quanmama

Hello all,

We are a family of 3 who are planning to go to Austria next summer for the first time. I have spent some time reading about the areas we want to visit and I have a couple questions that I hope some of you could help answer. We plan to base ourselves in Bad Ischl for 3 or 4 days and tour the surrounding areas such as Hallstatt & St Wolfgang etc (we don't plan to drive).

1) We will likely get to Bad Ischl from Salzburg by bus before noon. We plan to drop off the luggage first, grab a quick bite then start touring the area. I believe Bad Ischl is not that big of a town but would it be reasonable to say we will have enough to do for half the day in Bad Ischl?

2) Second day we plan to take a day trip to Hallstatt. Third day we want to go to St Wolfgang. How much time do you think an average traveler would spend in St Wolfgang? Would a day trip be a good one without feeling rushed? Would it be too ambitious to add St Gilgen on the same day with St Wolfgang?

We are trying to determine if we should spend 3 or 4 days there. If we spend 4 days in that area, we will have to cut Vienna one day short from 5 to 4 days. Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!!!

bettyk

Depending on how interested you are in Austrian history, you could tour the summer residence of Franz Josef, the Kaiservilla, and visit one of the most famous pastry shops in the area.

https://www.zauner.at/english/?___from_store=deutsch

http://www.kaiservilla.at/index.php/en/

I think you could easily do both St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang in one day, if you just want to wander around the little towns and have lunch. But there is more to do, depending on your interests.

In St. Gilgen, there is the Zwoelferhorn Cablecar to take you up the mountain.

http://translate.google.com/translat...t/&prev=search

You can also take a boat across the lake to St. Wolfgang where you can take the Schafberg steam train up to the top of Schafberg Mtn. On a clear day, the views are amazing.

http://www.stwolfgang.at/en/about-th...l-railway.html

All of this would make a very full day.

The area around Bad Ischl is full of things to do and you could easily spend a week there. This is one of our favorite areas of Austria and we visit often.

Trophywife007

Bookmarking.

@ bettyk: more please? What other lakes and places of interest in the area do you recommend? Thanks!

swandav2000

Hi quanmama,

I spent a few days in St. Gilgen a few years ago, and I agree with bettyk that there is a lot to do in those towns that would warrant a full day each.

One of my favorite things I did at St. Gilgen was to rent a bike and ride around the lake -- it's a quite easy and flat trail. You can bike part of it and take the ferry back.

Have fun as you plan!

s

quanmama

Thank you! The advices are very helpful. The more I think about it, the more I want to spend 4 days there. We don't get to go to countryside as often as we like at home so this will be a great opportunity to do so. Riding around the lake in St Gilgen sounds like the greatest idea to our son!

violetduck

When we were in the area we stayed in St. Wolfgang and took the boat to several of the places around the lake. We travel by train and the train does not go to St. Wolfgang so we took the bus from Bad Ischl to SW. It was a approximate 30 minute ride on a nice bus that one finds adjoining the rail station. The ride over to SW is quite beautiful and pastoral. We did a day trip to Bad Ischl and to Hallstatt. As others have stated this is a beautiful area to visit and with lots to do. When we had to leave SW I wanted to cry!!!!!

Our hotel was Seebockenhotel Zum Weissen Hirschen

www.weisserhirsch.at

LSky

We also spent at least 4 days there with a car and loved it.

bettyk

We have been to Mondsee where you can visit St. Michael's Church used in the Sound of Music for the Von Trapp wedding. There are some nice shops and cafes as well and you can walk down to the pretty lake.

http://mondsee.salzkammergut.at/en/s...sch.html#-Oben

The town of Gmunden, located on Traunsee, is nice to spend time in. It is a larger town than the others mentioned. There is a lovely lakeside square with Carillion bells made of the famous Gmunden Ceramics. Again, a nice lakeside area with lots of swans!

http://traunsee.salzkammergut.at/en/...t-gmunden.html

While we haven't spent much time there, Fuschlsee is one of the pretty small lakes in the area with a Schloss Hotel.

http://www.ebners-waldhof.com/lake-fuschlsee

http://fuschlsee.salzkammergut.at/en...hl-am-see.html

PalenQ

Bad ischl is a nice town with yes that famous Hunting Lodge full of hunting trophies but it lacks the ambience of either St Wolfgang or Hallsatt - a rather ordinary town - I'd say base right in the lakes - it is not much time to get to Bad Ischl for trains to Hallsatt.

Besides the hunting lodge I did not see much to linger in Bad Ischl though admittedly was transiting the town.