Eagle's Nest / Salt Mines

Eagle’s Nest was quite interring. When there you understand Hitler’s paranoia and the need to have a place to be safe. The views are of mountains and lakes are incredible. We skipped the salt mines.

We loved the views from Eagles Nest. And the photo gallery of the time era there. You can see photos of Hitler sitting far away from the views as he was afraid of heights. I def think it's worth a couple of hours. We were with a group tour (TAUCK) - so we had a private tour of the area, so I can't answer whether the tour is worth it or not.

We did the salt mine in Berchtesgaden after Eagles Nest and it was so fun. The two slides are so much fun. There is also a train ride thru the mine and a boat ride. The salts in the shop at the end of the tour are great gifts - we esp like the Chili one.

Looking at that tour, it appears it originates in Berchtesgaden, so you have to arrange transportation from Salzburg anyway. You will be riding the same bus to the top as everyone else. I would do this independently, so you can control when you arrive based on the weather. Eagle’s Nest is best in great weather. We arrived around 1:00. You get assigned a time to take the special bus up to the top. The you schedule your return time back down the mountain. We had lunch at the top and enjoyed spectacular views, then walked higher up. If the weather is cloudy, I don’t think I would bother going up. But you could still go to the salt mine in Berchtesgaden. And lake Konigsee is beautiful.

Make sure you get out on that spectacular lake. My pix from that boat ride are the best from that trip. Take the boat to Salut, and hike to the waterfalls. Safe travels!

Kehlsteinhaus is relatively small. I don't think a tour would be necessary or worth it. We had a personal guide for the whole area. He told us a few things once we got to the top and then set us loose on our own. If you do a little bit of reading you won't need a tour.

@Suki, I don't know why you have said at least twice now that Kehlsteinhaus embodies Hitler's paranoia. He did not commission the project himself, it was a birthday gift. He did not like going there. Rick says that he only visited it 14 times. Of course Hitler was a wack job, but Kelhlsteinhaus isn't a good example of that. Plus, they were actually out to get him.

A friend and I caught an early bus from Salzburg to the Berchtesgaden salt mine (there is a bus stop for the salt mine but it takes a short walk to get to the mine). Then we walked through a neighborhood or two from the salt mine to the main train/bus station for Berchtesgaden and caught a bus to the Eagle’s Neat parking lot. We bought our ticket to go up to Eagle’s Nest, rode the bus up, saw Eagle's Nest, rode the bus back down, caught a bus back to the main bus station, and then caught a bus back to Salzburg. We were satisfied with our day.

The Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) has been featured in many US movies/documentaries. Maybe that's why Americans think it was so important to Hitler. In fact it was not important to him and it wasn't a birthday present either. As mentioned he was obviously only there 14 times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehlsteinhaus (check under Use)
The info that it was not a birthday present can also be found in German on the official website of the Kehlsteinhaus.

Really important for Hitler was his summer home the Berghof on the Obersalzberg which no longer exists today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berghof_(residence)

My go to: Geoff Waldens https://www.thirdreichruins.com/kehlsteinhaus.htm
https://www.thirdreichruins.com/index.htm

In the late 80s while in the Army, I was able to stay at the General Walker Hotel (Platterhof, before it was torn down), and the golf course (Bormann's Gutshof, before it was torn down. Big room with sink, bath down the hall) and had dinner in the The Berchtesgadener Hof hotel (before it was torn down). I had a private tour of the bunkers and pretty much walked the Obersalzberg. I remember the big leather chairs and stories of how some local farmhouses had fancy wood flooring, furniture, fixtures etc. taken from these places. I have visited the Kehlsteinhaus several times, mostly as family and visitors want to go there. A lot of people have the area and Kehlsteinhaus wrong. I maintain time is better spent in the Nationalpark Berchtesgaden and a visit to the Königssee. On a clear morning the view of the Watzmann from the golf course is hard to beat.

Thank you Mignon, for the clarification!

Thank you everyone for all the insights and information. I think we will do Eagle's Nest on our own instead of a tour, so we can control the timing a little more. Is it possible to do Eagle's Nest, Salt mines and Lake Konigssee? I don't know if that is too much for one day or if there is even enough time.

Is it possible to do Eagle's Nest, Salt mines and Lake Konigssee?

If you want anything more than a quick glimpse of Königssee, it's too much to do in one day. Königssee is awesome. As alluded to by Pat above, a great way to spend time at Königssee is to take the boat all the way across the lake to the Salet stop, take the short walk to a smaller lake called Obersee, get your iconic boathouse on Obersee photo, take the easy hike around the right side of the lake to the opposite side, don't forget to look back across the lake for more amazing views, maybe stop at the snack hut (or maybe save that for the "back" part of the out and back hike), and then continue your hike through an alpine meadow surrounded by peaks (and complete with cows that reside there in the summer) to Röthbach Waterfall. Not a bad little hike at all, but gorgeous views and a really nice experience.