[Snareman]

I had a thread awhile back with my planned route which was pretty much a day per city which I recognized was a little brief for seeing much, so I've extended things a bit and now have at least a day and a half in Prague and Budapest. My friend will be with me through Budapest where I'll drop him at the airport and then be on my own the rest of the way. My dilemma is what to do on the way back from Budapest. I know I want to stop in Berchtesgaden and at least do the Eagle's Nest, but past that I'm not sure. I've already been to Vienna and don't need to go back there.

So questions I think I have:

Should I drive straight 5.5h from Budapest to Berchtesgaden or is there somewhere/something along the way worth stopping and either seeing or even spending the night?

How much time do I need in Berchtesgaden? I've already visited the remains of the Berghof and the Documentation Center/Bunkers right near it so I don't necessarily need to see that again. If I'm going to get there late afternoon what is there to do that evening? Sunset is ~8pm. How much time does the Eagle's Nest take and what other big things are there to do in Berchtesgaden before I drive back to Munich in the evening?

If I'm going to get to Munich the evening before I fly out, perhaps best/easiest to stay at something like the Munich Airport Holiday Inn Express so I can just get to airport in the morning? Perhaps find a car wash that morning or the night before when I get to Munich.

Here's the schedule as I currently have it planned.

Day 1 (Sun) Fly to Germany
Day 2 (Mon) Arrive Munich 8am. Munich stuff
Day 3 (Tues) Car delivery 9:50am. 4h to Prague. Arrive late afternoon
Day 4 (Wed) Prague
Day 5 (Thu) 3.5h to Bratislava. Arrive ~12pm
Day 6 (Fri) 2h to Budapest. Arrive ~11am
Day 7 (Sat) Drop friend at airport. Budapest
Day 8 (Sun) 5:30 to Berchtesgaden. Arrive late afternoon
Day 9 (Mon) Berchtesgaden, 2h to Munich
Day 10 (Tue) Drop off car; fly home 12:20pm

 

[Snareman]

Ok, guess not

 

[Trinitony]

Here are my suggestions:

Should I drive straight 5.5h from Budapest to Berchtesgaden or is there somewhere/something along the way worth stopping and either seeing or even spending the night?

Either stop in Melk or Lake Bled. Melk is a beautiful abbey and would be my wife's prefernce. Lake Bled (right side of my sig) would be mine. If you choose Bled, I would recommend staying overnight in Villa Bled. It was Tito's vacation home.

How much time do I need in Berchtesgaden? I've already visited the remains of the Berghof and the Documentation Center/Bunkers right near it so I don't necessarily need to see that again.

Since you will only be doing the Eagle's Nest you should be able to see it in half a day, with most of that time getting up and down.

 

[Snareman]

Here are my suggestions:


Either stop in Melk or Lake Bled. Melk is a beautiful abbey and would be my wife's prefernce. Lake Bled (right side of my sig) would be mine. If you choose Bled, I would recommend staying overnight in Villa Bled. It was Tito's vacation home.


Since you will only be doing the Eagle's Nest you should be able to see it in half a day, with most of that time getting up and down.

Thanks for the reply. I've been to Lake Bled and it was indeed beautiful. Melk looks like a nice option along the way though and looks to be about half way which would break up the drive nicely. I could stop there by noonish and then continue on to Berchtesgaden after and arrive in the evening. How much time do you think you'd need to do Melk?

I don't want to do just the Eagle's Nest. More at least the Eagle's Nest as I've failed to do it on my previous 6ish attempts, with whatever else I can fill up the rest of the time with other than the Documentation Center. I've seen people talk about the Salt Mine and the lake, although hard to fit them all in.

So maybe I do:

Day 8 (Sun) 3h to Melk, 2h to Berchtesgaden. Arrive evening
Day 9 (Mon) Berchtesgaden stuff, 2h to Munich in the evening
Day 10 (Tue) Drop off car; fly home 12:20pm

Also open for any good hotel ideas in Berchtesgaden. I saw Zum Türken in another thread.

 

[Trinitony]

How much time do you think you'd need to do Melk?

