ccrockett

My wife and I will be in Vienna from April 6th through April 11th. We were originally hoping to take a boat cruise down from Melk to Krems, but I heard the boats do not begin service until mid-April. We also thought about taking a bus tour, but we would like to have flexibility and be able to stop along the Wachau Valley as we please. As an alternative, we are thinking of renting a car and spending the day travelling through the valley. We were hoping to see the apricot trees while they are in bloom. Does anyone know the average time of year the trees bloom in this area? Obviously a precise prediction can't be had, but I assume there is a general time period when it happens. Are the trees usually in bloom during the first two weeks of April? We were also thinking of visiting the Vienna Woods as well. Would this be possible to do in one day by car?

mokka4

ccrockett:
no personal experience, but a quick net search finds
marthasvienna.blogspot.com

from April 12,2010 wherein she posts lovely photos of flowering fruit trees in Wachau, with a note that "the trees had started, but were not yet in full bloom...."

also, a pretty photo of a flowering apricot tree from April 7, 2011 for sale by 'Martin Siepmann'...would indicate that you have a decent chance of peeping some nice blossoms!

fourfortravel

The short answer to, "We were also thinking of visiting the Vienna Woods as well. Would this be possible to do in one day by car?" is yes. I wouldn't save it for the weekend days of the itinerary, though; vehicles and cyclists will be out in numbers.

That said, regarding Marillen blooms (heavens, DON'T call them apricots or, worse, aprikosen! ) we cycled the scenic route of the Wachau Valley on April 11 this year (Melk to Krems), and in looking at our photos I would say that this year the blooms were a little less than in MarthasViennas photos; in some places considerably less. As a planning note, driving through the Wachau Valley means you have to choose one side of the river or the other; and there are not many places to pull aside for photos.

The "Vienna Woods" is not a distinct area, like perhaps a National Park might be in the US. The area spans the NE to SW diagonal from Klosterneuburg to Helenental if you were to Google Map it, generally. In one day you could add a small stretch of the Vienna Woods via auto; perhaps from Kahlenberg along the Hohenstraße, stopping where possible for photos, etc. Really, though, the WienerWald is best appreciated on foot.

ccrockett

Thank you so much for the information. I'm glad to have learned Marillenblüten before I left. I am going to look into renting a bicycle instead of a car as an option. I was wondering if it was too early in the year to cycle, but it sounds like you did it and didn't have any problems. Lots of fun little details to figure out.

fourfortravel

Cycling the route is straightforward. For the outbound, take the train from Westbahnhof to Melk; cycle from Melk to Krems (the prettiest stretch of the Wachau), then take the direct return train back to Vienna's Franz-Josef Bahnhof, except that you should exit the train at Heiligenstadt (one station before) in order to directly connect to the U-Bahn to take you into the Inner Stadt where, presumably, you will be staying.