Vienna to Hallstatt to Salzburg to Eagle's Nest

Why don't you just rent a car for the day and drive yourself for much cheaper? You also might encounter some delays crossing the German/Austrian border.

Thanks Emily! Is it a very difficult drive do you think? We are kind of nervous drivers is all :(

What are you nervous about? The roads and signage are excellent.

Im inclined to agree with Emily. Unless you have an aversion to driving, then consider hiring a driver. With an ambitious plan like this, you could do it by public transportation but a driver would be more convenient. I don't have any personal comments about that company unfortunately. However, I would expect any private driver to be expensive for trip like this.

As for driving, it is very much like it is in the US. The roads and signs are well marked and the traffic is on the same side as the US. I would still consider this if you can.

I wonder if there are enough hours in a day to do this tour. First, the Eagle's Nest closes after Oct. 25th. Second, you are not allowed to drive there but you have to do the last stretch by bus, and the last one under the current timetable leaves at 4pm. Even assuming you are leaving Vienna at 7am and there are no border checks, I am afraid you cannot stop in Halstatt - let alone make a long visit - and make it in time to catch the bus.

Thank you all for your comments. We do not want to rent a car, we do not like to drive (I should have stated that) and I appreciate knowing the hours of the Eagle's Nest. We are not going until June of 2016, just trying to figure out what nights we will be where at this point and what we can do so I can create a budget.

Perhaps I should just go Vienna to Hallstatt, then to Salzburg for the night and then a day trip to the Eagles Nest the following day. Or Vienna to Hallstatt, stay the night in Hallstatt and then go to Eagles nest the next morning and then to Salzburg. I could save money and take the train from Vienna to Hallstatt too i suppose, I was just looking for a "check your brain in at the door" day and thought that someone picking us up and taking us places might be easier.

Then we were heading to Paris to fly home, I heard the train to Paris via Zurich is a beautiful ride and also could be taken overnight so we may do that if we "lose" a day by not packing everything in.

It looks like all of you travel is in Austria and Germany. Why are you using a Czech (CK shuttle) service?

Visiting all those locations in one day is going to be extremely challenging (if not impossible), especially via rail. The price of the tour seems a bit steep (~US$400), but probably not unreasonable given all the driving that would be involved. Does the price of CZK9350 include the waiting time?

Something like this might work....

• take the train from Vienna to Hallstatt early and stay one night. A departure at 06:56 will get you to Hallstatt at 10:47 (one change at Attnang-Pucheim). You'll have to allow another 30 minutes or so to take Stefanie across to the town. Check into your hotel, drop your luggage and walk to Lahn (about 15 minutes) to take the Funicular up to the Salt Mine. Total time for that will take at least 3 hours as you'll have to walk a short distance from the top of the Funicular up through the forest to the Salt Mine entrance, get into your coveralls, take the tour, walk back to the Mine office to return your coveralls and then walk back down to the Funicular.
• the next morning, take Stefanie back across the lake and then take the train to Salzburg. A departure at 08:28 will get you to Salzburg at 10:48 (time 2H:20M, one change). Check into your hotel and drop your luggage, and then take the Bus or Train to Berchtesgaden (about an hour). Book a tour with Eagle's Nest Tours but you MUST be at their office in Berchtesgaden by 13:15 in order to take that. It's a bit pricey but they take care of the transportation up the mountain and to the elevator that goes up to the Eagle's Nest. I believe their tour covers Obersalzberg Dokumentation Centre and Bunkers as well.
• ANOTHER OPTION: Skip the visit to Hallstatt this time and go directly by train from Vienna to Salzburg (I just travelled that route a few weeks ago, and the trip is about 2.5 hours). I used the Westbahn train as it was cheaper than Railjet. Check into your hotel and spend some time having a look at Salzburg. Take the train or bus to Berchtesgaden early the next morning and tour the Salt Mine there in the morning (I can't recall how far the Salt Mine is from the centre of town, but hopefully one of the others can provide that information). In the afternoon, take the Eagle's Next Tour and then take the train / bus back to Salzburg in the late afternoon.

Good luck with your planning!

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate your advice. Just to answer the question about why I was using CK - I just googled private companies and they came up and I asked for a quote and yes it does include wait times.

I think staying the night in Hallstatt would be a good plan - slow things down a bit.

I found a great place to stay just outside of Hallstatt. The man and his wife are lovely and offered to pick us up in Hallstatt and drop us off at the train station in the morning on their way to work! It is only $100 too.
I also read some negative things about the Eagle's Nest basically being a restaurant and that while the views are breathtaking - you can find breathtaking views elsewhere without the $40 and the bother of getting there. So we may skip it.