Munich to Salzburg, for what it's worth. You could rent the
car in Salzburg and perhaps save a bit on a inter-country dropoff charge. You can get to
the Eagles Nest/Berchstgaden with public transport.
Thank you for your reply - very helpful.
I highly recommend that you ditch the car idea and take the train. The driving can be stressful, parking is challenging and you won't really need the car at all to sightsee.
There are very frequent trains from Munich to Salzburg and more frequent trains from Salzburg to Vienna.
With one day in Salzburg, I suggest you just enjoy Salzburg, unless you are a huge WW2 history buff.
For Melk, yes it is beautiful and it can be toured. The entire region is famous for its winding Danube Valley, old fortresses, wine and apricots. It makes an amazing day trip from Vienna. I suggest you just get to Vienna and then make a day trip from Vienna to this area on a nice weather day.
