Fodors Forums is my favourite travel site and I get so much great info from others, I hope some of this info will be useful to someone else out there. I just wish I could write in a great entertaining style like some others!

My husband and I have just had a great week in Austria, flying from London to Bratislava airport, in Slovakia, with SkyEurope. We had free flights, otherwise we might have flown straight into Austria but Bratislava is only an hour's drive from Vienna. You can catch a bus from outside the airport terminal to Vienna but we hired a car for the trip.

If anyone is returning a car to Bratislava, the signage is very minimal and a bit vague. Also there is no one anywhere near the rental cars to help. We just parked the car and walked back to the terminal to drop off the keys.

If anyone is going to Bratislava airport and is into shopping, there is a new big shopping mall about 5 mins drive away http://www.avion.sk/english/ Note the shops don't open until 10am though you can get food and drink before then.

We had a week all together and ended up with:
one night in Durnstein,
3 nights in Zell am See,
2 nights in Hallstatt and
one night in Neusiedl am See

Our hotel at Durnstein http://www.saengerblondel.at/ was fantastic, nice room, free parking, friendly and hospitable owners and the best meal of our trip in their restaurant situated in a lovely garden. Very nice buffet breakfast.

The owners of the hotel in Zell am See, Beate and Bernd, http://www.hubertus-pension.at/englisch/unser_haus.html were very welcoming and friendly. We loved our stay at their hotel, our room was large and comfortable, good beds and shower, balcony with a great view of the mountains and cable car and a buffet breakfast with lots of choice. There is a computer for guests to use with free internet which we found very useful, also ample free parking. Guest kitchen for those who wanted to make a meal.

In Hallstatt, stayed at http://anger.hallstatt.net/?lang=en which was fine, didn't seem as welcoming as other places we had stayed and the breakfast wasn't quite as plentiful. It does have free parking as it's about 10 minutes along the lake shore.

Stayed for our last night in Neusiedl am See at http://www.rathausstueberl.at/set_engl.htm which had a nice restaurant but the room we had was very dated and badly needed redecorating. Very little English spoken.

The highlight of our trip was the day we drove the Grossglocknerstrasse. It took us all day, we started from Zell am See, drove towards Bruck and bought picnic lunch supplies at the Merkur supermarket, which had a good selection, then drove on to the toll booth. The hefty fee of 28 euro per car was worth it to us.

There were lots of (very fit) cyclists and loads of groups of motor cyclists too. All along the road are places to stop, cafes, toilets, picnic tables, viewing areas etc. The views of the mountains were really awesome. Drove along towards the glacier and wondered where to stop, when suddenly we found ourselves turning into a multi-storey carpark! Up and up and on the 4th level, parked on the top (for free) to take in the glorious glacier views. Two marmots playing in the sun attracted a huge crowd of onlookers. A really good, though tiring, day. Note that if you go back towards Zell am See on the other road, via Matrei, there is a tunnel with a toll of 10 euro but it seemed quicker to return that way.

We visited Hangar 7 http://www.hangar-7.com/#en/homepage/ which is at Salzburg airport, on the opposite side of the runway to the terminal building. It's an amazing futuristic looking building with Red Bull planes, racing cars and motorbikes. Free admission, toilets, cafe and bar inside.

Went to Melk Abbey http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/index.html which has some really beautiful rooms and the church is stunning. There are large gardens as well as a cafe and restaurant. Worth seeing but for us, not a 'must see'. Euro 7.50 to see the abbey and gardens. An audio tour is extra. Note that if you are on your own, it seemed to be acceptable to go around the hordes of people on tours and go at your own pace. If we had stood behind all the groups and waited, we would have been there all day.

Did a lot of exploring, had cake and coffee every day (mmm...), visited St Gilgen which is very pretty, situated on an aqua blue lake with a cable car up the mountain behind the town. Also enjoyed a few hours at Altaussee, there is a casual cafe right by the lake, where the boat docks, and the view there across the lake is lovely. Stopped for a while in Tulln which was peaceful and attractive, also had cake and coffee at Bad Ischl. Being Australian, we just HAD to stop for photos at Bad Aussee.

Our general impressions of Austria -
Austrians seem healthier and fitter and happier than people in the UK.
Cycling was very popular.
Friendly people
Free clean toilets everywhere (unlike some other European countries!).
Clean with no litter anywhere and very green scenery.
Good roads.
Food was generally good but menu choices a bit limited. Cakes were very good.
English was spoken a little, we got by with very little German. Smiles and gestures always help.

Kay

Kay, I've had the same impressions as you. Food was usually large servings, too.

