Has anyone taken the tour Rick Steve's mentions in his book that includes the Eagle's Nest, the Natzi documentation center, etc.?
My husband and I had planned on just taking the bus to the Eagle's nest and not doing a tour. The tour is 4 hours and we don't want to devote that much time to it, unless it will exceed all expectations.
Just wondering if others had taken the bus vs. the tour?
I've never taken the tour, but I did it myself (2x) with the bus. It was easy. We ate lunch up there, but it still didn't take four hours. Afterwards we walked around to the Dokumentation Center and saw that too.
Are you staying in Berchtesgaden. You catch the bus in front of the Hauptbahnhof. Buy your ticket at the bus ticket counter and they will tell you which bus to take. When you get to the bus parking lot just below Kehlsteinhaus (E. Nest) there might be someone standing there offering to guide you for a few Euro. I took that tour once, but wouldn't again.
If you aren't seeing a salt mine elsewhere, everyone in my family enjoyed touring the salt mine at Berchtesgaden.
We're staying in Salzburg and traveling from there. Thanks for the tip!
I wouldn't mind taking the tour if people felt it was worth it- I just don't want to spend the extra time if it's not necessary.
We took the Eagles Nest tour and I enjoyed it more than any tour I have taken during my visits to Europe. I do have a high interest in WWII history so this could account for my enthusiasm for this tour. I can only vouch for the tour with David and Christine Harper at this site:
http://www.eagles-nest-tours.com/EN/eagles-nest-tours/index.php?navid=2
I believe they start in mid may and go through October weather permitting. The tour starts across the street from the train station and you load up on a mini bus and go up to a point on the mountain where you then board a big bus with all the other tourists. Christine Harper was our guide and the history lesson begins as soon as you get on the mini bus. We were given special treatment upon arrival at the Eagle's Nest where she took only her tour group into a room and gave a further account of things that went on during the war then we were allowed some free time to walk around on our own. Excellent tour. Go for it. You will enjoy it.
From Salzburg, you take the Watzmann Express bus from the Hauptbahnhof to the Berchtesgaden Hbf. It's €8,50 per person for a Tageskarte for all RVO buses in Berchtesgaden for the day, from Salzburg to Kehlsteinhaus and back. I think there is a place before Berchtesgaden where you can get off and catch the bus to Kehlstein without going all the way into Berchtesgaden. Ask at the counter or on the bus.
Have not taken the tour, but keep in mind that it can be closed if weather is not good. Go for the view, not the Hitler connection, so go only if weather is excellent. An option at Berchtesgaden is a boat ride on Königsee -- beautiful!
I am a huge WWII Buff and took the tour mentioned in the book. It was nice, but we passed a lot of things on the bus ride up (museum) that I wished we could have stopped at. In fact, we walked right through one. We also didn't get a lot of time in the tunnel leading up to the Eagle's Nest. I think I would have liked to make my own way up to the top and stopped at the museums along the way. You can do your own reading in the museums, learn what everything was about, then tour leisurely through the Eagle's Nest. If you like small details to be pointed out to you...take the tour...if you just want a general idea, you can go by yourself.
I will be in Salzburg in early April, and was thinking of making the trip to there from Salzburg. But someone told me that the Eagle's Nest is closed this time of year. Is that true, and if so, are the WWII sites there still open?
Kyle, according to the official site for the Eagle's Nest, www.kehlsteinhaus.de/en/index.php, it will reopen on May 3. The museum, the Dokumentation Zentrum, below the Nest, in Obersalzberg, is open from April to October, 9 AM to 5 PM. It's website, www.obersalzberg.de, is only in German.
Would anyone reccommend going to Berchtesgaden even if the Eagle's Nest is closed? I love history, so I am sure I would enjoy going to the Documentation Center.
We have taken the tour of the Eagle's next and it was spectacular. We didn't take the official tour as my wife and I would rather discover things on our own. We drove part of the way up the mountain until a flat spot where a bus takes you to the next flat spot where you then take an elevator inside the mountain the rest of the way.
The have a great restaurant in the Eagles Nest as well.
If you are going in September I would go early in the morning as the fog begins to roll in around noon and you not see anything.
Enjoy
JK