I don't want to do just the Eagle's Nest. More at least the Eagle's Nest as I've failed to do it on my previous 6ish attempts, with whatever else I can fill up the rest of the time with other than the Documentation Center. I've seen people talk about the Salt Mine and the lake, although hard to fit them all in.

Also open for any good hotel ideas in Berchtesgaden. I saw Zum Türken in another thread.

I think the formal tour of Melk took a couple of hours. You do not have to take the formal tour but we happened upon an English language tour and I thought it was very informative. Incidentally they have excellent parking.

In Berchtesgaden we enjoyed the boat ride on the Konigsee. I would not do it in bad weather, even though the boat is enclosed. The trip is mostly about the scenery and the abbey and in rain or fog it would be no fun. While in Berchtesgaden I would take a quick look at Ramsau Church (left side of my sig). I think that the church and the graveyard are worth a quick look.

Hotel in Berchtesgaden: On both of our EDs we stayed at the Kugelmuhle in Marktschellenburg. It is vey inexpensive and the family that own it are very nice and helpful. I am not sure but they may have a minimum number of nights required in summer. In our case we stayed four nights (three days) on each trip as we had a fair amount that we wanted to see.

 

[turpiwa]

What about salt mines? I had planned on doing that yesterday but we decided to take it easy and just cruise back to Munich with a short stop at the park where the sound of music pavilion is and for an energy depletion session for my son and to take on lunch. Very nice.
One thing I didn't mention and kept meaning to in my thread was how great I found the navigation online search and also love the touch pad on the controller
Also - on the way back from Salzburg I would avoid the A1 - has so much construction. There are a few unlimited stretches along there but with the construction and the notable on slight of campers and caravans in the last week Staus and slow left lanes are pretty frequent. I would just get up to speed and be back at a crawling 80 MPH or less . I would add a little extra time and have some fun on the less used roads.

 

[tonyblunt]

We enjoyed the Rossfeld panoramic drive out of Berchtesgarten so much that we dropped plans to do the Eagles Nest since we had seen such great views from the drive.

Salt mine tour was OK, a little bit contrived in places.

The boat trip on the lake is very pleasant but takes some time.

 

[dpritchett]

I commend two of the suggestions made above .. the salt mines and the boat ride to the island with the church - also you are close to Salzburg, which is worth a visit

 

[Snareman]

I think the formal tour of Melk took a couple of hours. You do not have to take the formal tour but we happened upon an English language tour and I thought it was very informative. Incidentally they have excellent parking.

In Berchtesgaden we enjoyed the boat ride on the Konigsee. I would not do it in bad weather, even though the boat is enclosed. The trip is mostly about the scenery and the abbey and in rain or fog it would be no fun. While in Berchtesgaden I would take a quick look at Ramsau Church (left side of my sig). I think that the church and the graveyard are worth a quick look.

Hotel in Berchtesgaden: On both of our EDs we stayed at the Kugelmuhle in Marktschellenburg. It is vey inexpensive and the family that own it are very nice and helpful. I am not sure but they may have a minimum number of nights required in summer. In our case we stayed four nights (three days) on each trip as we had a fair amount that we wanted to see.

Is Melk something you can just drive up to get out and walk around?

I looked up Ramsau church and put it on the list as well.

I don't have a good handle on how big Berchtesgaden is to get around between all of these places? It's obviously not a big city, but with the mountainous nature and all I don't know how much time to allow for getting between places. Guess I'll have to consult google maps.

 

[Snareman]

We enjoyed the Rossfeld panoramic drive out of Berchtesgarten so much that we dropped plans to do the Eagles Nest since we had seen such great views from the drive.

Salt mine tour was OK, a little bit contrived in places.

The boat trip on the lake is very pleasant but takes some time.

How long did the salt and boat tours take?

I remember from last time I was in Berchtesgaden how beautiful it was up there, although I think we were just randomly driving around.

 

[Snareman]

I commend two of the suggestions made above .. the salt mines and the boat ride to the island with the church - also you are close to Salzburg, which is worth a visit

I've already done Salzburg a few times so I'm good there. Great city.

 

[Trinitony]

Is Melk something you can just drive up to get out and walk around?

I looked up Ramsau church and put it on the list as well.

