Berchtesgaden is one of the few places we decided to go to for the second time. You know it, right? "It's beautiful here, we'll definitely be back!" And then fart, because you usually want to discover something else... and more. We first visited these parts in September 2020 (see article here) between waves of coronavirus when I was eight months pregnant. There were no exaggerated hikes back then, the Eagle's Nest was under renovation and there was a line halfway down the village to get on the boat. So it's decided - we have places left to explore + it's beautiful + it's not far from home => we're coming back!!
I'll just leave the tried and tested accommodation tips in the first article, so check right there, I'll just allow myself one quick TIP here and that is to always carry cash with you just in case. Not all establishments allow you to pay by card. Even small euro coins are useful for parking. And now we're going to go hiking together near Lake Königsee, which is what Berchtesgaden is all about.
1. Cruise on the Königsee
Probably everyone who goes to Berchtesgaden will take this boat trip. It's no wonder, it's a really nice spectacle with waterfalls and rock walls, which you can also make more interesting with a walk. In the end, you can easily make a whole day's programme out of it.
Practical: you enter Schönau am Königsee, the only village sticking to the lake, into the navigation. In the main, very large car park, you pay €8 for all-day parking (only €6 with a gaste card). From here, you're just a pedestrian street full of souvenir shops, sporting goods and food stalls away from the lake. 10 minutes max.
As I mentioned before, during our first visit we were unpleasantly surprised by huge queues, because of which we ended up canceling the cruise completely. Learning from this experience, this year I preferred to buy tickets in advance online on
this official website. Anyway, at 9am on a weekday morning, Schönau was empty and it would have been no problem to buy them on the spot (no queue), but so what... a certainty is a certainty. You will have two choices:
- St. Bartholomew - ride there about 40 minutes, return 20 €
- Salet - ride there approx. 60 minutes, return 25 €
If you buy a ticket all the way to Salet, which I recommend, you can make a (free) stop in St. Bartholomew's either on the way there or on the way back, it's up to you. We didn't pay for the Nina or the stroller, just count on the boat being fairly small and enclosed - not the type where you can take a stroller or where kids can walk around. Now what to see where?
St. Bartholomew - the main attraction here is the 17th century church named after the Apostle Bartholomew. For refreshments, there is a restaurant or a kiosk serving fresh fish sandwiches. Otherwise, there are plenty of benches and a few wooden buildings around + you might find a children's play area at the nearby info centre. If you want to stretch your legs a bit, head to the Eiskapelle Ice Cave. The path is 3/4 of the way there, passable even with a stroller. The last section is unfortunately not due to the very rocky and uncluttered terrain, oh and the river jumping. If you are going here, I recommend you to bring sturdy shoes, flip-flops and city shoes please leave them at home... The time from the dock and back is about 2,5 hours.
Salet - a 20 minute boat ride from St. Bartholomew's is the "Salet", where you have two more refreshment options. While you're here, be sure to take a walk to the neighbouring Obersee lake (about a 15-minute walk on flat ground), which was originally part of the Königsee. This is where the
iconic wooden house is located as a popular Berchtesgaden (insta) photo spot. If you continued on the path around the lake, you would reach the Röthbachfall in about an hour. No personal experience this time because Nina got hysterical that we didn't want to let her go swimming in Obersee, so we gave up for everyone's sake :D
If you can't manage the lake cruise itself, a self-propelled boat rental could be an alternative. Or if you don't want anything to do with the water, at least take a circular walk along the Malerwinkel rundweg to enjoy the views of the lake. The route is about 3.5 km long and it's not difficult.
2. Eagle´s nest
Everyone knows Hitler's mountain retreat. The Eagle's Nest building itself is located near the Kehlstein peak at an altitude of 1834 m, hence the name you often come across - Kehlsteinhaus. Despite being equipped with luxuries and technical conveniences, the Eagle's Nest did not exactly become Hitler's favourite place and he did not visit it often. Rather, it was used by other high-ranking members of the Nazi Party.
Accessibility - you can't drive all the way to the top, so the Parkplatz Obersalzberg, where you'll find several parking lots, will be your clue. The all-day tax comes to €5, with a gaste card just €2.50. There are only buses that go on to the Eagle's Nest, or you can also walk, but we have no experience with this.
A return ticket costs 28 €, with a gaste card 26 € - you go up in about 15 minutes and then have 2 hours free time before the bus picks you up again at the same place. If you want to extend the time, it's not a problem, but for most it will probably be enough. More information on prices, availability and walking options here on the
official website. And what can you expect at the top?
You get off the bus, and walk through a long stone tunnel, from which you are rescued by the fancy golden elevator, as one of the big local attractions. This will take you right into the Eagle's Nest building, now more or less completely converted into a restaurant. All that remains of the original features is a fireplace, one small empty room and a summer corridor which houses displays with information about the history of the Eagle's Nest. A landscaped walkway leads from the restaurant terrace to the summit. Along the way there are plenty of benches where you can camp and just enjoy the surrounding landscape and spectacular views. There is also a roughly one-hour circuit around the summit or rather below it (Rundweg Kehlstein), but the terrain here is not exactly easy and Nina and I didn't dare to do it. Generally people were going there with ferrata equipment rather than groups as part of a family walk...
