ashwinb

I am traveling for about 10 days in Austria after a conference in Graz, please review my itinerary:
day 1-day 5: Get to Salzburg from Graz, visit the Lake district on day tours. Which would be the best day tours,the most scenic ? I'm thinking of Halstatt, Konigsee and St.Gilgen and Wolfgangsee on 3 separate days.
Any suggestions on walks and hikes among forests with good views and scenic villages would be great.

day 5-8: Go to Prague, spend 2.5 days and get back to Vienna. Instead of this,should I spend time elsewhere in Germany/Austria, some place different from Salzburg?
Should I go to Innsbruck region? Will that be different from Salzburg/Lake district area?

day 9-10: Spend a day in Vienna and spend a day on the Danube, doing the Krems-Melk cruise. Any better way to see the Danube and the villages along it?
-I would also like to fit in a castle somewhere here, that is easy to reach and is in good environs(like among forests or mountains).
-I do like to walk, please suggest good walks among forests or mountains in any of these regions.

ashwinb

Anyone there?

elberko

I think I'd stay in Hallstatt for a few days to do my hiking, instead of doing multiple day-trips from Salzburg. Maybe spend time in Krems before traveling to Vienna and avoid backtracking?

~Liz

PalenQ

are you going by train or your own car?

Trains go everywhere you want to go and Austrian trains are amongst the finest in Europe - if you travel on trains like your prompt suggests then investigate the European East Railpass - valid on all trains in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland - or the Austrian railpass since most of your trains are in Austria - anyway check out these IMO superb site for planning a rail trip if going by rail - http://www.seat61.com;http://www.bud....com/id33.html and www.ricksteves.com.

Fussen in Germany is known for its world-famous castles and is not far from Innsbruck - just over the Austrian border.

PalenQ

. Which would be the best day tours,the most scenic ? I'm thinking of Halstatt, Konigsee and St.Gilgen and Wolfgangsee on 3 separate days.>

From Salzburg you can take postal buses that regularly go to St Wolfgang and all the Lake District - St Wolfgang is a sweet town at the foot of a high mountain up which steam trains roll - take the train up and perhaps walk down - for me a day in St Wolfgang and St Gilgen - take boats or buses between them both is enough - Hallstatt is much farther afield - go there by train via Attnang-Pucheim - probably 2 hours or more each way - better as an overnight high up in the Alps IMO - a place you want to savior for a whole day and not just day trip in.

brmsimmons

I will be going to Salzburg(3days), Vienna(3 days) and Prague(2 days) at end of September and beginning of October. I'm still gathering info for my own trip but can offer a couple of suggestions.

1. For your castle how about Hohenwerfen Fortress just south of Salzburg?http://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/werfen/

2.While in Vienna I plan to rent a bike to tour along the Danube from Melk to Krems stopping at various wineries along the way. There are several threads on the Vienna tripadvisor page detailing how to do this.

Have a good trip!

ashwinb

Thanks everyone..I would have loved to stay at Halstatt,but most of the accom I see is quite expensive(this is my 2nd trip this year,so I'm going for budget acccom), are there any places in Halstatt that aren't listed on the popular booking sites?

I am traveling by train/bus,traveling alone. And can you recommend small hikes/walks around Halstatt, St.Gilgen etc., I would have the entire day at those places, say 11am to 6 PM, it's possible to return late in the evening to Salzburg ,right?

ashwinb

And with so many day trips, I'm beginning to feel 4 .5 days won't be enough, should I skip Prague and spend 1-2 more days near Salzburg itself?
And if I had to choose just 3 day trips,then is Halstatt, Berchtesgaden with Jennerbahn and Konigsee and St.Gilgen and Wofgangsee the best of all? How do I fit Werfen into this, or should I skip Berchtesgaden?
And if I had to do just 1 mountain top,which one should It be?

PalenQ

I am traveling by train/bus,traveling alone. And can you recommend small hikes/walks around Halstatt, St.Gilgen etc>

I took the steam train up from St Wolfgang and then from the summit did a lovely walk down zigzagging paths to St Wolfgang - not strenuous though going down hill is not always so easy due to constant breaking but if you take it slow it is easy going and with lovely views of the lake in front of you the whole way!

