PWAbbott

We will have the opportunity next May to travel on a long weekend from England and would like to explore either Austria or Switzerland for the first time. Can you please make recommendations for a 3 night, 4 day trip to either country and what was your "must see" destination? We love the mountains, small villages, music, art, and of course, great food! Thanks.

bettyk

Well, in my opinion, you can't go wrong with Switzerland. It is always a great destination. The Berner Oberland is gorgeous. We were there in May 2006 and the weather was great. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen at the Hotel Oberland which was very nice. There are several other good hotels in town also. Some people like to stay higher up in the mountains such as Murren or Gimmelwald.

There are also many great places in Austria. We found Hall in Tirol to be a very lovely small town with a lot to do. You are only a few kilometers from Innsbruck and could even go across the border into Italy. Hall is set on the Inn River with the gorgeous mountains surrounding it. The old town is larger than that of Innsbruck and there is a salt museum as well as an old mint and some amazing churches. I can recommend the Gasthof Badl in Hall as a great place to stay that's very reasonable in price.

If you want more info on either of these places, you can do a search here on Fodor's and/or check out the following websites:

www.hall-in-tirol.at

www.lauterbrunne.ch

PalenQ

Switzerland for mountains

Austria for culture, food, cities

Austria has Alps too but if never been to either i'd head for the Jungfrau area base like Grindelwald or Wengen as there is so much to do or not to do in this lovely area - the essence of Alps - chalet-style guest houses, glaciers, cable cars, mountain trains, walks for all levels, etc.

For Austria with that limited time i'd either go to Salzburg or Vienna

Salzburg one of finest looking cities in Europe and reeks culture - music and art. And there are some fine day trips like to the Sound of Music country around gorgeous Lake Wolfgang - easily accessible by frequent postal bus in about an hour from Salzburg.

Vienna itself can occupy all your time but from there the excursion by train or road to Melk, a cute Danube town with the Uber famous abbey and then from Melk take a boat thru the awesome Wachau Valley to Durnstein and Krems, returning by train to Vienna from either

Wachau Valley most beautiful part of the whole Danube perhaps - from Black Sea to Bavaria - vineyard clad slopes, neat old towns, etc.

hausfrau

Another vote for the Berner Oberland. You could definitely see a lot of the area in that timeframe. The Jungfrau (possibly all the way up to the Jungfraujoch if the weather is good, but at least go up to Kleine Scheidegg from either Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald) is a must-see.

Another personal favorite is Oeschinensee, above Kandersteg - a spectacular glacial lake ringed by mountains and waterfalls. You can take the chairlift up, walk about 20 minutes to the lake, then take a gorgeous hike halfway around the lake and back (2-3 hours roundtrip, depending on whether you stop at the huette at the far end of the lake for a snack).

ira

Hi P,

The Salzburg and/or the Salzkammergut region of Austria would be very nice.

logandog

Compared to Germany,for example,Austria is expensive. Switzerland is damned expensive.

PalenQ

one German once told me, an American, that in Germany you 'change money' every day but in Switzerland 'you change money every hour'

even to Germans Switzerland is so expensive. austria yes i think less so.

that said the Interlaken-BOB area has some real budget accommodations such as ski dorms and low-budget hotels lacking in most of Switzerland.

But still bring everything you can over from England - except booze, bread, chocolate and cheese which is still relatively cheap.

PWAbbott

Thanks for all the replies. How do prices compare to London/Oxford? We thought England was expensive! Easyjet has good fares from Luton to Zurich/Vienna and Ryanair flies to Salzburg. Where does one fly to in order to go to the Berner Oberland area? And do you recommend the trains to get to Jungfrau area? Any recommended hotels there or in Salzburg? Both countries sound great and I wish we could afford to do two trips!

TravMimi

In Salzburg we like to stay at the Weisse Taube. We were there early Sept. for 4 days. Great quiet location in the old town. Very nice breakfast. The Hotel Wolf is also nice and is right next door. I don't believe either has AC so if that's something you need in summer it might be a problem. Salzburg is a beautiful city with lots to do and there are many things to see close by. Salt mines, Ice caves, Berchtesgaden, etc.