Hitler's Eagle's Nest retreat

Cynthia,

You might want to add a night in Salzburg, in order to allow a day trip to Berchtesgaden. You can easily get from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden via the DB Bus (trip takes about 50 minutes). I'd recommend taking the highly rated Eagle's Nest Tours as they will provide transportation up the mountain. The tour will be a bit expensive, but you'll learn far more of the history that way.

We have used the reservation form on the Eagles Nest Tours twice, for a tour this September, submitting our requested time, cc information, etc. and have never heard back from them. Are they still in business? Strange that they have not answered two reservations on their own web site

mhdts,

It does seem odd that they haven't responded. I'm sure they're still in business. I don't see an E-mail on their website, so you could try calling them (keeping the time difference in mind).....

Telephone: +49-8652-64971

mhdts,

I just received an email from them today. [email protected] . Is this the address you are using?

Cynthia

Would it be crazy to try and fit in the tour on our way to Salzburg? I
am not sure how we would get there, or if it is even practical.

Here is a schedule that could work. Leave Munich Hbf on the 7:55 Meridian train. It gets to Freilassing at 9:33. Get off and catch to 9:42 train to Berchtesgaden, arriving at 10:30. You have 45 minutes in Berchtesgaden before catching the bus (# 838 @ 11:15) to the Kehlsteinabfahrt (the start of the bus up to the Kehlstein house). You should have plenty of time to see the Nest and get back down to Berchtesgaden and get a train to Salzburg via Freilassing.

Thank you Lee, that was kind of you to go to all that work to figure all that out!

Cynthia

I recommend reading their website first and deciding what you want to see and do there. Although "Eagle's Nest" (BTW that nickname was given by the US Army after the end of WWII) was built as a gift for Hitler, he hardly ever spent any time there. His HQ was at the base and that's where the Documentation Center and the bunkers (which Hitler supervised) are. It was quite easy to visit from Salzburg. I was able to do it in a morning and still have the whole afternoon for something else - but I didn't go up to Eagle's Nest because it was all fogged in, so no views at all.

I think it would be simpler to take the train to Salzburg from Munich the night before the tour, then go out to Berchtesgaden in the morning. It's about a 10 minute walk from the tour hotel to the bus stop to Berchtesgaden (buy tickets from the driver), a 45-minute ride (if memory serves) to the town, then hop on the next bus to the Documentation Center.

Cynthia -- thanks. I emailed and they responded right away. We're all set and looking forward to the tour!

I visited there a couple of years ago. We caught a bus (public bus) right across from the hbf. I believe $10, which takes you to the Berchesgaden. There another bus...actually many busses are no cost to get to the eagles nest. when I was there, the elevator was closed to visitors (used only by the restaurant). visitors walked the path to the eagles nest...about 15-20 minutes

I've been there three times and the elevator was always open to visitors who paid about 16€ for the RVO bus on the private road from Hintereck. You can also hike up (several hours) but the elevator is then not accessible.

Gary, did you hike up?

According to the RVO website, Berchtesgaden Hbf to the Kehlstein bus startup in Hintereck is a three zone ticket, 5,40€ round trip. You can also purchase an RVO-Tagesticket, which is valid all day on most of the RVO buses around Berchtesgaden (but not the bus from Hintereck to the Nest) and the bus to/from Salzburg Hbf for 9,80€ for an adult.

So, if you buy the Tagesticket for 9,80€, you can ride from Salzburg Hbf to Berchtesgaden Hbf, then take another bus to Hintereck and return, all for 9,80€, but the bus to the Nest and the elevator will cost another 16€.

Note, the last bus back to Salzburg leaves Berchtesgaden Hbf at 6:15 PM. If you want to stay later and take the train back (they run until almost midnight), buy the BGL-TagesTicket Bus & Bahn (in German) for 12€. It covers everything the RVO Tagesticket covers plus the trains between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden via Freilassing.