Driving trip in Austria

Old Jan 18th, 2014, 07:33 AM
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Driving trip in Austria

I'll be attending a 3 day conference in Vienna in July of this year and my husband and I are extending the trip to do some sightseeing. We just spent a year living in New Zealand and following that, made a whirlwind trip through Asia, where we saw lots of big cities in a small amount of time. We want to take a slower, more in-depth trip this time and are thinking about a driving trip through Austria. We'll have 16 days (including travel to-from Boston) in total. We love great scenery, art, food, nature, and hiking, as well as heading a bit off the well-trod American-traveler beaten path (one of our favorite spots in Greece was the island of Samos).

The conference will fall toward the end of the trip (we'll have 2 full days and most of another as the conference wraps up around 10am) before heading to an airport the following day. We've given thought to wrapping up in Budapest and flying out from there, but could also explore Vienna environs or south and then fly from Vienna.

Any particular recommendations? We definitely want to drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Thoughts on the Romantic Road?
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 08:47 AM
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I suggest you book an open jaw: Boston - Vienna; Budapest - Boston, or - if you have your hesrt set on the Rommatic Road - Boston - Frankfurt; Budapest (or Vienna) - Boston. My recommended version would be Boston - Salzburg outbound; V Vienna or Budapest (inbound).

One of the complicating factors is that if you rent a car in one country (say Frankfurt, Germany) and drop it off in ), you most likely incur a substantial dorp-off charge.

Thus, if you want to travel the Romantic Road you would drive from Frankfurt to Wuersburg Rothenburg, Dinkelbuehl, Munich , Berchtesgaden, and drop your car off in Freilassing. This is practically a suburb of Salzburg, but across the border in Germany. A short train ride would take you to Salzburg, where you can rent your Austrian car to do your Austrian travel.

A brief comment on the Romantic Highway. This is very much a marketing gimmick. It is largely a very ordinary road. It's appeal is that it connects several pretty towns. Wuerzburg, Weikersheim (little palace), Creglingnen (Herrgottskirche with famous wooden carved altar), Rothenburg (walled city with old timebered houses; great marketeing dept;, very touristy), Dinkelsbuehl (simil;ar to Rothnburg without hordes of tourists).

You have to decide if you want to take abour 3 full days for this detour in Germany, or head directly to Austria. Once you have made up your mind, let me know (you can send me a message), and I can give you a more specific iinerary. - Essentially it would go: Salzburg - Grossglockner - Hallstatt - Linz (Danube), alog the Danube to Vienna. For Budapest I would take the train, because of the rental car drop-off problem, which is compunded by the fact that taking rental cars to the former Easternm countries (Hungary) adds further restrictions as to which make and model cars you can take across the broder. I do, however, really like Budapest and some of its environs.
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 08:55 AM
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My apology, there are a couple of typos: 2nd paragraph: Pick up car in Frankfurt and drop it off in Vienna (Austria); 3rd paragraph : Wuerzburg; Dinkelsbuehl;Last paragraph: Compounded .

Somehow, for some strange reason, my reply wouldn't let me review and correc t the text before sendimn it. Sorry.
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 09:00 AM
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Thanks; just the sort of response I was looking for. I was wondering if the Romantic Road was worth it or if it is more of a marketing ploy! Love the idea of Dinkelsbuehl to avoid the hordes...
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 12:09 PM
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The Romantic Road is half advertising and half literary allusion. I believe that it is associated with Goethe's travel to Italy.

You might enjoy the sights along the Austrian Rhine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...th/4206025529/
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 02:37 PM
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Let's say you skip the Romantic road and fly to Salzburg (you could also fly to Munich, take the train to Salzburg, 2 hrs, 26 EUR on the Bavarian Ticket for the two of you. After visiting Salzburg,take the highway to Berchtesgaden. After crossing the border into Germany and G'gdn the highway is designated the Deutsche Alpenstrasse (German Alpine Highway) or #B-305. Take that along what is arguably the prettiest stretch of the Alpenstrasse system. Take it to where it turns north at Schneitzlreuth. But you continue stright, following the signs to Lofer. You are now back in Austria. Before Lofer proper, turn left onto the Hhighway 311 to Zell am See. From Salzburg to Zell am See it is about 3 hours driving time. I suggest you spent the night in Zell and start early the next day to drive south and east to Bruck am Grossglockner (about 5 km from Zell). This is the jumping off point of the Grossglockner toll road. If you are earlyyou avoid the tour busses crawling up the Grossglockner Highway. Take the Grossglockner Highway all the way to Nussdorf. Places to stay are Heiligenblut (very pretty but small, Lienz, a larger town with more lodgings or Millstatt, but about more about M, read on. (Lienz is not to be confused with Linz!)

Either way, after the GrossgLockner you want to go east on the routes 100 and 139 to the Autobahn A-10. Take that north. Or, if you want to spend less time around the Grossglockner, drive that day on the 100, 139 and 98 to Millstatt. This is a delightful lake. It has several hotels along the lake with swimming beaches. My wife and I have stayed at the Hotel Forelle and loved it. Millstatt is 65km from Lienz. A good hour's drive.

