The trip is quickly approaching (June 1). I have planned 7 days in Vienna which some say is too long (some also say it's too short). What are the best day trips by train?

Go to my site: http://alexstarke.tripod.com/
for some ideas. 7 days is pretty good, you can relax in the cafes and explore at your leisure. A trip to Melk or Durnstein would be a worthwhile expedition to try. Both are covered at my site. Enjoy! We have been twice to Wien and surrounding areas for a total of 21 days and still will go back for more.

I spent 5 days in Vienna, and it was not enough time. Vienna has enough to see to occupy at least 2 weeks.

Take the trip to Melk and visit the monastery there. The chapel is beautiful.

Gratz and Salzburg, Halleshtate (sp?) on the lake if you have the time. Gratz has an active arsenal established during the Ottoman invasion, about 1500 A.D.. Everything is maintained mint, it is the orginal equipment you will see. I think they are ready to equip 15000 soldiers with everything from armor to stirrups, lances and canteens. You will never likely see a better display of josting armor, ancient fire arms, double handed swords and armor for horses, etc. Thousands of each item in perfect shape. I could retire on what just one of the wheel lock pistols is worth and they had racks and racks of them in mint condition. The craftsmanship is incredible and will convince you that we haven't come very far in terms of detailed work. Old town is charming and there is an elevator (I did not have the hair to use the steps) to get to the old bastion on top of the crag. Great view up there, it is a park. Walking down was OK.

Salzburg old town is a wonderful. The bishops castle on top of the hill was also great to see.

Halleschstat (I forget the spelling) is supposed to be the first city in northern europe, tiny as it is. Charming to a fault. If you ever want to do a salt mine tour this would be the one. Tons of fun and the cable car to the top of the mountain to start the tour is a thrill in itself.

Vienna has empire class museums that could keep you busy for a week. The best and biggest collection of Bruegal(sp?) the Elder anywhere, and Heronimous Bosch, too. So, not to worry, plenty to do.

An excellent day trip from Vienna is Sopron (pronounced "SHOW-pron&quot in Hungary. It is only one hour away by train. It is a popular destination for Austrians, due to lower prices for medical care, food, and clothing. It also boasts a very beautiful and well preserved medievel town about ten minutes from the train station.

The "Fire Tower" is the town symbol of Sopron. It was built on a Roman foundation, with the central portion from the Renaissance, and the top built in the 17th century. Just do a search on google and you can see the large number of historic buildings to be found there.

The train from Vienna to Sopron runs very frequently. If you have never been to Bungary, or have only been to Budapest, see how lovely the smaller towns in Hungary are.

While you can do a quick trip to Budapest, a daytrip is not enough time to do it justice. If you want to add to your countries, try Bratislava, Slovakia (one-hour train ride). It is a nice half-day or day trip and the prices of crystal and dolls are much cheaper. The wine cafes, the Vienna Woods, Melk, are all good trips.

richardab,

I'll second a daytrip to Bratislava, especially in June.

Head down to the Danube and walk the promenade and old town around the Opera House. They've introduced a new car-free zone there too. The Hrad (castle) isn't too far a walk west of there, and has a nice view of the city, bridge and river. Pleasant cafes and pubs for not much money. (Excellent concert venues too, for a lot less than Vienna.)

Another vote for Sopron (though I haven't been there in over 10 years). BTW, it's pronounced SHOW-prawn.

Andre

The Melk Monastery is beautiful, we were in Austria and Switzerland last year and really marveled at this monastery. Also liked the classical music concert at night at Liechtenstein PPalace (there are many concerts offered at various places) and our fun night at the Grinzing Wine Village. There is a boat cruise down the Danube to see the small wine vilages on the hills.
Take a long day trip or overnight to Salzburg would be better-- its really a lovely city with the breataking Tyrol-Sound of Music scenery. If you stay in Salzburg o/n take a trip to Berchtesgaden (Eagle's Nest) at Obersalzburg--special nature buses run you up on roads with hairpin turns to the 10,000 ft. peak and the views are unbelievable.
I believe "Blackhorse" meant Hallstatt Austria, not even sure of exact spelling!