What a gorgeous and pristine country! When we were last there unique-looking equipment was literally sucking the leaves off the sides of the roads.

Thanks for the great report! I've been to most places you mention so it is lovely to re-live the experience.

I just love Austria and we are headed there in December. I have been looking for an option for 2 nights after our stay in Salzburg.

We will not have a car so will need to depend on taxis to get around. Is the hotel you stayed in convenient to walk to restaurants and a bit if shopping? Is there much in the immediate area?

thanks!

Hi travel2live2 -
yeah, I know what you mean about pristine. We kept remarking on how clean it was, no rubbish anywhere, very green and pretty. It's strange that it's not more popular with foreigners for holidays. We had a much better time than we expected to. The people especially were very hospitable and friendly.

To kfusto -
not sure which hotel you are referring to, did you mean Hallstatt or Zell am See?

If you mean the hotel in Hallstatt, there is little to do or see in the village and the surrounding countryside is very scenic but I think you would need a car to get around. You can walk easily from the hotel to the village and lake but not much there, a few shops and a few places to eat.

If you mean Zell am See, the town is a reasonable size and there are some large shops on the outskirts too. The hotel in Zell am See was within a few minutes walk of the town and has nice mountain views from the rooms. You would be close to shops, restaurants and the lake. Zell am See is much bigger than Hallstatt.

Please let me know if I have misinterpreted your question - happy to help!

Kay

Kay, yes, it was Zell Am See.

I will traveling with my husband, best friend and my 78 year mom. We will be in Salzburg first, then somewhere for 2 nights then Munich for 4. Would you consider this a location with a reasonable amount to do within walking distance?

I've also stayed at the Hubertus in Zell-am-See, but I didn't have a car. I did the Grossglockner by bus, but you can't do that in December! I also visited the Krimml waterfall by bus, and loved it. Pix at kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/264391. I enjoyed Zell-am-See, and while Hallstat would probably look lovely if there's snow, there would definitely be more to do in Zell.

kfusto, have you considered staying in St. Gilgen on Wolfgangsee for a couple of nights? Small town, but you can take the boat to St. Wolfgang, which is a larger town with lots of shopping and restaurants. All easily walkable.
And you wouldn't need a car. You can get to St. Gilgen from Salzburg either by bus or train I believe.

I imagine it would be lovely in winter. We were there last Sept. We stayed at the Hotel Schernthaner.

http://www.wolfgangsee.at/en/5-00-0-...rt/winter.html

http://www.hotel-schernthaner.at/sei...e_winter_e.htm

bettyk, I actually had thought about that and posted this morning looking for hotels. The feedback was that it would be very quiet in winter and I do not want to be where everything is closed. While a small town atmosphere would be lovely, I am concerned that not enough will be open in easy walking distance.

Kfusto, they have a Christmas Market in St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang too, so I doubt everything will be closed. Please take a look at the links I provided. You can send an email to the tourist information people or the hotel if you would like to ask questions.

St. Gilgen is small so everything is in walking distance. It is a very short walk to the lake from the Hotel where we stayed and from there you can take the boat to St. Wolfgang. St. Wolfgang is much larger than St Gilgen with many more shops and restaurants.

While Berchtesgaden is gorgeous, it is somewhat hilly in town, especially from the train station up to the main part of the old town. St Gilgen was much flatter and in my opinion would be easier for walking.

This is from a poster who was there right before Christmas:

Author: Images2
Date: 01/28/2008, 09:58 pm

I loved St.Gilgen! There were several advent booths, food booths, and cute shops. Horse and buggy rides were offered starting at just €10. This was the last day of Advent here and the last day of the Christmas markets. They didn’t discount merchandise though, although some booths did the next day in Salzburg! We bought our first Mozart Brezen here, which is a chocolate pretzel filled with jam. I love these pretzels, and bought several on this trip! I also loved the gingerbread heart cookies they sell, decorated with German phrases. I had one booth read many of them for me, so I could pick out an appropriate one for our granddaughter! (Since it’s obvious I can’t read any German!).

Another interesting stop here is the cemetery, with many of the gravesites decorated with Christmas greenery, lanterns, etc. It’s backdrop are the most beautiful snow covered mountains, across the lake.

We took the ferry across the lake to St.Wolfgang. The ferry is €5.40 per person, one way. The schedule was more frequent on this holiday weekend. It is also listed on the internet. The towns have a simple web site with a link to the schedule and events, www.wolfgangseer-advent.at.

