Advice please re: Day trips by train from Salzburg
 

Lots of questions. Hope you'll have lots of answers.

Our family of five (husband, me and 3 grown kids) will be in Salzburg over New Years--from Dec. 27 to Jan. 3. We're staying in Salzburg all 7 nights and so far planning one day trip to Vienna by train. We'd like to do two or three other day trips by train rather than renting a car per request of DH the usual driver.

Here are some of the day trips I'm thinking about. Please advise whether a)they are even possible by train, e.g. can we get from one place to another and return on the same train and b)which would be most enjoyable.

1--Mondsee and Gmunden
2--St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang, and Bad Ischl
3--Bad Reichenhall and Berchtesgaden
4--Zell am See
5--Kufstein, St. Johann/Tirol & Kitzbuhel
6--Schladming

Re: 5 & 6, Son and SIL want to ski in Kitzbuhel and in Schladming. Could we just tag along on the ski bus or take a train to either/both and see the respective towns while they're skiing? Any way to take in Kufstein and St. Johann in Tirol by train enroute to Kitzbuhel?

Any other ideas for day trips by train from Salzburg gratefully accepted. Thanks.

You may want to check out the German train website, which has schedules for most of Europe, at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. This will help you figure out if it is possible to take certain daytrips out of Salzburg by train.

The areas around Salzburg are gorgeous and there are many great daytrips that can be taken from there. Of the areas you have listed, I have been to the Mondsee, St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang, Bad Reichenhall and Berchtesgaden. All are wonderful and would make great daytrips, although I don't know if the trains stop at each of these. I do know that there is a train station in Berchtesgaden. We stayed in Schonau (very near Berchtesgaden) for a week in May, and the area is stunning. Berchtesgaden is a great little picturesque town, and there is quite a bit to do around the area, including the Konigssee and Mt. Jenner, the Eagle's Nest, etc.

Definitely consider Hallstatt. Its a very picturesque little town on a lake in the Salzkammergut. This would make for a great daytrip.

Have you considered renting a car by any chance? The roads are very easy to navigate and you could cover much more ground. There are so many great places to visit and each one would be easier to get to by car. For instance, according to the website I listed above, it would take at least two hours to get to Hallstatt via train, although I don't recall it taking much more than an hour by car. Just a thought.

Good luck!
Tracy

Thanks Tracey. I have to admit to some laziness here. I just seem to have terrible trouble getting info out of the bahn.de site and for sure I can't figure out how to go from place to place in a single day. Hallstatt sounds nice and my fodors guide says it's accessible from Bad Ischl so plainly that would make a nice day trip.

I'm all for having a car but I'm not the driver and DH is adamant about not wanting one this time--concern about uncertain weather, love of trains, desire not to have his eyes glued to the road, stupid stuff like that.

Munich - we were in Munich for Oktoberfest and took a day trip to Salzburg. Train takes about 2 hours direct. Munich is wonderful; a great walking city; very scenic; lots to see and do. And eat!

The website can be tricky. First of all, I don't think you can put a date in too far in advance. I just basically use it to check and see if I can get from point A to point B. I used the random date of 14.01 (January 14), 9:00 a.m., and used Salzburg and Hallstatt. It gave me a list of three different routes. To find out how many stops there are, just check mark the box to the left of the time you are interested in, and click "details for selection". Here is what I found:

Salzburg Hbf 14.01.05 dep 09:10
Attnang-Puchheim 14.01.05 arr 09:54
Attnang-Puchheim 14.01.05 dep 10:15
Hallstatt 14.01.05 arr 11:48

If you get any messages, like the one I got when I tried to do Salzburg to St. Gilgen, that probably means that the route between the two does not exist.

Good luck!
Tracy

Thanks noonema. We went to Munich last year while we were in Garmisch over New Years. Appreciate your suggestion, though. We liked it a lot.

Tracey, thanks so much for helping me learn how to work that train site.

I get confused with the train websites, too, so I've been happy with the services of budgeteurope.com. You can call them and speak with a live person who is very knowledgeable and can help you purchase tickets for a slight S&H fee of about $15 per total purhase (not per ticket).
Also, research the Bayern Pass. Our family of four used it in June 2004, to go Munich-Salzburg round-trip one day. The Pass was unbelievably cheap-- I think it was about 39EU for up to FIVE people roundtrip.
We also debated about renting a car, but were very happy we'd taken the trains instead. So nice for everyone to relax and spread out. No stressful navigating, or worrying about inclement weather in the winter.

Kitzbuhel is a great town. Good food (goulash soup - anywhere!), great pastries, terrific shopping, and pretty churches. We went to ski, but we were rained out. We spent 4 days and were never bored.
((c))

Me and my husband are too going to salzburg but for Christmas and we want to go to Bad Ischl , Mondsee and Hallstatt amongst other beautiful place for a day trip. i am trying to use the www.de.be which is the germain rail and as duration for Mondsee it is stating that it's 8 hours that is from salzburg, is it true? wonder how much it will cost then as it is not giving me any prices saying that prices are not available. thanks if anyone could help out

KarenM26, I tried using the website you gave and it doesn't work. To use the German rail website, try http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en.

I tried typing in Salzburg to Mondsee and it didn't find anything. I'm assuming, then, that there is no connection between the two. Hopefully someone else can better answer this question. The Mondsee is gorgeous, but probably better reached by car.

Tracy

Hi JulieVikmanis,

I did just the same thing a few years ago at about the same time frame, between Christmas & New Years. I stayed in Salzburg for a week and took excursions out -- to Kitzbuehel, Innsbruck, and Zell am See. As I recall, all were direct (0 changes) trains, and all were less than two hours each way. In each place, there was plenty of time to roam, eat, and explore.

By the way, have you tried the Swiss rail website? It's about as easy as it can be, and it covers most (if not all) Europe. It's at www.rail.ch.

Have fun!

s

For KarenM26,

According to the Mondsee information on the discover.at website, you take the train to the town of Strasswalchen, and Mondsee is a further 14km. Probably have to continue by bus or arranged taxi.

Good luck!

s

Thanks swandav, I'll check out the Swiss site. Glad to know we can do Kitzbuhel and Zell am See by train.

I suggest that you try the Austrian Rail website
oebb.at
this site is in english also.

This will not only provide train schedules but bus service also .
example a bus to Mondsee and Berchtesgaden is the easiest and quickest 8 les than 45 mimutes)way to these places.

You can buy tickets at the station on the day you go-

Salzburg Ski bus is relatively expensive- I think it goes to a different place each day.

dear tcreath, sorry about the website it's www.db.de and thanks a lot for the information you give. by the way if any of you want to pop a suggestion on my thread which is "christmas in salzburg" you are more than welcome you will be helping us lot going to salburg for christmas and Julie very weldone on this thread.

do you know how much a bus ticket costs form salzburg to .................... bad ischl for example or how much is the / km?