I don't have a good handle on how big Berchtesgaden is to get around between all of these places? It's obviously not a big city, but with the mountainous nature and all I don't know how much time to allow for getting between places. Guess I'll have to consult google maps.

Melk: The short answer is probably no. I think the parking was free. As we always intended to take the guided tour of the interior we did not explore what could be done without it. The Melk website discusses an unguided tour (at a slightly lower cost) so that may be as close as you are going to get in the way of just wandering around the interior. There is also a ticket price for the Abbey Gardens so I presume you can take a look at the gardens without ever entering the abbey.

Berchtesgaden: The Documentation Center is where you catch the bus to the Eagle's Nest, but since you have seen the Documentation Center that does not help you. The Konigsee is only 6 miles (15 minutes) from the Documentation Center. Ramsau Church is 9 miles (20 minutes) from the Documentation Center. So the main sights are not to far apart.

I do not recall how long it takes to get up to the Eagle's Nest from the Documentation Center. Probably 30 or 40 minutes each way. Then I would think an hour at the top would allow you to enjoy the view which extends from Salzburg to the Konigsee. You could extend your time at the top by hiking up the hill - I did not go very far.

 

[Snareman]

Melk: The short answer is probably no. I think the parking was free. As we always intended to take the guided tour of the interior we did not explore what could be done without it. The Melk website discusses an unguided tour (at a slightly lower cost) so that may be as close as you are going to get in the way of just wandering around the interior. There is also a ticket price for the Abbey Gardens so I presume you can take a look at the gardens without ever entering the abbey.

Berchtesgaden: The Documentation Center is where you catch the bus to the Eagle's Nest, but since you have seen the Documentation Center that does not help you. The Konigsee is only 6 miles (15 minutes) from the Documentation Center. Ramsau Church is 9 miles (20 minutes) from the Documentation Center. So the main sights are not to far apart.

I do not recall how long it takes to get up to the Eagle's Nest from the Documentation Center. Probably 30 or 40 minutes each way. Then I would think an hour at the top would allow you to enjoy the view which extends from Salzburg to the Konigsee. You could extend your time at the top by hiking up the hill - I did not go very far.

Good to know about the bus pick up location. It was a good spot and I might be half tempted to walk back through the woods to the Berghof again. I just don't need to spend the extra time going through the bunkers and all at the DC so it will save some time there. It sounds like everything is pretty close so that's handy. At minimum I should be able to do the Nest and Church and then maybe either the Saltmine or lake depending on how things go.

The Melk site says, "Visits possible daily with or without a guided tour" so I should be ok either way there.

 

[Snareman]

What about salt mines? I had planned on doing that yesterday but we decided to take it easy and just cruise back to Munich with a short stop at the park where the sound of music pavilion is and for an energy depletion session for my son and to take on lunch. Very nice.
One thing I didn't mention and kept meaning to in my thread was how great I found the navigation online search and also love the touch pad on the controller
Also - on the way back from Salzburg I would avoid the A1 - has so much construction. There are a few unlimited stretches along there but with the construction and the notable on slight of campers and caravans in the last week Staus and slow left lanes are pretty frequent. I would just get up to speed and be back at a crawling 80 MPH or less . I would add a little extra time and have some fun on the less used roads.

You mean the online search from in the car? Does that work while you are there? I thought that wasn't enabled until you got back to the US.

Crawling at 80 sounds horrible.

 

[turpiwa]

You mean the online search from in the car? Does that work while you are there? I thought that wasn't enabled until you got back to the US.

Crawling at 80 sounds horrible.

Yes it seemed to work fine.

 

[Snareman]

Yes it seemed to work fine.

Interesting. I didn't think that was enabled with all of the other BMW Assist stuff until you got home. What sort of stuff did you search for in it? Perhaps with new iDrive 5.0 it will be even easier.

 

[turpiwa]

Interesting. I didn't think that was enabled with all of the other BMW Assist stuff until you got home. What sort of stuff did you search for in it? Perhaps with new iDrive 5.0 it will be even easier.

I was searching for hotels, Historical points and the like. A couple of times I got a message saying online search not available would you like to do POI search.