Day 13: Around Salzburg (Austria)

Today is our last day on this road trip before we have to start the return journey back to Ireland. The long forecasted rain has eventually arrived and the city is wet and rather cold.

Despite the many times we’ve been in Salzburg, we’ve never taken the short journey to visit the nearby historical Eagle’s Nest.

We return to our parked car and drive out of the city, travelling roughly 28 km south-west across the border into Germany to reach Berchtesgaden.

Berchtesgaden is as far as we can go by car. We need to park up here and buy a ticket for a bus to bring us up the 800-metre climb to the Eagle’s Nest. The road is 3 metres wide at its maximum and has been closed to public traffic since the mid-1950s.

By the time we reached Berchtesgaden, the rain was falling with large heavy droplets.

The bus runs frequently, though your ticket grants you access to a very specific time, both up and down. It is an electric bus since 2023, and is both silent and quick as it pushes up the steep slope up to the house.

One you reach the top, you can immediately walk into the 124 meters long tunnel that brings you to the brass elevator up to the Eagle’s Nest proper.

They do not allow you photograph the elevator or the waiting room for the elevator for some reason – though they are shown in the YouTube videos we reference below.

Much online content covers this location, and we include below what is our preferred building tour by our favourite YouTube historian.

On arriving up to the Eagle’s Nest we head straight for the restaurant and order some Currywurst, while soaking in the atmosphere.

It is a little surreal to be eating our food right beside the famous fireplace, somewhere we’ve seen so much in videos and documentaries over the years.

It is surprising how little the room has altered – aside from adding more tables for the public to use – yet the main furnishings, windows, and lights remain remarkably unchanged.

We certainly didn’t think we’d be writing this blog in the same room as it.

This place doesn’t have the “heavy” feel that typically accompanies museums or locations associated with Nazi Germany. Perhaps it’s because this location is also long associated with tourism and sightseeing.

It doesn’t shy away from its past and there is plenty of information and pictures depicting its sinister history.

This mountaintop chalet had no permanent residents and had been designed to accommodate only day visitors, who would have usually stayed at the Berghof on the Obersalzberg. Guards may well have slept in the guard room or basement when on overnight duty, but the house had not been equipped with any sleeping facilities.

As the rain and mist clear, we go outside to capture photographs of the surrounding views.

At 1,835 meters it is really cold up here today and we don’t plan on staying outside for too long holding our metal cameras without gloves.

The weather starts to close in on us again blocking our view.

When it is time to leave, we head back down the elevator and back through the tunnel.

Where our electric bus is waiting for us at the tunnel entrance.

Returning down the mountain in about 15 minutes to our waiting car. At this stage in the evening, with the Eagle’s Nest soon closing, the car park has cleared out a lot compared to when we arrived.

There is a lot more to discover in the Obersalzberg – the area where we are parked. But it is both too late and too wet to do so today.

Here is a good overall history of this area during World War 2 – and how it was the second seat of power for the Nazi Government of Germany after Berlin.

Our journey back to Salzburg feels damp, atmospheric and striking.

We stop off at a fuel station to start our long journey home with a full tank of petrol.

We like the way this station prominently displays its EV charging rate alongside its traditional fuels.

We navigate through the heavy evening traffic in Salzburg and pack up in the same underground car park we used yesterday.

Where the heavy rain droplets today make for interesting beading patterns on the bonnet of our car. We don’t have any fancy ceramic coating but we do have Paint Protection Film (PPF) installed, which probably helps.

It’s our last evening in Salzburg, and the town is busy with locals celebrating St Rupert’s Day by having fun and getting as drunk as possible. Despite the festivities, many of the streets away from the action remain quiet and atmospheric.

We pass by the traditional fair in the square beneath the castle.

And the restaurant where we had our wedding meal here back in 2005.

We head out for some more goulash and beer.

And walk back to our hotel through the now almost deserted streets.

Stats

Today we did 57 km over 2:09 hours, with an average speed of 31 km/h, consuming 12.8 litres/100 km.