Ahh one of the highlights of my time in Salzburg. And also the one and only sunny day I had during my stay there. I had to choose between hiking to Eagle’s Nest or seeing Konigssee for my one nice day. I ultimately decided to see Konigssee and hike up to Rothbach Falls.
Table of Contents
- How to get to Konigssee
- Buying Konigssee Ferry ticket
- Konigssee Ferry ride
- Hike to Rothbach Falls
- Getting back to Salzburg
- Konigssee is something you cannot miss!
How to get to Konigssee
My adventure started in Salzburg where I caught a bus from the Meininger Hostel to Mirabellplatz. From there I had a very short walk to the bus stop for bus 840 which is the bus that will take me Berchtesgaden. The bus stop for bus 840 can be found here. This is not the bus stop with the rain cover, there is another stop a few feet from the stop with the rain cover with just a bench and a sign listing what buses the stop is for. You will see bus 840 listed on this sign.
The 840 bus will take about 50 minutes to arrive at Berchtesgaden. From there I caught the 841 bus to Konigssee. After a 5 minute wait, the 841 bus arrived and man was it crowded. There were a lot, and I mean A LOT of old people on the bus. I met another girl from Hawaii who looked to be around my age and I’m sure we were the only young people on the entire bus. This also made it a bit annoying on the hiking trail as we would hike faster than the older folks and it was annoying to have to wait behind them until we were able to pass them.
The 841 bus dropped me off right in town and I walked down to the ferry ticket office.
Buying the bus tickets
I bought the bus tickets in advance on this site: https://fahrplan.salzburg-verkehr.at/ . The starting point I entered was Salzburg Mirabellplatz and the ending point is Königssee (Oberbayern) Tankstelle. You are able to see the route on the site as well as the ticket prices. I had gotten the “Day ticket full fair” ticket for about 15 euros and had kept a screenshot of the ticket on my phone to show the bus drivers. I later found out that this ticket doesn’t include the ticket for the 841 bus from Berchtesgaden to Konigssee, so I ended up paying an additional 5 euros for a round trip ticket on the 841 bus. I’m not sure if this is common as other people said they were able to use the day ticket for all the buses.
Buying Konigssee Ferry ticket
The line was incredibly long for the tickets and it looked like the tickets were bought for each ferry time. So once one ferry time slot was sold out, your ticket would automatically be bought for the next ferry time slot. Fortunately, I was able to get on an earlier ferry because the ticket collector didn’t pay too much attention to the time written on my ticket. Otherwise I would have had to wait an extra hour for my ferry. I had gotten a round-trip ticket to Salet which cost 27.50 euros. I later learned that these tickets could also be bought online in advance. This is the site for more information related to this: https://www.seenschifffahrt.de/de/koenigssee/.
Konigssee Ferry ride
The ferry ride is very peaceful and the views are amazing. The ride takes about an hour to get to Salet with a stop in St. Bartholoma. Before the St. Bartholoma stop, the ferry pauses for the ferry operator to play a trumpet so we could hear the echo. This was so cool, the echo was so loud and clear, it was amazing to listen to. Finally I made it to Salet and began the hike to Rothbach Falls.
Hike to Rothbach Falls
The hike is very easy and not too strenuous at all. I wish I had recorded the hike on my Strava to keep track of how long I was hiking for but alas I did not. From what I can remember it didn’t take too long for me to reach Obersee, another stunning lake. This lake is much more photogenic than Konigssee in my opinion. There is also a small hut on the lake that make for amazing photo opportunities. But get there early because it gets very crowded here later in the day.
The hike continues around the lake to a small restaurant of rest stop on the opposite side of the lake. I continued pass this and found myself in a field full of cows with the waterfall in the background. The site was stunning. And then I turned around and was even more stunned by the view of the lake against the mountains. It was all so beautiful. I continued past the cows and was now in the forest hiking along a stream. It didn’t look like the hike was going anywhere interesting and I was running out of time for the last bus back to Salzburg so I decided to turn around.
Getting back to Salzburg
The last bus back to Salzburg from Berchtesgaden is around 6pm and I still had to travel from Konigssee to Berchtesgaden, so I thought it would be a good idea to make my way back earlier in case any buses get full and I have to wait for the next one. And sure enough there was a long line for the ferry from Salet back to Konigssee. There was no line to get onto the 841 bus back to Berchtesgaden, nor any line to get back on the 840 bus to Salzburg.
Konigssee is something you cannot miss!
Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend taking a trip to Konigssee. It does get a bit pricey with the bus ticket and the ferry ticket, but it’s definitely worth it for the view, exercise, and immersing yourself in this beautiful environment. Konigssee and Rothbach Falls is only a small part of the Bavarian Alps as there are many more places to see in the Bavarian Alps.
This post contains affiliate links where I may earn a commission on any purchases made using these links.
This looks like a beautiful hike! We didn’t have time to do any trails during our last trip but hopefully next time.
This looks like a stunning hike, the landscape is incredible! The ferry ride is an added bonus too.
Wow, your photos are incredible! Looks like a beautiful area to explore, thanks for sharing!
I might choose to buy a ferry ticket online if I could predictably determine what time I would get there. The ferry looks like a lovely way to see Konigssee. And the hike sure had some lovely views.
Those are some gorgeous views I would love to visit one day! It reminds me of the Swiss Alps.
Pingback:Unveiling the Beauty of Salzburg: A Must-Visit Destination - Where is Shreya?
Pingback:1 Month in Germany and Austria Itinerary - Where is Shreya?