The plan for this day was to tour the salt mines and explore the lovely lake area. Not everything goes according to plan.
The folks on the Forum helped greatly in figuring out the public transportation to the salt mines. One uses bus #840, which starts at the train station but stops at the Old Town area adjacent to Mozart Plaza [as opposed to the Mozart Museum house stop,] 00:26 after the hour, mostly hourly. The TI has a print schedule. The times are a little different M-F, vs Sat and Sunday. The trip takes about 30 minutes from the Old Town. [I believe round trip tickets and admission are available at the main train station.] One can buy the RT bus ticket directly from the driver, I think it was 13 Euros each. I was confused about why some bus tickets can be bought from the bus drivers and some cannot. The explanation- German buses sold tickets directly. Since Berchtesgaden is in Germany, not Austria, we would be using a German bus line.
We went to the TI to buy the timed tickets for the next day, but the gal offering the free information told us it wasn't necessary in the off-season. [THIS WAS NOT ACCURATE.]
The bus ride was pleasant- BUT- we missed the bus stop at Salzbergwerk, as we thought the ride was longer, and because the area was so mundane: suburban area, flat, businesses, schools, and houses. I have been to a salt mine before, and I'm pretty sure a mountain was required. So we had to walk back a few blocks to the correct bus top, turned down the street, and into the parking lot and visitor center [about 10 minutes from the bus stop.] I was really looking forward to the tour! And during the walk back, I did see a mountain in the distance.
Going to the ticket window, the woman informs us that next available tickets are three hours away, and even she said they wasn't three hours of exploring to do in the town. We had been given faulty info- big disappointment. Cunumdrum- what now? Attempting to make lemonade out of the situation, and with the help of the friendly ticket seller, we took her suggestion to take a cab out to the lake: it was 15 minutes away by taxi, so we didn't need to wait for the next #840 bus, which connects to the #841 bus to the lake. The taxi costed 15 Euros and took us straight to the lake's visitor area. The employee generously offered to call the taxi, and the cab arrived in less than five minutes.
For those who will attempt to see the salt mines, definitely buy timed tickets in advance , and I think buying timed-tickets 90 minutes after the designated #840 bus pick-up time would be appropriate. The is the question I was asking the TI- how much time do we need to get out to the salt mines, and what time should we buy tickets, when she told us not to buy tickets in advance. Oh, well, I'll get over this one. I'm still not sure how one gets from the Visitor Center to the actual mines, tho.
Königssee- what a beautiful area. The clear-watered lake, the mountains with snow tips, the blue skies just cheered me up and were a sheer delight. There are several hiking areas, and we took a boat ride out to St Bartholomew Island, which was a former hunting lodge and monastery . Limited food was available, but it was just so beautiful and peaceful to be there, and the boat ride was spectacular. [The boats left from the Visitor Center about every 15 minutes,] At one point, the boat stopped, all was silent, and a gentleman played the trumpet, which echoed against the surrounding Alps. My photos captured the mood & were spectacular! If I were to do it again, I would plan to spend most of the day on the lake, and take the longer boat ride to Salet.
To return to Salzburg, we took the #841 bus from the Lake to the train station, where the #840 bus arrived soon for the return trip to town. I would have returned the next day for the salt mines, but my husband vetoed it.
We did not try to get to the Documentation Center, and Eagles Nest was not yet open for the season.
Overall, a very good day!