We are heading to Berchtesgaden today. Berchtesgaden is a German town in the Bavarian Alps on the Austrian border. Berchtesgaden is known for Hitler’s Mountain top retreat, also known as Eagle’s Nest or the Kehlsteinhaus. We will not be going to the Eagle’s Nest as it is not open during winter.

However, we will be visiting Lake Konigsee in Berchtesgaden.

At sunrise, before heading to Berchtesgaden, we drove to Mirabell Garden. We parked our car along the river and walked to Mirabell Garden. Morning in Salzburg is quiet and quaint.

The reason why we are at Mirabell Garden is this gate in the following picture. This is the location where  the von Trapp children sang “Do-Re-Mi” in the Sound of Music. Winter is not a good time to visit Mirabell Garden as most of the places are close and there are no flowers which Mirabell Garden is famous for.

After the visit to Mirabell Garden, we are on our way to Lake Konigsee in Berchtesgaden. We took a detour to Rossfeld Panorama Strasse, which is a tourist route towards Berchtesgaden, which allow you to view the German Alps.

Along the way, we saw “Mt Fuji”?

This is the car we drove when we were in Austria.

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The road in Austria and Germany was really good. For the entire drive, I did come across any black ice, which will cause skid. You basically has very good control of the car on the roads in Austria and Germany even at high speed (as compared to driving in Japan). Love driving in Austria and Germany.

The view of the German Alps which is the reason why we did the detour to Rossfeld Panorama Strasse.

 

We heads toward Konigsee  for our boat ride down Lake Konigsee. From the car park, it is 5 mins walked toward the jetty.  We booked our boat ticket scheduled for 2pm. With 1.5 hours of time before our ride, we had lunch in a nearby German Cafe.

After lunch, we took our boat ride on Lake Konigsee.

 

The boat ride across Lake Konigsee was amazing. You are presented with a view of the gorgeous up close view of the German Alps surrounding the lake.

  

During the trip it was a tour guide, who was telling some interesting facts about the nature and the place. He spoke in German and later translated partially to English.

At one point, the boat stops, and in the complete quiet, the guide plays a trumpet – and you hear the echoes of his song bouncing off the steep rock walls that surround you.

In December which is usually cold, cloudy & foggy, You would think that would spoil the view, but it made for an other-worldly, almost monochromatic view, of one of the most beautiful lakes.

We got off at St. Bartholomew Church and we walked around the area. The surrounding was so beautiful that we basically spend our time taking loads of photo surrounding the area.

  

Behind St. Bartholomew Church was a vast area of land which is the Berchtesgaden National Park, which you can trek.

We did not trek and we chose to stay at the playground.

    

At around 3.30pm, as the sun was setting, we took our boat back to the landing Jetty.

 

We bid farewell to the resident ducks.

We drove back to Salzburg and it took us 1.5 hours drive back to Salzburg, away from the setting sun.

 

As night falls, brought the family to one last attraction in Salzburg – Red Bull Hangar-7. Hangar-7 is a building in Salzburg, Austria, hosting a collection of historical airplanes, helicopters and Formula One racing cars, and serving as home for the Flying Bulls, a private aircraft fleet stationed in Salzburg.

  

We end the day and head back to our accommodation for the day rest.