Comments on Itinerary for Family with teenagers

are the teenagers boys, if so they might like hanger 7, its free to get in and interesting, but you wouldn't spend hours there. ( out at the airport, so you would need to organise transport) " tip"- visit the toilets there.

we enjoyed the hohenwerfen castle and the falconry show, the view from up inside the bell tower with the guided tour was good. they would like the castle and falconry.

If the teenagers are a bit interested in history ( possible?) then it would be a real shame to go to berchtesgaden and not visit the document center ( right near where you get the bus up to eagle nest) very powerful and interesting going inside the underground bunkers. eagles nest really is a must see, particularly if your trip doesn't include any other parts in the alps.

also a cruise on konigssee lake ( just down the road from eagles nest etc), while perhaps a bit tame for teenages, is very beautiful and the walks near the lake would get them out of the 'museums'.
I am sure they would enjoy the salt mine, particularly if they can slide down the giant slippery dips, inside the mine ( we did it in Hallstatt mine, great fun!!) I am not sure if the other salt mines have it?

are they interested in the sound of music movie?

Thanks for the insight and ideas. My teens are two boys and two girls. All are very interested in history so Eagles Nest has to be in the itinerary for sure. We could easily skip Hanger 7 - none of the kids are super into cars, planes, etc - but they have had their share of Red Bull and I read that the bathrooms were of interest! This would be something we would do if we were passing by and not make a special trip.

Is the day we arrive - 2:00 pm on and the afternoon of day two enough time to explore Salzburg if we use day three as a full day trip OR should we spend day one (half day) and day two in Salzburg and then plan to do the day trip on day three, skipping some sights outside of the city?

Also, has anyone done the Werfen ice caves, salt mine and Hohenwerfen Castle all in one day and if so would it be worth taking time from Salzburg?

I am a little concerned that I am trying to fit too much into two and a half days since so many things in the surrounding area look interesting. Thanks

I really think you are trying to do too much on your arrival day. To fly all night and then expect to haul 4 teens to Salzburg and then tour the old town and the fortress just won't happen. I suggest that on your arrival in Salzburg, plan for dinner and nothing else. If you are able to wander, all the better. I also think that getting up and out the second day at 8:30 (when their bodies are telling them it is only just time to go to sleep) will be hard too. I'd suggest spending day two at the fortress and at Hellbrunn at a slower pace and then hitting Eagle's Nest on your way back to Munich (hopefully the weather cooperates).

Lisa, as mentioned, I would skip hanger 7, its not really in an easy spot to visit.

'has anyone done the Werfen ice caves, salt mine and Hohenwerfen Castle all in one day and if so would it be worth taking time from Salzburg?'
i would think that you might fit 2 items in one day. and I would definitely travel out from Salzburg. while its a very nice city, there is so much more to see out in the areas you mention. i investigated the ice caves, but i wondered if it would take too long in our itinerary.

as a guide, with a car, on one day we did eagles nest, cruise on konigssee lake, drove the rossfeld road. they are all so close together near berchtesgaden, the days are long ( plenty of light) and you can fit in a lot. while jet lag can be an issue, it depends on how much time you have to spend 'taking it easy' if you know what I mean. we could have easily have looked at the document center while visiting eagle nest. as the car park is used for both.

you might find you can walk around salzburg in late afternoon/meal time, each day and see enough?? as you have to find somewhere to eat anyway.

hope this helps.

There are two ways to get to Berchtesgaden from Salzburg (day 2), the trains via Freilassing and the Watzmann Express bus (RVO 840).

Both leave hourly, at 15 min after the hour, from the Salzburg Hbf (the bus stops 4 min later at Mirabell). They both go to the Berchtesgaden Hbf (the bus stop is in front of the Hbf). The train get there at 9:30; the bus gets there at 9:04.

The closest train connection to your schedule would leave Berchtesgaden at 11:31 and get to Salzburg Hbf at 12:41. The bus would leave at 11:15 and get in at 12:04, or leave at 12:15 and get in at 13:03.

So if you leave on the train at 8:15 and get back at 12:41, you only have 2 hours to go from the Hbf in Berchtesgaden to Kehlsteinhaus and back and see it. That's not enough time.

I assume you are taking the Eagle's Nest Historical Tour from Berchtesgaden. Did they tell you to take the trains at those times?