TIP: take the first bus up at 8:30, it's really worth it. There are only 2 buses leaving at this hour, so you can enjoy the views and the restaurant in complete peace. When we left at 10:30, 4 buses had already arrived and there were already long lines forming at the bus stop downstairs.
When you return to Obersalzberg, you can explore the surrounding area to better understand the context. It was in Obersalzberg that Hitler rented and later bought a house, it was here that he spent his leisure time, not in the Eagle's Nest as most people think. Gradually, a large barracks complex was built here, full of bunkers, shelters and underground passages, which was basically razed to the ground only by Allied air raids in 1945. Today you can see the remains of Hitler's Berghof residence and the Koksbunker + Dokumentation Obersalzberg and Bunkeranlage Obersalzberg, but these are temporarily closed as of 2022.
3. Jenner
And let's get one more prospect. The Jenner rises at a height of 1874 m directly above Lake Königsee. It has great accessibility, as you can take the cable car straight up from Schönau am Königssee (parking the same as for the boat trip), or just go to the intermediate station and walk the rest. Or you can walk straight from the bottom :) or of course you can combine different ways - one way this way, the other way that way. At the moment the price for 2022 is set at 38 € return. You can save money if you go after 15:00, so you only pay 32 €. For a complete fare overview, see the official website.
A restaurant and a souvenir shop await you at the top of the cable car station. Plus, there are more walking opportunities, see the map here. The main thing that everyone comes here for is the viewing platform, which is about a 15-minute leisurely walk away and offers a really beautiful view of both Königsee and Watzmann (the highest peak in Berchtesgaden).
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The second time we did not want to reach the top and therefore chose a different option. We leave the car at a place called Hinterbrand pakplatz (5 € all day, 4 € with gaste karte) and we invent a circuit "only" through the intermediate station of the cable car, see map. It's an easy ride, more or less on flat ground with nice views and cows grazing around. Our destination was the Königsbachalm hut, in front of which we were even lucky enough to see gophers - watch out they are quite shy, so be quiet. At the hut we change to the cycle path so we don't come back the same way. Be sure to take a short walk to the water reservoir below Mittelstation, which literally glows shades of blue in the sunlight.
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At the car we are (quite unexpectedly) overwhelmed by the craving for caffeine, so we run to Gasthof Vorderbrand, where they have a nice playground right next to the outdoor tables. Fortified with coffee and cake, we run as a bonus to the top of the Hinterer Brandkopf (1156 m above sea level), which offers a really great view of Jenner and Königsee. From here we then head back to the car park along the road. It could also be done as a red tourist circuit, but not with a carriage...
4. Berchtesgaden
The eponymous centre of Berchtesgaden is just a few kilometres from Königsee Lake and navigation will probably lead you there. Take the opportunity to stroll around this pleasant Alpine town. Most people only stop here for the salt mines - Salzberwerk Berchtesgaden (full info here), but it's also worth checking out the local historic centre with its traditional houses and castle. There are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat or just sit with a coffee on the terrace. Berchtesgaden also has the advantage of a great view of Watzmann, especially from the Sonnenpromenade.
If you find yourself in rainy weather (or, like us, hot), we recommend taking shelter in the Haus der Berge. This is a nature centre that surprised us very pleasantly. In an interactive way you can learn a lot about animals, plants, but also about the formation of the Berchtesgaden Park itself. Really beautifully crafted and for the price of €4 I think there is nothing to deal with at all (with a gaste card only €3,50). More info here on the official website. Plus I would also highlight the fine restaurant/cafe that is part of Haus der Berge, from which you can also enjoy the view of Watzmann.
+ BONUS: Königsbachfall
As a last one, I will mention this interesting place, which has been around all social networks for some time. We visited it on our first visit to Berchtesgaden in September 2020. But beware, back then, visiting Königsbachfall was still allowed! But... more and more people were flooding in, and people who simply don't know how to behave in nature and leave piles of rubbish behind. Another reason was the question of safety, as there were cases of young people paying with their lives for their recklessness. Now it seems that the entrance to the waterfall has been officially closed and tourists trying to reach it anyway are being fined. In case you think it's worth the fine, I'll add a bit of reality:
Most of the bloggers and instagram enthusiasts take pictures right in the pool, preferably with their asses out, and pretend that it's the most relaxing thing in the world... NOT A [BLEEP] THING! :D The road here is full of mud and fallen trees, where you have X tens of meters high cliff below you and you are afraid of every scratch. The other unpleasant thing is that one of the trees has been fallen for a long time, even over the gorge itself, so even if you wanted to get into the brutally icy water, you probably won't get a photo of the eeny insta out of it anyway. Plus, during our visit, the current of the waterfall was so strong that you couldn't even get in, let alone throw a relax face and stick your buns out without getting swept down.
Accessibility Accessibility - easy, you can find Königsbachfall on google maps and mapy.cz. Basically, you just need to walk to the Rabenwand lookout point (= turn off the Rundweg Malerwinkel), climb over the railing (see photo) and continue on the beaten path. But consider carefully whether it is worth the risk.
Don't forget to check out more tips for trips in Berchtesgaden here.
If this information has helped you save some time or money or both, you can "invite me for a coffee" and contribute to the running of Travel with Donuts :) account number / QR code: 1257951017/3030
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