I would rather stay in Salzburg and explore the town than heading to Berchtesgaden, especially since you've been in Innsbruck before. It's easy to see a nice Alpine village from there. (take the tram to the Stubai valley e.g.)

Spend your time in Salzburg. Berchtesgaden is nice, but not so much to eat out all your allocated time.

Berchtesgaden is a nice little town and worth visiting, but not at the expense of your limited time in Salzburg. One thought is to take one of the Sound of Music half day tours. You will see some of the sights in Salzburg and they will probably take you out to Mondsee (the town where they filmed the wedding scenes). That way yiu will get a little taste of the countryside with Salzburg. Then spend the other half of the day seeing Mozart's house, the castle and have a meal downstairs at Skt. Peter's Stifftskeller.

I did a day trip to Berchtesgaden from Salzburg. I actually didn't see the Eagle's Nest even though it was open - but it was raining anyway so not much to see outside. I was interested in seeing the Nazi Documentation Center, however - kind of a must for WWII buffs. Berchtesgaden was a second seat of government for the Nazis. The Documentation Center does have tons of unique photos and posters, but almost nothing is in English - even the audio guide merely translates the written text into English word for word and that gets tedious quickly. Perhaps a guided tour would have been better.

But yes, with only a day in Salzburg - I'd probably stay there unless you are a major WWII history buff.

Why/when is the Eagle's Nest closed? We're planning a trip there in Aug. and EN was on the list. Salzburg sounds like a nice place though. Planning 3 days there.

If you had more time I'd say go to Berchdesgaden and visit the salt mines. You have the option to slide down to many of the levels on a wooden slide and a burlap sack on your rear. But you'll barely get through Salzburg in one day. Enjoy, it's worth taking it all in.

Thanks very much for replying. I'm staying in Salzburg!