St. Wolfgang is a larger town, with even more Christmas booths, and while nice, we preferred St. Gilgen. Still, it was worthwhile to go here, and the boat trip is enjoyable. Also one booth has the best potato soup in a bread bowl we’ve ever had! We also walked a bit along the trail which links St.Wolfgang to Strobl, turned around and returned to St. Wolfgang. This trail is just past the ferry dock where you depart St.Wolfgang. The arrival dock is in a different location at this time, but only a 5 minute walk to town. I think the walk between Strobl and St.Wolfgang is a bit more than 1 hour. The ferry schedule linking St. Gilgen to Strobl, to St. Wolfgang really didn’t give you enough time in each town, so we didn’t go to Strobl. There is also a bus linking the towns, but it’s still difficult to do all 3 towns in one day. We took the ferry back across lake Wolfgangsee to St.Gilgen where I wanted to see the birth house of Mozart’s mother, Anna Maria. It’s close to the ferry dock. We found that it is closed now, as they are working to restore it.

Thank you!

You are welcome. I hope to go there sometime in the winter. We took the cable car in St. Gilgen up to the Zwolferhorn Mtn. which offers amazing views. We also took the steam train in St. Wolfgang up the Schafberg Mtn. That view was also gorgeous but because of having to time the train with the boat back to St. Gilgen, I think the chairlift in St. Gilgen would be just as nice.

We had always stayed in Hallstatt on our previous trips. And while I do love Hallstatt, St. Gilgen is easier to get to and when you are there it offers more to do, especially without a car.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure you will have a great time. It's such a beautiful area.

Does anyone know if there is a bus from Hallstatt to St. Gilgen?

Yes there is, a train from Hallstatt to Bad Ischl then a bus to St Gilgen.
Here is the Austrian train site.
www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp
Its easy to use, put in your departure and arrival places, time and date and it will bring up another screen with your choices, you can then click on "details" and get a full listing of stops. Play around with it and you will soon be comfortable with the site.

We are stopping in St Gilgen next May for 3 nights, after reading Betty's trip reports, it didn't take much to convince me!

Best wishes with your planning.
Best wishes

Aw, Maudie, the pressure!! LOL. I'm sure you will like it as I'm not the only one here that finds it beautiful (thank goodness).

Maudie

Thanks for the info. I will be in Hallstatt in September and I want to go to St. Gilgen on a day trip.

Gosh, I thought this thread had died and dropped to the bottom of the list. Nice to see so many comments on beautiful Austria.

kfusto - regarding Zell am See, there is the town for you to see, some larger shops (huge supermarket, clothes shop etc) on the outskirts which you could walk to or get a taxi, the lake - though I'm not sure if the boat trips run all year. You could walk around the lake and there are a few cable cars that run up the mountains. If you had a fine day, that could be good for views.

We only had a couple of days in Zell am See and spent one in the town and immediate area, which you could see by foot and the other day we spent on the Grossglocknerstrasse which I think is closed during winter.

One thing we didn't know was the train line run right next to the lake in Zell am See which we thought was a bit ugly. You have to cross the rail lines to reach the lake shore. St Gilgen doesn't have this problem but is much smaller. St Gilgen is very pretty but not much to do there.

Kay

Oh Betty, no pressure intended, it wasn't exactly a hard decision to make. And if there is nothing to do there then all the better, we can just walk and find a nice little place to picnic by the lake. Sounds just perfect to us.

Thinking of going to Vienna next year. These reports are encouraing me to take time to see the small towns and villages too. So, now will begin planning seriously. In the meantime, wondering what kind of items did you all buy as souvenirs. Shopping and traveling go hand-in-hand for me, thus as I begin seriously planning my trip, I want to also start my shopping list. Thanks a ton.

To ileen -
I like to shop when we're away too but I actually didn't think Austria seemed like a good country for shopping but that may have been because we were in such small places. In Durnstein, it's the centre of apricot growing, so the tourist shops were full of yummy apricot things, like apricot liquer, apricot soap, chocolate, etc etc.

In other places, you could buy the usual teatowels etc with Austrian motifs, also cowbells painted with pictures. One shop we saw had beautiful glass Christmas ornaments. We bought quite a bit of chocolate, it was better quality and cheaper than we can normally buy and we're chocoholics!

In Vienna there will be a lot more shops to choose from, I read the other day one of the largest shopping malls in Europe is in Vienna so you could spend some time there.

Good luck.
Kay

My husband and I leave for Zell am See next week and I have a few questions. Where would I find information on the bus to Grossglockner? We will have a car, but my husband is a bit nervous about driving up the mountain. Has anyone done any of the white water rafting or canyoning offered by companies there? At this time of year, how cold will it be if we take the cable car up for a hike? We have our room booked at Hubertus so I am glad to hear such good reviews! Thank you!