We will be in Salzburg 2 days and Vienna 5 days in late May. We've already booked for 3 nights at the Musikverein--Ozawa, Brendel, and Czech Philharmonic.
We bought a 3 day rail pass for Austria and would love recommendations for day trips. I love beautiful churches, gardens, scenery and shopping (not always in that order). I've seen Melk recommended. What do you suggest?

Thanks for your time and inforation.

Good morning, Pilgrim
One place which I would pass up would be an excursion to Melk.. The Abbey there is beautiful, along with its
library, this is well worth a trip and
light lunches are available close by.
We made thr trip partly by river steamer on the Danube and return by bus
but beleive you can make the entire trip covered by your pass. Try get to
Melk, it is worth the time....
Riochard of LaGrange Park, IL..

For an interesting peak into the former Eastern Europe (the preferred term now is central Europe), take the train to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is less than an hour from Sudbahnhof to the Petrzalka station on the south side of the city. The old town is very nice. There is a castle and a cathedral where 17 kings and queens (of Hungary) were crowned (when the Turks had pushed the Hungarians out of Budapest). We lived there for a year and were surprised that not many tourists had found Bratislava. It is very inexpensive (compared to Vienna) and would make a very interesting side trip from Vienna.

Thank you both for your suggestions. They sound great.

I also recommend a day along the Danube in the Wachau. One of the most beautiful spots for lunch is the terrace of Schlosshotel in Durnstein (http://www.schloss.at/), from where you can watch the world floating by. It is also a wonderful little town, with a number of pretty buildings, including the monastery. As for abbeys, we were disappointed in Melk (except for the church, which is incredible), having first been to the abbey at Gottweig. Gottweig was lovely, and offered wonderful views.