bd

I have been trying to plan a trip around a conference in Innsbruck, and we finally have the schedule for that and can plan the rest of the trip. Thanks to everyone who have already given me advice.

Unfortunately, the days DH needs to be at the conference breaks up our time in Austria strangely, but I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out.

We arrive in London at 7:30am on July 28th and plan on flying on to Munich. We will need to be in Innsbruck Sunday night and can leave late afternoon on Wed. We have reservations in Wengen beginning on Saturday night, so that gives us 2 nights before and 3 nights afterward.

We don't want a car the whole time, but thought we'd rent one Wed to Sat. and would like to go to the Grossglockner, Hallstadt, St.Gilgen/Wolfgang. I'd like to see Salzburg, but I'm afraid of the crowds and heat in August, so I keep changing my mind on that one and if not pushing it, I'd like to go Berchtesgaden.

I don't think it make sense to split these up before and after Innsbruck, so beforehand I'm thinking about a night in Munich to shake off the jet lag and a night in Mittenwald, but I'm open to suggestions.

I know it doesn't make a lot of sense to head east before heading to Switzerland. I have thought about taking a train eastward and renting a car and driving back west if that makes more sense.

Can anyone come up with an itinerary out of this mess? I don't mind staying in different hotels each night, if necessary. Please let me know if you think I'm trying to do too much and should eliminate something. Thanks!

treplow

Please give a bit more exact timing.

I gather you will arrive in Munich on Friday, July 28, probably late morning, and you have to be in Innsbruck the following Sunday night. Thisgives you Friday afternoon, Saturday and part of Sunday to get to Innsbruck.

You will be able to leave Innbruck late Wednesday afternoon and you have to be in Wengen the following Saturday. That again gives you Wednesday afternoon at the most, Friday and Saturday to visit somewhere, and Saturday to get to Wengen. You don't tell us where you will be going after Wengen, and how much time you have to catch your flight home, and from where.

For example, you could take the train from the Munich airport, with a change at Munich Hbf. (main station) to a place near Salzburg. I agree that Salzburg in late July can be crowded and expensive, especially this, the Mozart jubilee year.

I usually recommend Prien at the Chiemsee lake. That is less than one hour from Munich Hbf. From there you can take the boat to the Herrenchiemsee palace of King Ludwig (allow about 2 1/2 hrs), or you can take a train to Salzburg (about 1 hour) and possibly on to Hallstatt and back to Prien. Check that out on the www.bahn.de website. It would make for a full day. Forget about the Grssglockner on that particular itinerary.,

Or you could take the train from Munich airport/Hbf. to Zell am See. That would entail a change of trains in Schwarzach and takes about 3 1/2 hrs. Againncheck the web site.

From there you can take a bus up the Grossglockner as well as visit other nearby sites, like the Schmittenhoehe (great views), Kaprun/Kitzsteinhorn glacier, and a trip to Salzburg (again a full day, so forget about Hallstatt). There are trains from Zell am See (a delightful town) to Innsbruck.

After your meeting in Innsbruck, I would stick close to Innsbruck, perhaps take the train to Garmisch or bus trips into a couple of the valleys near Innsbruck, and then continue to Wengen, which will take up a good part of your day.

You see, with your schedule it doesn't make sense to rent a car, because picking it up in one country and dropping it off in another gets very expensive - - high drop off charges. So, unless you rent a car in Munich and do the whole trip by car and drop it off again in Munich (or somehere else in Germany), it gets expensive. On the other hand, having a car sit around in Innsbruck and Lauterbrunnen (no cars in Wngen!) again is not very cost efficient. Of course, with a car you have much greater freedom to visit all the places you want to see.

Munich - Prien the first day, Salzburg - St. Wolfgang - Hallstatt day 2, Zell am See - Gossglockner Innsbruck (a full) Day 3. Then Innsbruck. After Innsbruck wending your way to Wengen via some of the great Swiss passes and perhaps Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstaetter See)



For your trip to Innsbruck, take the train from Prien as far as Rosenheim and get the train to Innsbruck. It is quite a scenic ride along the Inn river, if you sit on the right side of the train.

From there yo

bd

I was away for the weekend, and didn't get to respond sooner, but I do thank you for your detailed response.

The Wengen portion of the trip is taken care of - we're spending 5 nights there before flying back to London for the journey home (but I could cut a night off of that if necessary.)

As I said, I know it doesn't make much sense heading east after Innsbruck, but I think we might have to because we'll have more time - 2 full days and 2 partial days. That was the only part of the trip that I wanted to rent a car. My thought was to either rent it in Innsbruck and drive to the other towns in Austria that I mentioned, or take a train to Salzburg, rent a car there, and drop it off maybe in Zell am See, or more towards Innsbruck, before hopping the train to Switzerland.

bd

I forgot to mention - I haven't yet gotten a flight to Munich, but I'm planning on one leaving LHR at 11:05 and arriving at 1:50pm. Prior to that, we'll have driven 4.5 hours to the airport, flying overnight to LHR and then flying to Munich, so I have a feeling we'll be ready to crash about then.

treplow

Judging by your reply, you may be better off renting a car. How about this: Fly from LHR to Salzburg and pick up your car there. Then "do" as much in the Salzburg area (without necessarily staying there) during the first few days, wending your way east toward Innsbruck.

