One Day in Berchtesgaden (need logistical help)

Hi Paul- You will be very hard pressed to cover all of these sites in one day, especially without a car. Since there are 4 of you, you might want to compare the cost of public transportation vs renting a car for one day in Salzburg. There is a bus from the main train station in Salzburg to Berchtesgaden train station. This web site should be of interest to you.

http://harrimantravelbooks.com/BGD.html

I think there is a new Sbahn between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. I'm sure your hotel can provide information.

I think you have to take another bus from the Berchtesgaden train station to the Konigssee and the Eagles Nest. And if the weather is cloudy there isn't much to see at the Eagles Nest. . Having been there twice in the last 50 years, I would only go there if it was on my bucket list.

If you plan to take a ride on the Konigssee this alone will take 1/2 day. And the Eagles Nest will take the other half day when you take the bus waiting times and riding times into account.

Have a great trip- If the weather is crummy in Munich maybe I'll see you at the Rupertikirtag on the 23rd.

Thanks for the tips, Kenneth.

I am not sure if renting a car will be an option or not. There are four in our group and at least one wants to go hiking (I do not). Since we have different ideas of what we want to do, we may return to Salzburg at different times. The last time I was in the area we rented a car and, because I'm the only one who could drive a manual transmission, I drove the whole time. That was fine, except that I always waited until we got back to our hotel to have my first beer of the day. I swore I wouldn't do that to myself again. 😉

We will be at Rupertikirtag the 26-7 and Oktoberfest the 29-31. We call it the "Mid-Century Guy Trip". We all turned or will turn 50 this year and will be leaving our wives behind to celebrate. ✈️🇩🇪🍺🍻🍺

Beetle Paul,

we don't get many posts which end in emoji, and not all browsers pick it up.... maybe you can translate your emoji into words so those others get your jokes...

Sorry about the emojis. I won't do it again...

hi Paul
I was in Berchtesgaden this time last week and we did some of the things you have mentioned.
Firstly I wasn't able to pre purchase a train ticket from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden but it was very straightforward to get it on the day from the train station. The hotel receptionist in Salzburg did check beforehand when the trains were leaving. There are also buses that go from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden all through the day, but a train trip is more scenic. It was about 1 hour including all the stops on the way.
There are regular buses from the train station in Berchtesgaden that go to Koenigssee and the Jennerbahn is one stop before the Koenigssee stop. I don't know about the Rodelbahn. It's about a 15-20 minute busride to those two stops.
The boat trip takes 55 minutes to the far end of the lake. There are boats going at least every 30 minutes in the busy season. It stops at both the St Bartholoma church 2/3 of the way and then at Salet at the end. You can get a slightly cheaper ticket to just St Bartholoma and back but if you get the one going all the way to Salet you can get off at both stops and look around both places. I would really recommend the walk at Salet that goes to Obersee. If the cows are still out the Fischunkelalm at Obersee will be open and you can get something to eat and drink there.
You could definitely do the Jennerbahn and the Koenigsee in one day if you made an early start. It's really worth having a bit of a walk at the stops on Koenigsee after spending the time on the boat, just to soak up the beautiful scenery.
There's a bus that goes up to Kehlsteinhaus, we decided not to do that as it is a very long way up, and I just didn't know if the (admittedly interesting historic) attraction at the end was worth the long bus ride (bearing in mind it was full summer and a beautiful day when we were there).
I don't know about the sommerroedelbahn sorry.
My suggestion would be get to the Berchtesgaden train station as early as possible, get the bus to Koenigsee and go up the Jennerbahn, then continue on the bus to the next stop at Koenigsee and do the boat ride and go for a couple of nice walks. Then if you still have time you could maybe go up to Kehlsteinhaus. You could definitely do the Kehlsteinhaus visit in bad weather if it was the building itself you were more interested in than the view.
We had discount passes from our accommodation that gave us free bus rides but there is no discount for the boat ride.
Anyway enjoy your trip, it's a really lovely part of the world.

Thanks for the replies. I think I can skip Jenner if I go to Kehlsteinhaus. The views should be somewhat similar. The Harriman guides actually look pretty good.

"I think there is a new Sbahn between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden"

There has always (at least since 2000) been train service between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, usually with a change of trains in Freilassing. Use the German Rail website for schedules. Put in Salzburg Hbf to Berchtesgaden Hbf. Use the stopover function to specify via Freilassing (or you will just get the RVO bus, which is faster). Right now it looks like the best rail connection is a Meridian (M) train between Salzburg and Freilassing (goes on to Munich) and a BLB (Berchtesgadener Land Bahn) train between Freilassing and Berchtesgaden.

If you take the bus in the morning from Salzburg Hbf (bus stop near the front of the Hbf), be aware that the last bus back from Berchtesgaden leaves around 6 PM. To come back later, take the train. If you buy a BGL Tagesticket Bus and Bahn for 12€ per person from the bus driver it will include unlimited trips on the bus between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, on most buses in Berchtesgaden, and unlimited trips on the trains between Berchtesgaden and Salzburg, so it would cover your bus to Berchtesgaden, buses to the Kehlstein Bus Abfahrt (where the special buses go up the private road to the Eagles Nest) or to Königssee, and the train back to Salzburg in the evening.

With one exception, when I started my Alpenstrasse tour with one night in Berchtesgaden, I have never (3 times) spent less than two days (three nights) in Berchtesgaden. There is much to much to see there for a one day stop.