PalenQ

-I do like to walk, please suggest good walks among forests or mountains in any of these regions.>

Well in Vienna you could waltz thru the Vienna Woods and also hit a heurigen - the famous Wine Stubes located on the edge of Vienna by the Vienna Woods - where wine made on the premises from grapes grown here are served, along with tasty food.

http://unlike.net/vienna/guides/heurigen-guide

PalenQ

. Maybe spend time in Krems before traveling to Vienna and avoid backtracking?>

Well Krems is just a short commuter train ride from Vienna - I always try to limit the number of times I relocate my hotel - packing unpacking, etc can consume so much time and though Krems in a nice large city I'd rather be in Vienna at night - so much more to do there.

As a day trip it is nice to, without luggage, go from Vienna by train to Melk, hit the famous abbey there, take the boat to Durnstein (lovely old wine town with ruined castle where Richard-the-Lion-Hearted was once held for ranson coming back from some Crusade) - then take boat or train or even walk like I did the few miles to Krems (nice walk thru vineyards) and then take train back to Vienna.

Boats provide bikes I believe for folks who want to bike between boat stops along one of Europe's most famous and scenic bike ways - with nice wide paths hugging the river thru the gorgeous Wachau Valley the whole way!

nytraveler

If you want mountains you don;t want Vienna or Prague - they are on the central european plain - and while thre are some hills - no mountains,'

I'm a city person - focused on musuems, churches and palaces - as well as cafe sitting and good dining - so I would focus more on Prague (at least 3 nights - 2 days) and Vienna (ditto).

But if you want to spend more time in mountains I would stick with Innsbruck (which has a lovely palace) Salzburg (palaces and real castle) and other faux (Mad Ludwig) castles in the same general areas.

IMHO Prague and vienna are much more interesting/have tons of things to see and do - but although I like walking everywhere - I'm not hiking anywhere - although I do like mountains (by cable car or cog railway).

PalenQ

Innsburck's mountains however in no way compare with those of the high Alps - more like the Smokies IME - nice but not awesome. A nice excursion from Innsbruck goes via a mountain tram to the Olympic Ski Run - which even in summer is in a really sweet sylvan area - the long tram thru the forests and up the hills is great - get it from the palace on the southern edge of town - a famous palace in its own right - not sure the same one nytraveler is on about but an awesome palace and nice grounds at the foot of forested hills.

ashwinb

wow..thanks for the inputs..I think I'll spend 4 days in Salzburg, go to PRague,spend 2-3 days and then spend a day in Vienna and a day out to Krems and Melk, that should be diverse enough I guess.
So I have a few more questions, I hope I am not asking too much..
1. If I had to do just one mountain top, which should it be? Jennerbahn or Five Fingers,near halstatt?
2. Can I do Halstatt as well as Five fingers in a day? Or is that too much?
3. Has anyone been to Gosau near Halstatt?
4. How do I organize my day around Krems and Melk? The Wachau Valley ticket seems to be Vienna-Krems-abbey-Melk(by boat)- Melk-Vienna.
Now can I stop at Durnstein, take a look around and take another boat to Melk on the same ticket?
And train timings from and to Vienna can be decided by me,right?

5. I am not really sure how do I go about spending a day in the Heurigen..where do I need to go to start walking, and I dont really drink, will it still be worth it?

fourfortravel

I'll share input on #4 and #5.

#4. This website should help you plan your Vienna-Melk-Vienna day. http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at/eng/c...ses_wachau.php

#5. City Hiking Path #1 seems to be popular, at least based on the number of tourists who wander through my neighborhood after having taken the wrong turn from the D tram. http://www.wien.gv.at/english/leisure/hiking/paths.html. Alternatively, take the 38A bus to its terminus at Kahlenberg and walk down to the 38 tram in Grinzing or the D tram in Nußdorf to take you back to the InnerStadt.

Even if you don't really drink, the views from atop the vineyards can be pretty spectacular, and the heurigen offer small plates and non-alcoholic beverages, as well.