An easy hop from Salzburg, Berchtesgaden is an attractive town in the Bavarian Alps. Nestled in beautiful countryside, it offers many restaurants, bars and accommodation options. It’s also the ideal base for trips to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest and stunning Königssee (or “Kings Lake”). While there are lots more things you could do in this area, this is my suggestion of an ideal 3-day itinerary for a trip to Berchtesgaden with older children.
Overview of your 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1:
Morning: Cable car ride (Obersalzburgbahn), short and easy hike through the forest to the bus-stop for the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus)
Lunch: Restaurant on the terrace of the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus)
Afternoon: Explore the Eagle’s Nest then return to the bus-stop and visit the Dokumentationszentrum
Day 2:
Morning: Visit Berchtesgaden Salt Mine
Lunch: Hofbrauhaus, Berchtesgaden
Afternoon: Relax in the thermal baths at Watzmann Therme
Day 3:
Morning: Boat trip across Königssee (or “Kings Lake”)
Lunch: Gaststatte Saletalm at Salet
Afternoon: hike around Obersee and return boat trip
Day 1: Adventures around the Eagle’s Nest
Hitler’s (in)famous mountain retreat is now a restaurant with stunning views and some nods to its previous history. On its own, a visit to the Eagle’s Nest, including lunch on the terrace, and a short hike up to the highest viewpoint will take around 2 hours (plus the bus journey up and down the mountain).
However, it is easy to make this a full and varied day out. You can start your day with the adventure of a cable car ride (a first for my boys) from Berchtesgaden, and then an easy but scenic hike through the woods to the bus-stop for the Eagle’s Nest. After lunch and some time exploring at the top, you can then visit the museum and part of the bunker system known as the Dokumentationszentrum when you come back down. We did this with just enough time to catch the last bus back into Berchtesgaden.
Click here to read my full review of this day and how to do it.
Day 2: Salt mines, beer and thermal baths
This was our rainy day! We had originally booked our salt mine tour for the previous day (which was glorious sunshine!). However, seeing the weather forecast, I emailed the salt mines and they very kindly moved our booking.
Tour of the salt mine
You visit the salt mine as part of a guided tour and you should definitely book ahead. The tour takes around 1 1/2 hours (including getting togged up in a fetching boiler suit).
Your guide drives you into the mine on a mine train to the first attraction, whizzing down a miners’ slide. There are stairs for anyone who doesn’t want to slide but this is fantastic fun. We did the first slide as a family and the second in pairs.
Other highlights include the magical salt room and a raft trip across the mirror lake. My only criticism is that the serene beauty of the mirror lake is a little spoiled by the light display in the water as you cross. It would be nicer to enjoy the lake in peace.
For kids, the tour is a great blend of some actual educational stuff about how salt mines work and the fun of tunnels, slides and a train.
Sadly, you are not allowed to take photos in the mine so I can’t show you what this one looks like (but there are pictures of my lunch below….)
Lunch at the Hofbrauhaus
Because it would be rude not to! You can walk to the Hofbrauhaus in around 10 minutes from the salt mine. During the day, the brewery pub and restaurant (known as the Braustuberl) is kid-friendly (we didn’t visit at night so can’t comment on this). They have a lovely beer garden but heavy rain kept us inside.
The food is what you think of as Bavarian fayre, pig’s knuckle, roast pork, sausages, sauerkraut etc. but done very well. There is even a carvery. ,My vegetarian 11 year old enjoyed a flammkuchen (a cross between pizza and a tart).
And of course there’s beer, very good beer, brewed next door beer…. Just don’t drink too much as you have the thermal baths to follow….
Relax in the thermal baths
It’s less than a 10 minute walk from the Hofbrauhaus to the Watzmann Therme, not really enough time for those dumplings to go down!
You can’t book an entry time and it was very busy when we arrived, probably because it was a rainy day in the school holidays. They were operating a one-in, one-out system and we waited around 40 minutes. If it hadn’t been chucking it down, we might have abandoned the pool and done something but as it was, we were happy to wait.
You are issued with wristbands and these are scanned when you leave so you pay for your swimming session, any food and drink in the café and the additional adult (nude!) sauna area if you use this.
The thermal baths are hugely family friendly, with family changing rooms and large lockers (operated by your wristband). There’s no nudity unless you go through to the private sauna area (and you can’t do this by mistake). My husband was a bit worried he would have to wear budgie-smugglers but no-one seem bothered by his swim shorts.
There is a large family swimming pool with a lazy river, bubbly seating area and spraying fountains. However, our favourite was the outdoor thermal pool.
We had an amazing, relaxing time here, until, in true Morris fashion, my youngest decided to dive off a stone seat and bit through his lip and cut his chin. Having hauled him out of the thermal bath dripping blood, the pool staff were amazing at cleaning him up, checking and icing the wound. They were really kind to him and handled the situation well. I would definitely go back.
Day 3: boat trip and hike – Königssee
Königssee (or Kings Lake) is a stunning lake in the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden. It can be easily reached by a short bus ride from central Berchtesgaden.
Start your trip by taking the boat across the lake to the furthest stop, Salet. This takes around 50 minutes. You will spend the entire trip snapping away as the views are stunning!
Once you arrive, I would suggest stopping for lunch at Gaststatte Saletalm. This is simple, self-service fayre but the quality is good and the views from its terrace are beautiful!
Once you are refuelled, you can follow the crowds for around 10 minutes to the boat-house at the start of a second lake, Obersee. This is probably one of the most photographed boat-houses in the world and the crowds round this area are off-putting.
However, if you embark on the hike to the other end of the lake, the crowds soon disperse and you can enjoy the views and peace. Arriving at the other end of the lake, you are rewarded with uninterrupted views, an alpine lodge (Fischunkelalm) serving fresh raw milk from their own cows, drinks and snacks and the chance for a paddle. Some hardy souls were swimming but this is mountain-fresh water – feet in were enough for us!
Please read my review of our trip to Königssee for more detail.
How to get to Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden, nestled in the Bavarian Alps is an easy short break, flying to either Salzburg or Munich. We flew from London into Salzburg then took a taxi from the airport to our apartment. The journey took around 40 minutes and cost around 75 Euros (on the meter). Had we pre-booked a taxi through Booking.com, the cost would have been around 50-55 Euros – wish we’d done this!
Berchtesgaden is also well-connected by train and bus. We had a few days in Salzburg following our stay in Berchtesgaden (see my review on things to do with teens and tweens in Salzburg). We took Bus 840 from outside the Salt Mine into the centre of Salzburg. This would have been straightforward but we misread the timetable as we didn’t realise 31 May was a public holiday in Bavaria.
