Day 5 Austria : Salzburg

This morning we will be taking the bus and make our way for a day trip to Germany , to Visit Eagle's Nest aka The Kehlsteinhaus. For this we will have to take Bus 840 from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden. The bus stop is across the road from McDonald’s near Salzburg’s main bus depot at the streetside (Engelbert-Weiß-Weg) See photo below ( cos we were kinda lost trying to find Stall J as stated here One way cost 5.90 Euro/pax if buy 2 ways it's only 10 Euro.

The red dot opposite McD is the Bus 840 stop

Guide form Salzburg to Eagle Nest

Once you reach the last station in Berchtesgaden , you have to transfer to Bus 838 to the Documentation Center & Eagles Nest ( Bus 841 if you going to Königssee ) refer to the guide here. Once you alight at the Documentation Center bus stop , cross the road and walk across the carpark and from there buy your ticket for the Bus 849 + entrance to Eagle Nest. Once you reach , before you enter the tunnel for the lift , remember to book your return bus trip at the window, the will stamp a time on your ticket to ensure you have a seat for the return trip. If you just plan to see the building and the view then 1-2 hrs might be enough but if you like to hike and explore a bit , I will recommended at least 2-3 hours (We reached and 9:40 AM and we booked the 12:30PM bus )

Tunnel entrance

Long tunnel to the lift

One of my Vain pic taken

You will then walk into the tunnel and then reach a big lift then will take you to the upper level ( you actually can choose to walk up for another side if you wants to but we took the lift up then came down by walking). Other then then name "Hitler's Eagle Nest" , personally i don't find much about the building ( which is not converted to more like a restaurant ) But the view and the hike after the building is really nice on a good day.
After the hike , once you reach the bus where you alight earlier , they will have bus timing stated on the bus front , just see the one that you booked and get up the bus, the bus conductor will check the stamp on your ticket.
We had our lunch at Berchtesgaden Berggasthof Restaurant which is actually quite good (of cos with beer) and price is more affordable comparing to Austria.
Next if you like , you can actually visit the Documentation Center which is about 5 min walk away from the restaurant.We decided to skip Königssee this time round as you will need the same amount of time there for the boat ride + hike ( have to go early to avoid long Q, We met a chinese couple who took the same morning bus as us and when we going back they are also taking the same bus)

Bus Terminal at Berchtesgaden

Just do the reverse way and you can find your way back to the Salzburg main station. We walk back the the hotel and had a shower to change to something formal as we had book a Mozart Dinner Concert for the night ( with Salzburg card think can get 10% ). We actually got a 48 hrs Salzburg card from Klook , depending on where you wish to visit and how long you are there , you can then decide which card you need (24H/48H/72H).                                The show consist of a 3 course meal and in between each dish , they will perform a section of Mozart's works. It was quite a good experience (even though we don't understand a single word) and best to stock up some supper :) Below are some misc pictures from Eagle Nest and Salzburg old town.                                                        

Day 4 Austria : Hallstatt to Salzburg

Woke up early just to walk to this photo point to take photo from this angle but too bad the weather is very cloudy. Breakfast was served at the hotel and after check out , we left our luggages with the hotel and took the bus to visit the ice-cave + five fingers lookout.From the bus station in Hallstatt , take the PostBus 543 , it will make a loop and then ends up at Dachstein where you can alright to buy the tickets for the cable car. They have 3 sections and depends on what n where you wish to visit , the package is different. We bought the ice cave + 5 finger lookout option which include an ice cave tour + 2 section go the the cable car , that cost us about 45.70 Euro/pax.More info here.                     Do note that there is a walking distance and some uphill from the cable car station to the entrance of the ice cave as you can see from the first picture (above)the route I marked out. Also do not think too much when you saw picture 2 above) , we all know it looked like something ~                             There are few routes here you could take if you are into hiking but then maybe you will have to plan a full day here. It was quite a long stroll to the Five finger lookout ( was quite slippery at some part as the ice started melting along the path) We only planned half a day here as we plan to stay in Salzburg for the night. So after the scenic walk to and fro from the lookout , we took descend and took the bus back to Hallstatt to collect out luggages and took to ferry back to the train station. there are a few ways mentioned here.We decided on taking the ferry + train + bus from Hallstatt to Salzburg cos i think we missed the Postbus and do not wish to wait almost another hour for that. After Check in at Hotel Scherer ( choose this hotel cos we will use this as a base to explore outside salzburg , so wanted somewhere near ( about 6 min walk ) the train/bus station).We had a short rest and make our way to Augustiner Braustubl for dinner ( we walked and enjoy the view in the evening, distance is about 20 min walk). We did have a bit of problem locating the restaurant as the door cos it was dark and it dose not have a huge signage as what we are used to. This is like a beer garden , you take the size of the mug you wants , wash it and then pay for it then pass it to the staff who will fill up for you. As for the food , just order from different shop and then just sit and it , they have indoor and outdoor siting. There will be staffs going around if you need to add beer order.                             I highly recommend to have dinner here in the outdoor area , esp in the summer or even cooling autumn , price wise i think was ok and food and beer was not bad. You can just pop by for a beer is find also.