Hello Fodorites,
I am a single traveller, planning a 14-day trip to Vienna in July 2008. Since I understand two weeks is a long time to stay in one place, i would like to enrich it with some daily excursions, in particular to the Wachau, Bratislava and Budapest.
Does anybody know how possible is that and also do i need to book train tickets in advance or i can find 2-3 days before the departure?
Would you also suggest other locations for daily excursions close to Vienna? I wouldn't like to leave the city and stay overnight elsewhere (except if I so much like the place that I decide to stay just for a day more). Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you in advance!!

Hi, I'm also planning to be in Vienna in July 08 and so am interested in what other replies you get. I'm planning on Bratislava for a day trip as I understand its very close (less than an hour by train). I was also thinking of Melk which I understand is pretty close but it seems most people do it by car, although I think train is possible. I'm spending several days in Budapest before Vienna as it seems Budapest has as much, if not more, than Vienna, at least for the kind of thing I'm interested in.

Hopefully someone else will give us some suggestions.

Hi N,

Salzburg is about 3 hr by train.

Prague is about 5 hr.

I would do 3-3 nights at each.

Seems we are going to the same exactly places. Melk is my choice in the Wachau. I might make it 2 days in Budapest though and Bratislava remains as daily trip. I haven't searched for train tickets though. Should i?

Thanks Ira
i might include these in my next trip. I am in particular interested in the area around Vienna for personal reasons too (i am considering to move there in a few years), so since it is my first trip to Austria in general i would like to explore the part around Wien better. Salzburg is great i am sure but still a bit off my track.
Thanks though!!!

Salzburg is definitely too distant for a day trip (would deserve two rather than half a day) - and the same goes for Budapest. A day trip there wouldn't make any sense (though Vienna has actually much more for the art & architecture lover than Budapest).
Melk is a truly great sight, and you should also see the inevitable Wachau, which is certainly pretty... yet the area around Langenlois, Fels am Wagram and Zöbing is way prettier, and less touristy. Further rewarding day trips include the Marchfeld baroque palaces east of Vienna, some of them really great baroque architecture (sorry, I don't recall which ones, I'm already mixing them up - it's been too long that I've been there). Last not least, in Klosterneuburg north of Vienna, there is a particularly interesting private (but huge!) museum of contemporary art, if you are interested in such a thing: the Sammlung Essl.

Thank you so much franco for your helful suggestions

hope to hear ftom more fodorites who have been there as well

I had hoped to make day trips to Sopron (Hungary) and Semmering when I was in Vienna in October. My feet weren't up to it, but both looked interesting. I don't think Budapest is a day trip - way too much to do there!

Hi Nikoleta - and others

just a warning that the european football cup is taking place in Austria this June/July.

this may make some accommodation a) full, b) expensive c) noisy.

for this and other reasons, we have put off our trip to this area to 2009.

regards, ann

ann - do you know the dates of the football cup?

I know very well that I'm not Ann, but here we go: http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/euro/index.html

Of course you can do Salzburg as a day trip. Many people do it every year. I've done it a couple of times. It's a long day trip, but if you start early and come back in the evening, you can see quite a bit of the city.

Graz is another day trip option. We did that last year and had a great time. The train ride is scenic and Graz is an attractive city with plenty to see.

Danke schoen for your proposals, i will take everything into consideration Ann thanks for reminding the Uefa cup, though i think it won't be any trouble for me.. my trip will start around the 17th of July so it won't affect me!

hi, again, Nikoleta,

thanks to Franco for looking up the dates. Confusingly, although this is organaised by uefa, it is not the "uefa" cup - that is a eurpoean -wide club competition for those clubs that don't make it through to the European cup.

These are the european championships, for countries in europe. I know i called it the european cup in my original mention of it, but I was just being lazy.

I think I've got this right - doubtless someone wil tell me if I've got it wrong. and it is totally irrelvant to your trip. thank goodness.



regards, ann

Thanks ann and franco - I had tentatively been planning to be arriving in Vienna right around 29 June which appears to be the finals so I will certainly move the trip up a few days to make sure I miss it. Great to have this board to get this kind of information, as I am not into sports I never would have thought to need to work around it.

Ann thanks for the details... By the way shame of me not to remember the exact title of this cup since my country won the last one in 2004 though it still feels a loong time since then so i might be excused after all!

Isabel yes i think it is the best thing if u change the dates of your travel. You know how noisy men can be with football... and higher prices sound just as discouraging..

Does anoybody know about the train tickets that i mentioned at my first message? Should it be easy to purchase them just a few days earlier of each daily excursion or i am dreaming?

The final match of Euro 2008 is June 29.
Vienna returns to normal immediately after this.

No need to buy train tickets in advance.
You can easily purchaes them would you go to the train station for your trip.- Or if not comfortable with that - the day before -

Note that Vienna has various train stations-
Trains - to / from salzburg, Melk and West- arrive and depart Westbahnhof - on Ubahn line U-3

Trains for budapest , Bratislava south - usually from Sudbahnhof-

Streetcar line " D" or UBahn line U-1 with a short walk.

If you wish to visit melk - investigate the Kombi Ticket - train to Melk - boat ride down the Danube Melk to Krems and train back to Vienna.

www.ddsg-blue-danube.at

The Wachau is worth some extra time- very nice small wine towns - fantastic scenery -

1 hour train ride from Franz Josef Bahnhof in Vienna to Krems .
Krems - more than 1000 years old-

fun to bike , walk or take the regional train to towns of Dürnstein,Weissenkirchen, Spitz etc.

Fels, Langenlois ,Zöbing are best visited if you have an auto-

Rather than the train, you should consider a boat on the Danube to either Bratislava or Melk. There's one to Bratislava that is a high-speed hydofoil, I think it takes about an hour. There should be a few different options to Melk that are more cruise-like and include some other towns like Krems. A delightful way to enjoy the scenery of the area!

I've only done the trip to Bratislava, but it was a perfect day trip. A very interesting city with delicious cheap food... it's easy to walk everywhere and see all the highlights in a day. Have fun!

We had a really nice day-trip from Vienna to Melk and Krems. There are several ways to do it: by train, boat, even bike.

We bought a Combi-Pass at the train depot that day, no need to get it in advance. It's a very good fare (maybe 32EUR apiece) which includes round-trip to Krems on boat/train. The Combi-Pass also includes admittance to the Melk Abbey, which is gorgeous.

We took the train to Melk, went to the Abbey, had a lunch in the lovely garden cafe there. Then took the boat to Krems, walked around Krems, and took the train back to Vienna.

We saw people boarding with bikes, but don't know how that works. On a beautiful day, it would be great to ride your bike to some of the little vineyards along the Danube.

We loved Vienna for our five-night stay. We're horse people, so seeing the Royal Lippizzaners' Morning Exercise with Music was amazing. They won't be in their winter school during July, though. You can visit their stud farm in the countryside, but I'm not sure how to do that.
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