All information
Are there any questions about your boat trip on Lake Königssee? Then check out our info sheets with all the important information for families, groups and charters.
Frequent questions
1. Before sailing
No.
No.
The public car park in Königssee is operated by the municipality of Schönau am Königssee. Parking fees apply.
In order to enjoy the boat trip in peace, we recommend you buy a day ticket. The time required for a trip to St. Bartholomä and back, including boarding and walking from the car park is at least 90 minutes.
The sailing time from Königssee (lakeside) to St. Bartholomä is around 35 minutes. At St. Bartholomä, you must disembark unless you have purchased the round trip to Salet. You can sail back with any boat.
The (free) tour of the world-famous pilgrimage church in St. Bartholomä is highly recommended. For the whole excursion, you can expect it to take a minimum of about 1.5 hours.
The sailing time from Königssee (lakeside) to the terminus at Salet (= big round-trip cruise) is around 1 hour. You can break up your trip to or from Salet with a stop in St. Bartholomä.
Smoking is not permitted on the electric motor boats of Lake Königssee Shipping.
The ticket for the return journey from Salet or St. Bartholomä to Königssee is available from the pier steward.
For sailings from Kessel, the ticket must be bought directly on the boat (please have small change ready).
The boats at Lake Königssee are unfortunately not built for wheelchairs. Getting in and out of the boats should be done wisely. Boarding of the identically built electric motor boats is relatively narrow, steep and down three steps. In the midships area, there is space for about one or two wheelchairs per boat. Our boat crew will be happy to help you get in and out.
It is unfortunately not possible to transport electrically operated wheelchairs because they cannot be rolled over the stairs due to their design. However, we offer a limited number of mechanical wheelchairs for rental at the cashiers.
Despite the use of all boats, during the holiday periods (especially July to mid-September), as well as on public holidays or in good weather and high passenger volume, there may be waiting times for the sailings.
Experience has shown that in the high season, many guests can be expected on the first beautiful day after a rainy period. On these special days it is advisable to take the trip to St. Bartholomä before 10.30 a.m. and the return from St. Bartholomä by 14.30 p.m. at the latest.
You can also purchase a ticket online in advance. With the online ticket you can go directly to the pier. Online tickets are only available for trips from the lakeside and unfortunately not as one-way trips from the piers back to the lakeside (= one-way sailings for mountaineers). This is due to the poor network coverage in Salet and St. Bartholomä.
To the Online-Ticket.
Lake Königssee Shipping offers a limited number of free lockers (e.g. for motorcycle helmets etc.). The lockers are located at the back of the cashiers building and are open to the public.
Baby buggies are generally transported. Due to the special design of the electric passenger boats, the space is limited. Folding prams and buggies are thus ideal. Bicycle trailers converted into prams cannot be transported. On days with a high guest rate coming with a big pram can cause delays in transportation.
2. To the lake
The water temperature only partially reaches up to 20°C during long periods of good weather.
Swimming is allowed. Please don't swim in the shipping lane. Your head is barely visible in the green shimmering water.
Due to the location of Lake Königssee in the middle of the Berchtesgaden National Park, air mattresses or inflatable boats are prohibited.
No! Lake Königssee is located in the middle of Berchtesgaden National Park, which is why paddle boats, inflatable boats, canoes stand uo paddling and air mattresses etc. are prohibited. If the weather is nice, you can rent a rowing boat from Lake Königssee Shipping.
The lake’s green colour comes from lime particles dissolved in the water, which break the sunlight.
Basically, we sail all year round on Lake Königssee. In January and February it can happen that Lake Königssee freezes. However, the ice rarely achieves a thickness that is possible to walk on. The last time this happened was in the winter of 2005/2006. Then, Lake Königssee was officially allowed to be walked on for several weeks. The landlord of St. Bartholomä even drove over the ice with a car and delivered to his restaurant.
Information for mountaineers
Please pay attention to the last way back from the stops Salet, St. Bartholomä and Kessel (request stop) back to Seelände Königssee! You can gather the last departure of the boat from the timetable.
In Salet, St. Bartholomä und Kessel there are no accomodations, camping is prohibited according to National Park regulations! If you miss the last course boat, you will be picked up by the Wasserwacht Berchtesgaden (= water rescue). This causes in high costs up to 520 €.
Phone number: +49 8651 9999 100 - Wasserwacht Berchtesgaden (= water rescue)
Also the dogs of mountaineers have to wear a muzzle on the way back from Salet, St. Bartholomä or Kessel.
In order not to be excluded from the carriage, please take a muzzle in your backpack.
Kärlingerhaus (DAV Berchtesgaden), 1638 m
- Hutphone: +49 8652 6091010 (only during the summer months)
- Winterroom: from mid-October on the winterroom is closed. The key can only be picked up after prior registration and payment of a deposit (50 €), an overnight and wood fee in the office of the DAV Berchtesgaden section. The shelter is always opened (ceilings available, but no stove and no heating material).
- Contact DAV Berchtesgaden, Watzmannstr. 4, 83483 Bischofswiesen: phone +49 8652 97646-10, info@dav-berchtesgaden.de. opening hours: Tue, Thu, Fri from 3 to 5:30 pm.
- Hutclimb: From St. Bartholomä through the Saugasse in around 5 hours to Kärlingerhaus. Easiest climb around 1000m difference in altitude.
Wasseralm (DAV Berchtesgaden), 1423 m
- Hutphone: +49 8652 6091160 (only during the summer months)
- Winterroom: from mid-October on the winterroom is closed. The key can only be picked up after prior registration and payment of a deposit (50 €), an overnight and wood fee in the office of the DAV Berchtesgaden section. The shelter is always opened (ceilings available, but no stove and no heating material).
- Contact DAV Berchtesgaden (please refer Kärlingerhaus)
- Hutclimb: From Salet along Obersee and either over Landtal- or Röthsteig (both partly secured hikes) to Wasseralm. Around 950m difference in altitude .
Gotzenalm (private hut), 1685 m
- Hutphone: +49 8652 690900 (only during the summer months)
- Accomodation: for just 100 people possible.
- Hutclimb: From Kessel over Reitsteig to Gotzenalm. Easy. Around 1150m difference in altitude. From Salet over Kaunersteig. Sure-footedness necessary. Around 1200m difference in altitude.