Routes
With selfless devotion to duty we have been out and found great roads for you all to try. We currently have around 30 suggested routes ranging from around a couple of hours gentle touring to a full day out. However long you stay you won’t run out of choice! All our routes are available to download to GPS right here in the hotel. Printed versions are also available for those who prefer.
As we develop this new website we will add some of our routes together with photos of places along the way.
“Eagles Nest” was the name given by the Americans to Hitler’s house in the mountains near Berchtesgaden in southern Germany. The house was a gift given to Hitler on his 50th. birthday. The building and the access road were built mainly by slave labour, Hitler only used it a few times himself although Eva Braun was a regular visitor. After the war the Americans wanted to remove all evidence of Nazi presence in the area. Virtually all of the other building were destroyed but the far sighted local mayor managed to persuade them to leave the house so that it could become a tourist attraction.
Today it is just that, a tourist attraction with all that implies. The house itself is now little more than a restaurant, it does however have one of the best views in Europe. You have to park and take the bus up to the house, then in a lift up the centre of the mountain to the house itself. It’s the same lift Hitler and his cohorts used, they just removed the seats to get more tourists in. Try if you can to forget the crowds for a second and see if you can work out how people with access to such beauty could contemplate even part of what they planned. We can’t.
From our place go down the valley to Gmünd then take the B99 northwards. This road has everything, first following the many bends in the river before climbing the Katschberg pass. Down the other side into the Lungau valley, sweeping open bends up to Mauterndorf (where there is a steam railway) and on towards Obertauern. The road then descends through more open bends before plunging into a narrow gorge followed by another series of riverside curves. Turning right onto the B159 the route takes you past the castle at Hohewarfen, famous for featuring in the film “Where Eagles Dare” and on to Hallein. Climbing from Hallein take a tiny side road and cross into Germany. There is no border crossing just a very small sign to tell you you just left Austria. Then just a short run to the “Kehlsteinhaus Parking” and the bus trip up the mountain. Kehlsteinhaus is what the Germans call it and you will not see signs for “Eagles Nest” until you arrive.
Journey time about 2.5hrs (allowing for a few photo stops etc) It’s possible to get there in 1.5 hours by blasting up the Autobahn but you miss the B99!