The drive from Salzburg to St.Wolfgang/St.Gilgen, for example, is on good roads and not very long, and from there you can visit Hallstatt on the next day and return to St.Wolfgang/St. Gilgen) for the night.

You could then drive toward Innsbruck, via Zell am See. Grossglocikner on the same day is possible, if you stay overnight in Zell am See, Bruck or Saalfelden. The route Salzburg, Bad Reichenhall, Lofer, Saalfelden, Zell am See is good and fairly fast,rather than going the southern way Salzburg - Bischofhofen, where on weekends you can encounter bad traffic jams on the autobahn.

After you Innsbruck meetings, continue visiting the places you missed to the east (i.e. perhaps Grossglockner, etc.), continuing heading west, and dropping off the car then in either Innsbruck or Bregenz and hopping on the train to Interlaken-Wengen.

This way you will shorten the distance between Innsbruck and the "missed" places.

Let me know if you have any further questions. There is a fairly good by-pass between Salzburg - Bad Reichenhall and Lofer which I can direct you to.

bd

I thought of flying to Salzburg, but the flights are at worse times, are not direct, and are more money. Plus we'd have the car sitting idle in Innsbruck for 3 days.

Do you think we can do it all after the meetings - either taking the train to Salzburg and renting a car there, or just driving from Innsbruck?

treplow

I'm trying to recap how much time you have after Innsbruck. I believe it's part of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday. Correct?

Before Innsbruck you really have only Saturday and part of Sunday. Friday will be shot for all practical purposes.

And you want to see St.Wolfgang/St Gilgen, Hallstatt (i.e. Salzkammergut),Grossglockner.

The only way I can see that you can get to all these places is to take the train from MUC airport to Salzburg (Bayernkarte for EURO 28 for up to 5 persons) and pick up a rental car to drive to St. Wolfgang or St. Gilgen. Overnight there and on the next day (Saturday), after touring a bit the Lakes Region there, drive to Hallstatt via Bad Ischl, avoiding the A-10 Autobahn (see my earlier comment about weekend traffic).

Stay in Hallstatt overnight, and on Sunday drive to Innsbruck via Bischofshofen, Mittersill, Woergl, Autobahn A-12. Drop your car in Innsbruck (but check if AutoEurope doesn't give you a worthwhile rate if you keep the car for after your Innsbruck conference rather than just 3 days.)

On Wednesday, take the train back to Zell am See. Stay overnight and on Thursday take the bus up the Grossglockner, on Friday do some sightseeing around Zell (Schmittenhohe)and on Saturday start your trip by train to Wengen.

If it is not much more expensive to keep the car in Innsbruck, on Wednesday return to Zell am See by car via Autobahn A-12 to Jenbach, exit there and take the B-169 part way south into the Zilleretal, and at Hainzenberg pick up the B- 165 (Gerlospass, very scenic, partially a toll road) to Mittersill and Zell.

On Thursday drive up and across the Grossglockner to Lienz and on to Dobbiaco (Italy), Brunico, Bressanone, Brenner Pass, Innsbruck and on the A-12 as far as Landeck. Stay overnight there.

On Friday take the Silvretta Hochstrasse (B-188), another toll road with phantastic scenery to Bludenz, and from there on the Autobahn to Bregenz, where you stay overnight and return your car.

If you have time in Bregenz, take the cable car up the Pfaender for the view of Lake Constance, the Swiss and Austrian alps.

Take the train from Bregenz to Interlaken-Ost, where you have to change to a narrow gauge train to Lauterbrunnen, where you have to change to another train to Wengen.

I have driven all these roads and taken the trains to Lauterbrunnen. You can do it all in the allotted time, although it is a bit rushed. However, you will see a lot of great scenery.

Two things: For renting a car in Austria you need an International Driver's Permit, any AAA here in the States will issue one. Although you may not be asked for it in Austria, it's the law, and there's no need to risk having to pay a fine or lose a lot of time. This also applies to having an Autobahn user's vignette (decal) for Austria. You can get them for varying lengths of time, and they cost about $10 for a week. Getting caught without one can cost you about $120, and again is a great nuisance.

bd

Treplow- Thank you so much for the time and effort to come up with this plan. I think it's just what I was looking for.

wnab1q

Two years ago we decided to spend a night in Innsbruck, couldn't find a room so we drove a little to the east and found Hall in Tirol. We loved the town, much slower pace than Innsbruck.

We liked the area so much we are including it as a stop in our July trip.

bettyk

Hall in Tirol is lovely. We stayed at the Gasthof Badl, a rustic little place right on the River Inn. It's only a short walk across the bridge to the old town.

bd

Yes, I've heard nice things about Hall, and do plan to visit.

Does anyone have any recommendations for places to stay in: St. Wolfgang, Hallstatt, Zell am See, and/or Bregenz?

bettyk

The Seehotel Gruner Baum is probably the nicest hotel in Hallstatt. It is right on the lake and has recently been remodeled.

Also nice is the Hotel Zauner. They are not on the lake but do have some "lake view" rooms.

Both of these hotels have rooms starting at around 80 to 100 Euro.

bd

Thanks, Betty I will look into them.