Salzberg and the Eagles Nest

After Admont I headed for Salzberg. I wanted to head west through the mountains but when I went to get fuel I noticed a lonnnnggg line of cars in that direction that didn't move for ten minutes. I gave up on that idea because it's going to be no fun sitting in traffic. I turned round and used the motorway heading north instead. Now when you're in Austria you need a Vignette for your motorbike which costs €4.50 to use all the motorways Then this motorway surprised me with toll booths, another €4.50 gone... Austria really knows how to remove money from my wallet.

But the road was cool. LOTS of tunnels. I think I spend a majority of my time on that road in a tunnel. Once I got out of the mountains it all started to smell like cow manure though, and that hung around for a long time.

In Salzberg I had heard about the Nord-Sam camping, they had directions for the bus to get into the city so I figured it was probably my cheapest and easiest way to see the city. Only €13.50/night to camp too... But then there's an extra €3 for 24 hours of wifi (which didn't work), and €9 in total to do my washing (at the last hotel they wanted €4 PER PIECE!). It's becoming clearer that I won't see too much on this trip through Europe, I need a job to come back.

My spot.

It rained for both nights I was there.

Part of the old city with Hohensalzberg Fortress on the top.

Getreidegasse. Even McDonalds has the fancy style sign here.

Mozarts birth house.

There were lots of tour groups in this area, often 3-4 groups of 50 at a time. I'd see them in other small streets talking about where Mozart played chess. Well I guess you have to fill up a tour somehow.

View from the fortress.

WABAM!

Inside part of the fortress.

Another wider view overlooking Salzberg.

I ate lots of awesome things (photos are in that facebook link on the side there) there and drank many beers. And then that was it for Salzberg, just one more rainy night in the tent then I packed up and headed to Germany!

The next thing on my list of things to see in Germany was the Eagles Nest! It was only 30km from Salzberg so an easy day of riding and exploring. I crossed the border in to Germany, this time it was just a small blue sign and then another sign with the national speed limits posted up. Easiest border crossing yet! The Austrian/Hungary border was only more difficult because I had to go find money and a Vignette.

First, I went up the road to the Eagles Nest, but found out they only have buses to the top, and seeing the number of people there I went back down the awesome bit of road to Germany's highest lake, Königssee.

This is Königssee.

I'm starting to hit areas where I have to pay for parking on a motorbike. At the lake it was only €1 for an hour, enough to go walk to the lake and eat bratwurst. But when I went back to to the Eagles nest parking I found you had to pay €3 there, but I didn't have any change on me. So I went back down again, found a really expensive hotel (€54, but with WIFI THAT SORT OF WORKS! YES!). And then collected some change and headed back up to the parking lot.

The buses that take you to the parking at the top. The eagles nest is sitting just on top of the mountain there. 

I paid my €3 parking, then paid €15.50 for the bus ride up the narrow awesome road, wishing I could have taken my bike up instead. Then once at the top you walk through a tunnel to take the elevator the rest of the way to the top.

The tunnel from the outside.

The tunnel from the inside.

The elevator waiting room. It was all brass walls in there but I couldn't get my camera out because it was loaded with people. 

The Eagles Nest! Hitler's Birthday Present!

The view looking towards Austria. Salzberg is just behind the mountains on the left of the middle.

So I've mentioned all the costs here because I'm very concious of how much I'm spending, but it was totally worth it to go up there.

There's lots of things I haven't seen here, but I want to come back already! Time to move on though, today we'll see if I can make it the 380km to Bamberg, home of one of my favourite beers! Munich is right there, and it's Oktoberfest, but the cheapest place to stay that I could find so far was €35/night for camping, and €9 for a beer, and the hassle of getting served. Well, I think I'll skip it this time.