Wachau - Melk, Durnstein and Krems is a really beautiful day trip. Bden is an easy trip - about 35 minutes for pretty old centre with lovely gardens. Hallstatt is very nice as well - as already detailed. Certainly do not rate Bratislava in same category. OK old centre and not much else with a rather boring trip to get there. For me it is a place just to say you got to another country.

7 days in Vienna is not too long at all. I hope you are planning to go to Salzburg or have already been there. If not, make it 5 Vienna and 2 Salzburg. The trip between the 2 would be through Wachau. We drove last year, and stopped in Melk, Krems, Durnstein (lunch at Hotel Schloss and bike for 2 hours) and then even drove through the lake district Salzkammergut to reach Salzburg. This is among the best scenic drives we've ever had. The leisurely drive including many stops took us pretty much the whole day.

If you're doing all 7 nights in Vienna, you may take a day trip to Baden bei Wien. It's a beautiful spa town about an hour city train (S-bahn) ride (or take the train or bus for 30-40min) from Vienna. It's nice relaxing day in the middle of all the sightseeing. The spa at Grand Hotel Sauerhof is very nice, or you can go to one of the local Roman baths.

I am back and here is my "day trip" report...

During this trip I became very tired and overwhelmed from all the walking, museums and sights. Since I was in Vienna for 7 days I wanted to take one of those day trips up the Danube to Melk. My original plan was to take the train to Krems then the ferry/cruise line to Melk, as recommended in my guidebooks. Instead of planning this and trying to figure out how to get there I decided to hook up with a tour from Vienna Sightseeing. My hotel made arrangements for me. The trip cost €60 and provided bus service to Spitz with connecting ferry to Melk and a coach bus back to Vienna. The brochure suggested going through towns like, Krems and Durnstein.

The shuttle bus picked me up in the morning at my hotel and shuttled me to the main bus terminal. From there we boarded the bus and went onward to Spitz where we were to meet the ferry. Along the way the bus drove along the Danube and through little towns, villages and vineyards, but it did not stop. When we arrived in Spitz we got tickets for the ferry and were directed to the dock to board. No time to see the village, no time to get a drink, no time for a snack. At this point we boarded the ferry and was informed that our two hour cruise would take us through the most scenic part of the Danube valley. Wait. Two hour cruise? Damn! It's 90 degrees outside. I had no food, no water, no sunglasses, cap or sunscreen. Never fear, the boat is like a floating cafe. It offers everything from Schnitzel to Ice Cream.

In my notes I wrote, "On a warm day this can be a two hour trip to hell". Seating on the boat is in one of three areas, the lower cabin, the outdoor deck and the outdoor deck covered with a canopy. Whichever location you choose, it was hot as hell and there was no escape from the heat. Since it was 90 degrees outside there was no cool river breeze and no relief. The boat has no air conditioning. This was truely the trip from hell.

Once we got to Melk we were released for one hour for lunch and then we met up at the abbey for a personally guided tour. The tour was very nice and the cathedral was stunning. The air conditioned bus ride back was truely relaxing.

My opinion of the day was not very good. The tour did not show me all the villages I thought I'd see. I would have been much happier to plan myself a self guided tour where I could explore the little towns and villages. Perhaps a car would have been best. Although the two hours on the boat took us through some relaxing scenery, the time on the boat was painful. The $60 ticket was expensive since I could have taken the train and ferry cheaper if I arranged it myself. I guess if you had 2 or 3 people a car would be less expensive. In summary I took an 8 hour trip to see a beautiful cathedral in a far off village. Yes, it was beautiful but I also saw many beautiful cathedrals in Vienna.

For guided tours the web-sight for Vienna Sightseeing is http://www.viennasightseeingtours.com/enter2.htm

For self guided the web-sight for the cruise line DDSG (Blue Danube) is http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at