Now a note asbout Austrian Autobahns. They require that your car has a a toll sticker. You can get one at any gas station after you pick up your car. If your car has a sticker, make sure it is current.The dates are punched in. Do not get on any Austrian autobahn or Schnellstrasse (marked by an S before the route number), without the Vignette. If caught (and you will be caught!) it costs you about EUR 140 on the spot. The window stickers are called Vignette and cost about EUR 10.50 for 10 days. There are longer terms available as well.

Once you are on the A-10, go north as far as Golling (exit 28). There will be an additional toll for 2 tunnels en route.
At Golling, take the routes 162/166 to Hallstatt. I would spend at least 2 nights there.

From Hallstatt, take the road to Bad Ischl, and then the route 145 east for 4km, where you pick up the 133 to the Attersee lake. Follow the lake to the north. I suggest you drive along the west side of the lake, you have a better panorama. You are now in the heart of the Salzkammer GVut, the Salzburg Lake Country. At the north end of the Attersee, enter the Autobahn A-1, going east. Get off either in Linz or Ems, exit #155. Cross the danube and visit the Concentration Camp Mauthausen memorial.

From here on, you follow the route 3, which mostly paralells the Danube. Places to stop: Neustadt, Ybbs, at Emmersdorf, cross the river to visit Kloster Melk, then return to the 3 and go on to Duernstein (would be a nice place to overnight) and on to Krens. There you take the S5 to Stockerau, where you meet the A-22 south to Vienna. You can read up on all the places I mention on the Internet or some good travel guides. I am not too keen on Rick Stevens.

All the roads and places I mention I have travelled and visited, some several times. I grew up in southern Germany and last lived just a few km across the border from Salzburg. I still visit family there frequently, although nothing beats my current home, Colorado Springs. (I had to get this plug in!)

Sorry for any typos!
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Old Jan 18th, 2014, 03:04 PM
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Have traveled to Austria often and lived in Vienna for a couple of years back in the 1980's. I suggest you spend at least several extra days in Vienna soaking up the beautiful architecture, music, wine and culture. Close to Vienna are Durnstein, Melk Abbey and Krems.

Some of our favorites places to visit in Austria are in the Salzkammergut region near Salzburg -- Hallstatt, St. Gilgen, Bad Ischl and St. Wolfgang are just a few in this beautiful area. Salzburg is definitely worth a couple of days itself.

In the Tyrol region, most people just visit Innsbruck. But we stayed a few kilometers away in Hall in Tirol. Also paid a visit to the lovely town of Rattenberg as well as Pertisau and Maurach on Achensee.

As you can see, there is no shortage of lovely towns and villages in Austria.
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Old Jan 19th, 2014, 05:07 AM
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Thanks for all the detailed responses and notes about favorite small towns along the way! I've been to Vienna before (though in the winter--all those folks strolling around in ball gowns and tuxedos was just lovely) and the conference is mornings only, so I think we'll probably have enough time to explore the town itself with the three conference days. My husband can sightsee while I'm learning... But perhaps we'll stay in the greater Vienna area and explore Durnstein, Melk Abbey and Krems.

I have a lot of reading to do (guidebook at home already--and not Rick Steves) but I so appreciate the guidance for some starting off points.
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Old Jan 19th, 2014, 12:49 PM
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One more item: I mentioned taking the train from Munich to Salzburg. Your have two train options, both from the airport to salzburg. (1) By faster trains (IC, ICE, EC) and slower train (Regio). The schdules for bothtrains are listed on www.bahn.de, as are the prices for the faster trains. The Regio trains permit you to use the Bayern ticket. It's a day ticket, good all over NBavaria, incl. Salzburg. On weekdays, travel cannot commence before 9AM. It costs EUR26 for the two of you. I prefer to fly from the US directly to Munich than to Salzburg with change of plane in Frankfurt.

Now, have fun with your planning
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Old Feb 2nd, 2014, 10:35 AM
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Treplow. Lots of good info here. We are planning a trip in September of 2014, traveling from Atlanta. It will be our two kids and spouses, wife and I, and a 23 month old. Wife and I have traveled a lot in Europe, and we always get a car and have no trouble driving. We usually cover quite a lot of ground. However, with this many people, and a toddler, we'll probably want to spend our 10 days in just 2 places. Sort of establish a base, and everyone can do their own day trips, or even just "stay home" that day and enjoy the town that we are in.
I am thinking of one base being either Salzburg or Vienna, and would like a suggestion of our 2nd base, which I would prefer to be a smaller city or town. From both of these bases, we could do our day trips. However, we really simply enjoy strolling the streets of European towns, people watch, etc. D
Do you have any suggestions, based on this info? (We will have 2 cars). You could email me at [email protected]
Thanks so much
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