As part of a larger trip thru Europe, we will be renting a car in Vienna and dropping off in Salzburg. I have been poking around on locations and most companies have their main facilities at the airport with smaller satellite offices located thru the cities (seems like some are auto dealerships). It would be more convenient to rent from these smaller locations closer to our hotel, but seems safer to go to the airport where hours and selection may be better. It is tough to see all this info on line. Any advice?

Pickup at the airport will most likely cost more than an off-airport location. Some countries also have the pickup surcharge at train locations. Drop off is not affected, you can drop anywhere without the surcharge.

Try Kemwel.com or Autoeurope.com. They are brokers based in the US and you should find quite a few city locations. I rent through them every year.

We have picked up often at city center locations and had no problem - but we did call them in advance - and picked up in the evening for a morning departure - to be sure of getting the car we had reserved (auto and size).

Airport pickup fees might be your only issue. I've rented from satellite offices in the major cities with no problems. The only issue might be negotiating busy traffic near Vienna city center, say, rather than hitting the Autobahn right from the airport. If you can work the slightly constrained pick-up/drop-off times into your itinerary, it shouldn't be an issue.

I heartily second the suggestion to contact Autoeurope.com - or better yet, Bob and Andy Bestor at gemut.com. They provided me excellent, personalized customer service and found a rate cheaper than what I was getting on the various websites.

Hertz has a city center location on the Ringstrasse / Karntner Ring 17.
This easily reached and an easy route directly out of the city on to the Autobahn A-1 to Salzburg.

Saves time and a trip to the Vienna airport .

Broker Firms such as those mentioned above
Gemut

www.gemut.com

and www.autoeurope.com

can offer provide cheaper rates as brokers than found with rental firms themselves - worth a look. You still get the auto fro one of the major rental firms.

In Salzburg ,Avis has a location by the train station most others only by the airport.
But airport is only a short bus ride from city center/old town area.

In Salzburg, Europcar has a location near the train station, also.