Or is just the tour 8:30 to 12:30, from Berchtesgaden to Kehlstein, see it, and come back to Berchtesgaden? To get to Berchtesgaden by train before 8:30, you have to leave Salzburg at 7:03.

Edit: OK now I see that the tour ends in Berchtesgaden at 12:30 and you want to be back in Salzburg at 2:00 pm, so 8:30 to 12:30 is the time in Berchtesgaden. You should take the train because the bus doesn't start it's hourly service until 8:00 (arriving in Berchtesgaden at 9:04, which is too late). The next earlier bus, 6:35-7:24 is too early. Take the 7:03 train from Salzburg, getting to B'gaden at 8:10, then come back on the 12:31 bus, arriving at 13:41/ You just have to tell the tour guide that you have to be at the Hbf in time for the 12:31 train. The next train gets you back to Salzburg at 14:41.

Use the Bahn website to find connection times. Because they both leave Salzburg Hbf at the same time and the bus is faster, the Bahn will normally only show the bus. To see the train connections, go to "... means of transport" and uncheck the bus (to the right of 'S').

Update: Let's rethink this. If you want to take the 7:03 train to Berchtesgaden, you can walk 11 min or you can take the #27 bus from Mirabell to the Hbf at 6:50. The Watzmann Express stops at Mirabell at 6:39 and goes to Berchtesgaden at 7:24. That's only 11 minutes earlier from Mirabell and it gives you time for breakfast (pastries, I remember a bakery shop in the Berchtesgaden Hbf) before getting your tour at 8:30. The return bus gets to Mirabell at 14:04, only a little later than walking from the Hbf to Mirabell, and it leaves Berchtesgaden at 13:20, so there is no worry about missing the 12:31 train. Six of you will need two 33€ Bayern-Tickets (66€) if you take the train. With the bus, you buy 6 RVO Tagestickets, for 9,80€ each, 58,80€ for the six of you, which cover unlimited travel on RVO buses for the day. I think I'd take the bus.

"We arrive at 10:00 am into Munich from the US"

You are scheduled to arrive into Munich at 10:00. As I have found, flights don't always go according to schedule. In the last 15 years, I have been an hour late into Germany from the US 30% of the time.

But assume you will arrive on time. Then it would be realistic. The S8 goes from the airport station directly to the east train station (Ostbahnhof) every 20 minutes, but the regional trains from Ostbahnhof to Salzburg only run every hour. You would have to leave the airport no later than 10:24 to catch the 11:04 Meridian regional train from Ostbahnhof, arriving at Salzburg at 12:41. Unless your flight is early, you won't make that connection. The next window is leaving MUC at 11:24 and arriving in Salzburg at 13:41. If your flight is on time, 1h24m should be enough time to deplane, walk to Passport check & wait, retrieve luggage, if you have checked luggage, go through customs (usually a walk through), find the S-Bahn station, get your tickets, and board the train. If you can catch the 11:04 S8, you will have an extra 20 min to find your way around at Ostbahnhof.

Note: the S8 is the fastest route to Ost. The S1 gives its destination as Ostbahnhof, but that is because Ost is its final destination, after going entirely through Munich. The S8 goes to Ost sooner, then goes on through Munich to another final destination west of town (Weßling or Herrsching).

Sorry for the delay in responding to all of the great information.

Just to clarify as I have cut out some options.

Day 1 - arrive from US at 10:00 am into Munich (thanks for the detailed train information). I will plan for the 11:24 am train from the airport which should put us in Salzburg approximately 1:30 pm. - This day we will tour old town, hopefully the fortress and have an early dinner . Typically my family does well with jet lag going to Europe (we suffer on our return to the US), so I am hoping to fully utilize this day.

Day 2 - we have two options:

Option 1 - Spend the entire day in Salzburg
Option 2 - Morning taxi to Berchtesgaden (8:15 am arrival). Eagles Nest tour until 12:30 and bus back to Salzburg. We then have the rest of the day to explore Salzburg

Day 3 -
Option 1 - Pick up by driver at 10 am and tour Werfen Ice Caves, Salt Mine in Hallein and Hohenwerfen Fortress - drop off in Munich. If we picked this option we would have to do visit Eagles Nest on Day 2 and cut Salzburg time short.

