Day Trip to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest
The Eagles Nest is located in Obersalzburg, Germany, but it is only a 40 minute drive from Salzburg. Hitler was given the Eagles Nest as a gift during the height of the Nazi power in 1942. Hitler only actually visited the site a few times. There were a series of tunnels built under the nest and into the mountain to make it difficult for the Eagles Nest to be attacked. As if the remote location on top of a mountain over 6,000ft high was not enough.
We arrived at the parking area around midday and discovered that finding a parking spot was going to be very difficult. We ended up making our own spot on the road and then walked across the street to the ticket counter. You cannot drive to the Eagles Nest on your own, you have to take a bus which follows a specially designed road. We had planned on taking part in the full Hitler’s Eagles Nest tour, but after hearing a negative review from few friends, we decided to purchase only the bus tickets to the top. The bus ticket without the tour was about 16 euro per person and the buses run every 25 minutes. You also have access to the documentation museum, though most of the information is written in German.
The bus ride takes about 20 minutes and provides you with great views. Hopefully, you are lucky (like we were) to experience the Eagles Nest on a clear day! When the bus drops you off you need to schedule your departure bus before taking the elevator to the top. We decided to stay at the top for 2 hours, which is the recommended amount of time.
After scheduling your return bus time you walk down a tunnel cut into the mountain. At the end of the tunnel is the Golden Elevator that will take you to the top and drop you off in the Eagles Nest. It will be cooler on top of the mountain than you think, so come prepared with a few layers to keep warm.
Once you exit the elevator and walk outside, your first view will be breathtaking. When we reached the top we made two observations pretty quickly. First, the actual building that is the Eagles Nest seems smaller than expected and you only have access to the indoor seating area of the restaurant. Inside there is one hallway with photos of the Eagles Nest, but all of the descriptions are written only in German. The second observation that we made came to us as we followed the path away from the Eagles Nest and towards a large cross. When we reached the cross we realized that the trail kept going and the view got even better. We discovered that there were several trails that branched off from the Eagles Nest and we even saw a few hikers that had climbed up to the Eagles Nest from below. After a quick Google search we found out that climbing up to the Eagles Nest is a difficult hike, but we wished we had come prepared with hiking clothes because we could have ventured out on a few of the trails. If I ever go back to visit the Eagles Nest, I will plan to make a day trip and explore the trails surrounding the Eagles Nest. It would be amazing to pack a lunch and enjoy the views from a less touristy area without having to do the advanced hike to the Eagles Nest.
We continued to follow the trail as far as the shoes we were wearing would allow. Some of the rocks were very slippery from the tourists that travel over them every day. We captured many beautiful photos as the scenery is unbelievable. When we were finished exploring the trail, we walked back to the Eagles Nest and sat at an outdoor table. We each enjoyed a bowl of soup to warm up and a cold beer for balance. Chris had a goulash soup and I had a dumpling soup. Before we knew it 2 hours had passed and we needed to head back down the Golden elevator so we could catch a bus back to our car. We returned to our car that was still safely parked along the road and then made the trip back to Salzburg.
Another great day trip guide in Germany is Detour to Neuschwanstein Castle. Check out our Salzburg Destination Guide for more details on our trip to Salzburg!
