pattysuericia

Hello, I need some help please. I am going on a trip to austria, what little towns, villages should I go to? Also any good non tourist restaurants(not pricey but nice) to suggest? Thanks a lot

Tangata

Some years ago we had an unexpected spare weekend in Austria and I asked an Austrian friend where to go. He suggested Durnstein a small town on the Danube. We stayed at the castle Schloss Durnstein and enjoyed it immensely. It is not a particularly old castle; the original castle is on the hill above the town.<BR><BR>I have visited the hydroelectric scheme at Kaprun on two occasions and found it fascinating. OK, I am an Engineer, but my wife liked it too. When last there we stayed at Zell am See and had dinner in a restaurant high above the lake. Sadly I can’t tell you its name as we were taken by another friend.<BR><BR>The Eisriesenwelt Hohle or ice cave near Werfen is also well worth a visit on the way to Salzburg.<BR><BR>If you would like more details of our trip please e-mail me.<BR><BR>

smasafy

Austria has enchanting little villages with beautiful lakes. All of these are musts: Hallstatt, St. Wolfgang, Zel am See, Gmunden.

BATUFFOLINA

I went to Austria 3 times and I visited Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna. I find Vienna monumental for its imperial traces (worth to visit is Schoenbrunn Schloss, Stephansdom, Belvedere museum and all the monuments inside the Ring). THe surroundings of Vienna are very beautiful, especially the Viennese Forest. Salzburg is romantic from my point of view, and a day trip can give you a good idea of its beauty beacuse the most important things are all in the older part of the town. Innsbruck is not bad, it is a loooong street at the end of which you can find the Golden Door with a small museum inside. But I also find the austrian country really awesome so either you travel by car or by train (and the autrian railway is very good) you will enjoy the visit. As far as I know Graz is also lovely and the region around Salzburg and Tirol (the region of Innsbruck)is amazing too because there are many lakes and salt caves (Salzkammergutland). <BR>As far as the restaurants, if you go to Vienna try the Sacher Konditorei where they make the original chocolate Sacher torte, whereas for a typical wienerschnitzel (viennese filet) a characteristic area is the one outside Vienna, in Grinzing. <BR>Near the Opera there is a good tourist office where you can get info and also book daily trips around Vienna.

bob_brown

Last summer we had very good visit to Heiligenblut in the Austrian Alps. The village is near Lienz (not Linz) on the south side of the Grossglockner peak.<BR>There is a scenic road that traverses the mountains between Heiligenblut and Salzburg.<BR><BR>We stayed at Landhaus Christoph for a relatively low price. I recall that it was about 40 e per day, with a small breakfast. The family spoke a little English.<BR><BR>Three summers ago we stayed in an apartment in Langenfeld-Astlehn in the<BR>&Ouml;tztal. We drove to several of the sights around there, including the glaciers, waterfalls, a village that is a recreation of the life and times of &Ouml;tzi, the Iceman, as well as Innsbruck, Garmisch, and the Zugspitze.<BR><BR>The price of the apartment was cheap enough and very nice. The name was Haus Michael. I think you can find it on the web. <BR><BR>Beautiful valley, calm and serene. I think you would like it. It had a complete kitchen, so we shopped the markets for food and drink just like the locals. It helps to speak some German, but I think you could get by ok without it. Many Austrians speak a little English.<BR>

bob_brown

The apartment had a complete kitchen, not the valley!! I had some key combination that scrambled my message about and put the modifiers in the wrong place. Not sure how I did that.

Amy

Ah, shoot, Bob, that would have been fun--think of the outdoor parties with a kitchen for the complete valley!<BR><BR>I'm enjoying all these suggestions, as I'm booked to be in Pfarrwerfen for two weeks in the summer, so please keep 'em coming!

bob_brown

The though about the kitchen intrigued me too. But the valley is too long for just one kitchen!<BR><BR>It was a nice place; just wish we had seen the sun more often. I remember our vist there quite well because I got to make several free phone calls to the USA one momentous afternoon in September -<BR>9.11.2001. <BR><BR>The government of Austria allowed free phone calls to the USA for a period of about 12 hours.<BR>I remember our landlady came up and knockd on the door to find out if we had heard the news. We had. Then she told us that we could call home for the next few hours. I always thought that was a generous gesture on the part of the Austrians. I have not seen that fact mentioned here, but I will always remember it.<BR><BR>

Operaman

Hi;<BR>Check my site for a photo journal of where we went and stayed.<BR>http://alexstarke.tripod.com/<BR>I have a lot of recommendations on it.<BR>We were over in Vienna again from Dec.27-Jan 3 and found a place near the Wien Nord station that is called Gasthaus Hansy. Terrific local food and no tourists. When you are there you must go to Witwe Bolte, it is traditional Austrian fare at its best.<BR>If you do go to Durnstein, try staying at the Stockingerhof, you won't see many American tourists there. It is also quite a lot cheaper than the Schloss, a more Austrian experience for sure. Are you driving? What time of year are you going?

JES

Definitely go to Salzburg--one of my all time favorite places in Europe. Adorable, charming....there's a great little bar built into the side of the mountain (sorry, can't remember the name). They play Austrian music there and people press coins into the cavelike ceiling.<BR>Salzgammergut was a side trip from Salzburg--a unbelievably beautiful village (they show it in the opening scene of Sound of Music--not the hill she is singing on). It's beyond beautiful with a restaurant almost floating on the lake there with the incredible view. I took a salt mine tour in here where you go in an open mine cart on a &quot;ride&quot; down into the salt caves and a little boat ride on the salt pond underground. It was a lot of fun.

Isobel

We stayed in a little village just outside Innsbruck called Igls. (10 minutes by bus outside Innsbruck). You can take the cablecar from Igls to the top of the mountain beside Igls and then go walking or just admire the view. I didnt particularly like Innsbruck but the surrounding villages and scenery is wonderful wherever you go. Austrian people very nice. Germisch is a lovely town or Mittenvald in Baveria - not far away but lovely places to visit.<BR>Isobel