Option 2 - Pick up by driver/guide at 10 am and tour Eagles Nest with him and spend the rest of the day visiting Berchtesgaden and surrounding area - drop off in Munich.

My gut tells me to spend day 1 and 2 exploring Salzburg at a more leisurely pace and day 3 doing Eagles Nest, etc. I hired this private guide a long time ago thinking it would be nice to see sites on our way back to Munich (now I am regretting this decision a bit). I think I just need to cut out the ice caves, etc and realize I didn't plan enough time into my itinerary.

I guess the question I am really struggling with is would two half days and two evenings in Salzburg be enough for teens or would we feel that we rushed and needed more time. Something has to go - extra time in Salzburg or Ice Cave adventure.

I decided against the Hallstatt option for sure and SOM is not a huge draw to us so I don't think we need to spend extra time tracking down these sites. I realize I need to make the ultimate decision, but looking for some reality check to my new options.

Thanks

I have traveled with teens to Europe and while they enjoy the 'tourist sites' they also enjoy the free and easy wandering around and finding their own interesting things to do. I think talking with locals their own age is always fun, and learning something about the culture from other teens. Over scheduling will usually just make them cranky. So, while you can make a plan I would be prepared for some flexibility.

Will you be spending any time in Munich? My daughter was a bit older (21) when I took her, but Munich was a favorite... with lots of Peruvian street bands and tons of people her own age. She also loved Salzburg, as did my teenage grandsons.

We will have 4 nights in Munich. We plan to do Dachau and the castles on day trips, but the rest of the time is open for exploring. I visited Munich a few years ago so I have a better idea of the atmosphere and what to do in the area than I do Salzburg. I think the area surrounding Salzburg has more to do than I initially realized which is causing me to deviate from my original plans. When I first made my itinerary I was only thinking about spending time in the city.

I think I am going to go back to my original plan - a full day and a half to explore Salzburg and then the third day see Eagles Nest and surrounding area enroute back to Munich. As interesting as the ice caves, etc are, something has to give. Time and again the advice is that less is more. I just need to have that reiterated into my stubborn head!

Thanks

Just returned from Salzburg with one teenager (girl aged 16). We managed one and half days in Salzburg, one day trip to Dachau and spa at Bad Aibling and one day at Werfen for ice cave and Hohenwerfen. The weather played havoc with our plans as 9 degrees Celsius and rain was not conducive to renting bicycles or trick fountains at Schloss Hellbrunn. The trip to Werfen was a full day experience. We took the train from Salzburg at 8:15 and directly connected to shuttle at train station to ice cave. Due to a trip to the bathroom at the ice cave, we missed the 10:00 AM tour by one minute. Because we took the 10:30 tour, we missed the shuttle bus back down the mountain by about 10-15 minutes. So we had lunch at the cafeteria in the visitor's centre while we waited for the next shuttle (which runs once an hour at 32 minutes past the hour) At least this was the schedule in May. The shuttle bus dropped us off at the closest point to walk up to the Hohenwerfen castle. We opted to walk along the road to the base with the elevator since we were carrying our luggage that day (2 backpacks). There were storage lockers at both the ice cave and Hohenwerfen parking lot (which also had bathrooms). We took the guided tour of the castle but missed the falconry show. Not sure how we missed it since we were in the right place at the scheduled time but it appeared that the schedule was changed due to special activities for children on the Pentecost holiday weekend. We walked back to the place where the shuttle bus dropped us off and connected back with the same driver who dropped us off at the train station and was kind enough to let us know the time for the next train to Salzburg. We caught the train at approximately 16:00. My teenager is not especially interested in museums so we mainly avoided them on our trip. She did enjoy both the ice cave and the castle. We also tried a summer luge in Bavaria and it was super fun. The Rick Steves walking tour of Salzburg was about all of Salzburg that we ended up doing but the pouring rain and cold temperatures had an impact on our plans. I'm sure that we would have toured more if we had rented bicycles. She skipped the mass and concert that I attended for Pentecost. I'm sure that your plan for Day 2 in Salzburg and Day 3 in Berchtesgaden will be great. We had actually intended to visit both Berchtesgaden and Werfen too but due to lack of time we cut the Berchtesgaden day.