We have about 6 to 7 days available in austria in the second half of May - which is better to base ourselves in - Alpbach or St Gilgen ,Salzkammergut ( we dont want to do both, we will do one of the them and see that one place and surrounding areas properly ) - we are looking at adventure sports like paragliding, river rafting, hiking etc - also we would like to see natural beauty. We would also like to visit nearby towns and villages. keeping these factors in mind kindly provide your suggestions.Thanks.

How are you getting around, public trans. or rental car?

With that many days on one place, I'd have to say the Salzkammergut.

St. Gilgen!
It is special

While there are a number of people here that like St. Gilgen, I prefer St. Wolfgang across the lake. It is a little larger and has more restaurants, shops, etc. You can always take the boat across to the other.

If you will have a car, you can also drive from St. Gilgen to St. Wolfgang. It takes less than 20 minutes and, as with most drives in that area, it very lovely IMO.

We based in St. Gilgen for 10 days a couple of years ago and drove to St. Wolfgang several times as well as to Bad Ischl, Hallstatt, Gmunden, etc. We have been to St. Gilgen at least a half dozen times and always stay at the Hotel Schernthaner. It is a lovely little hotel. There are several very nice restaurants in St. Gilgen with excellent local Austrian food including fresh fish.

Bookmarking!

Many thanks to all of you. I did'nt see a reply in the first few days , so assumed nobody was interested to reply - suddenly saw today and noticed so many replies - Thanks a lot once again to all of you. We will be using public transport and that is why we have decided on St Gilgen - planning to take an apartment.