Schafberg Travel Forum

We have relatives from India arriving end August, staying for a short time with us. (they love awesome sceneries and views of the Alps in particular but could not get a swiss visa unfortunately , only EU). We live in Mannheim and are planning to visit Salzburg for 3 nights end of August and 3 nights in Vienna.

Our plan currently is
Day 1: Arrive in Munich by train - spend an hour on a bus tour so my relatives get to see a bit of Marienplatz and Konigplatz - on to Chiemsee - and sleep the night in Salzburg.
Day 2: Use the Bayern ticket (which we will buy in advance) and visit Konigsee and Eagles Nest at Berchtesgaden. Spend the rest of the day at Salzburg.
Day 3: Visit either Garmisch Paten Kirchen OR Achensee by train and spend the day there.
Day 4: Take the bus ride to Wolfgangsee (Mt Schafberg) and Hallstatt from Salzburg.
Day 5: Take the evening train to Vienna and stay there until Day 8 morning when we have a return flight to Frankfurt (near Mannheim)

I am unsure about the following:
a) Can we use the Einfach Raus ticket on the cog train in Mt Schafberg...?
b) If I were to decide between Garmisch and Achensee which one should I?
c) Can the Eagles Nest be dropped from the itenary..
d) Are there other places (Werfen, GrossGlockner, etc) that we should not miss out, which are accessible from Salzburg..and would be recommended in place of the existing itenary

Thanks a ton... and I find this site very helpful ! thanks to all the members.