Maureen

My husband and I will be traveling to Austria and Switzerland in late June. We are spending the first half of the trip in Austria and the second half in Switzerland. There is a day in the middle of our trip that we hoped to stay in a small, less touristy village. I have read up on Appenzell in Switzerland and Hall and Hallstatt in Austria. We enjoy beautiful scenery and outdoor life (hiking, walking, biking). Any suggestions for a great place to spend our day on the way from Salzburg to Lucerne?

Lisa

Hi, Maureen: <BR>My husband & I were in Appenzell in 1992 & we loved it. We were there in May and it was very green and beautiful. The day we were there we saw a travelling orchestra of little children. They were playing in the square. They were all in costume and had smaller children holding there sheet music up for them. It was great!!! Enjoy your trip.

K

My husband and I just got back from Europe. This was our 3rd time to visit the area you have mentioned. Each time we have stayed in a little town that is 10 k. outside of Innsbruck by the name of Zirl. We love a small Inn that we have stayed in before. It has wonderful atmosphere and very nice accomodations, in fact this time we had an apartment and it was less than a $100 a night including breakfast, there dinners are great too. The name is Hotel Tyrolis. (www.tyrolis.com/hotel.htm) You can check it out and see if it appeals to you. We have taken a drive each time we have stayed there to Garmisch and Mittenwald and came back down through Ehrwald. It is such a gorgeous drive. I highly recommend it. <BR>We flew out of Zurich, Switz. and it took us about 3 hrs. to drive from Zirl to Zurich. <BR>Oh yes, this trip we did go to Hallstatt. <BR>If you have any questions you can e-mail me and I will try to answer them if I can.

Maureen

Thank you Lisa and K. for the information. I am curious about Zirl. My husband and I will be relying strictly on trains for transportation/ getting around Switzerland and Austria. Would you still recommend Zirl or should I stick with Appenzell. No one mentioned Hall or Hallstatt as a better option.

K

The train does go through Zirl, but the train station is not real close to the hotel I mentioned. We did not see a train station in Hallstatt but you could check that out. <BR>Hall is just on the other side of Innsbruck and we only drove through it so I personally do not know anything about it. It looked like a pretty town.