A little background - we will be in Budapest and Vienna beforehand, and need to fly out of Munich. We will be traveling with a 4 year old. Travel is from late May/early June.
From Vienna, we are debating where to go for 3 nights before our flight. I have set my sights on Slovenia and plan to do all 3 nights in Bled area, with a day trip to Ljubljana. However, now as we consider more...I wonder if we should stay closer and do something in Austria or Bavaria, or Munich? After seeing Budapest and Vienna, we would like to see beautiful and interesting scenery and stay at a farm/relax, as opposed to seeing more cities (though Ljubljana sounds great). What is the scenery like in these 3 areas? I've seen photos of Bled, and Hallstat, have read various trip reports, and even some travel DVDs, but I am still having a hard time getting a clear comparison and a handle on these areas (Austria and Bavaria particularly). I feel like I have a better handle on what Slovenia might be like, but not the other two. We have been to the Berner Oberland (Wengen) area already, and loved it, but don't necessarily want to try to repeat that same scenery.
The main reason to see something in Bavaria/Austria as opposed to Bled would be to be closer to Munich for our flight out, though, a quick drive from Bled to Villach, and then a 4+ hour train ride to Munich is really not that bad, in our opinion.
I hope my question makes some sense? I guess I am looking for some comparisons of the 3 regions, if possible. We are not frequent travelers to Europe and not sure when we will be back in this general area . I wonder what would be a bigger loss for us, if we don't see it? We have already been to Croatia (loved it), but I have never been to Germany, Slovenia, and will only have seen Vienna in Austria.
Finally, we would prefer areas that are not packed with visitors...eg., did not totally love Venice, and are not that interested in seeing Salzburg. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Need help deciding between Slovenia/Bavaria/Austria
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Hi el,
I suggest going to Salzburg from Vienna.
You can do 2 nights there with a visit to the Salzkammergut, and spend your last night in Munich before you fly home.
I can highly recommend http://www.ammoos.at/main.php?language=en&m=home) for lodging.
Your child mught like a visit to Hohenwerfen. It's about 0:40 hr by train from Salzburg.
Details are in my trip report
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/ira-visits-europe---may-2007.cfm
Enjoy your visit.
I would avoid Salzburg just because it can get pretty busy and crowded. On the other hand, most of the other desirable places will have visitors too. However, my choice would be to go to the Salzkammergut for 2 nights, then spend the last night somewhere near Munich. For that my choice would be the resort town of Tegernsee, a lovely place on a lovely lake and about an hour from Munich. Good luck.
National Park "Hohe Tauern", maybe drive to Kals and show your 4 year old the beauty of the high mountains. Hope you'll see an eagle flying.
http://www.hohetauern.at/en.html
Thank you both, and I will look more closely into the Salzkammergut region.
I think my daughter AND my husband will be interested in the falconry center.
Ah, and the Hohe Tauern park...need to look at that as well. Thanks
hi, eluckhartd,
I'm just researching our trip to Vienna and beyond, and we have ended up plumping for the Salzkammergut for 4 nights. THis is a bit beyond your time frame, but you could certainly have a lovely couple of nights there followed by one closer to Munich as suggested above.
you could look at Mondsee, [think Sound of Music] or Wolfgangsee, [the white horse]. both of these have plenty to occupy you for far longer than you will be there. if you go to www.wolfgangsee.at they will send you loads of info or you can download it from there.
have a great trip,
regards, ann
Can I say Wolfgangsee and Mondsee are touristy and boring???
It seems Austria is well liked here...any love for sLOVEnia?
My husband prefers Slovenia, but I can probably sway him if we cannot justify the time it takes to travel there and back (to Munich).
yi logos,
you can say it, of course.
but it would be more helpful if you could offer an equally attractive and less touristy alternative!
regards, ann
Hi annhig, just look a few post above that one.
The only problem may be, that those areas are not as easy to access by car. Wolfgangsee tops the list of non-attactive places in that area, imho. Tourists everywhere!
annhig, you could also try exploring the caves at Badgastein, but this is not suitable for children. However an average physical fitness is needed.
http://www.wandern.com/rtc-wandern/19496/region_Wagrain/hoehlentour_3a_entrische_kirc.html
The big tour will take about 6 hours, to you it'll seem like a few minutes.
eluckhardt: Some good words for Slovenia from me
But to be honest, all three places you're looking at have beautiful spots and you'll have no problems to find enough to do and see to spend three nights there.
If I was you, I'd base my decision on the convenience of visiting and costs. In case that you don't book ahead for a long time, you could also base it upon the weather. End of May, beginning of June is normally a very good time to get good weather in Germany/Austria, but if it rains, Slovenia might be better for a vacation in the country-side.
Lake Bled is very beautiful indeed but a bit too far to travel to from Vienna and then all the way back to munich.
Austrian Lake District (Salzkammergut) is your nearest equivalent as far as beautiful scenery goes. They are also ideally situated about half way between Vienna and Munich. I like Wolfgangsee and I'm sure you would as well. Someone mentioned it's too touristy but so what. You didn't mention you wanted to get away from people. I'm sure there will be enough room for everyone.
Alternatively you can stay in Salzburg and do a day trip to the lakes. Also it's easier to get to munich from salzburg.
You may even want to spend your 3 nights in Bavaria. Berchstesgaden for example has some fun salt mines (great for kids), Eagles Nest and a beautiful lake nearby, Konigsee.
On day 3 you may even consider going to Chimsee to see one of the fantasy castles built by Mad King Ludwig
Last weekend in May is Pentecost, which is usually a peak travel season. School kids in Bavaria will be on vacation, and also those in Austria. The major sights and places (like Wolfgangsee, Chiemsee, Berchtesgaden/Königsee or Salzburg) should be packed with weekend travellers if weather is fine. Any place a bit off the beaten tracks will be less busy.
Weatherwise, it's smarter to stay south of the Alps (Carinthia, Slovenia, South Tirol) than at the Northern rim in spring time.
hi logos,
thanks for the link - it certainly gave my brain a work-out with the german! perhaps if they translated some of it they'd get more foreign tourists - but perhaps they don't want them. [and who can blame them, nasty things cluttering up their beautiful countryside]. living as i do in a part of the UK which is highly dependant upon tourists, I sympathise. but one of the reasons that places are touristy is because they have things tourists want. I don't think that Wagram would appeal to the OP for example.
the waterfalls were already on my radar but not the big holes in the ground. I'm not sure we're up for 5-6 hours under the earth though.
regards, ann
Wow. Thank you all for your help! I was wondering if Pentecost would be a factor for traveling, so thanks for the clarification and advice. Good also to know that some of you think the Austrian Lakes district is comparable to Bled. Weather is also a consideration, and thanks for pointing that out. We were in Tuscany in late May and it rained pretty much all 6 days we were there! I know you can't predict rain, but it's good to know the general situation. Flexibility would also be nice, but since we have our 4 year old with us, I might prefer to book in advance...but maybe not.
This is just the type of info. we were looking for to help us narrow down our decision. Thank you (though, I confess I am still not sure what to decide on just yet)! Like you all suggested, I am sure anywhere we wind up will be great.