"I am not a foodie either and we tend to grab quick meals instead of seeking out restaurant recommendations but every meal will take time away from sightseeing." Grabbing quick meals is not that easy where you will be, and especially on Sundays when many grocers may be closed. If you can plan ahead, consider packing a picnic.

Both Durnstein and Aggstein are castle ruins, the latter being considerably more intact. You can't go wrong with either. The village of Durnstein will offer more restaurants (all serving Austrian cuisine); at Aggstein there is just one restaurant in one of the outbuildings, though the food is good.

Bratislava in a half-day generally means wandering around the Old City and up to the castle, which can pale by comparison to Vienna and Budapest. The city has become more interesting to us with time, when special events are going on or if we are in the mood for a "luxury" overnight of dinner, a performance and a hotel stay at budget prices (compared to Vienna). Given your time, though, you can probably skip seeing the city.

Since you are all into outdoor activities, consider taking a half-day to hike the vineyards at the northern edge of Vienna rather than the usual sightseeing in the city. Take the 38A bus from the terminus of the U4 up to Cobenzl (shorter hike) or Kahlenberg (longer hike). The vines are beautiful in September, and if the day is clear you'll be rewarded with gorgeous views over Vienna. Wander down through the vines to Grinzing to one of the heuriger for a small plate at the end, then catch the 38 tram back into the city.

As for whether to add the extra time to Vienna or Budapest, you really can't go wrong with either.

It would be interesting to know if your AAA travel agent has seen both Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee.

Not saying grabing a bite here and there is not the way to go, because it certainly is for some travelers, and they can see more of the sights on their "must see" list.

Sometimes though, you could say that a meal is also sightseeing, or at the very least a travel experience. I can think of a so many times things just happened serendipity. A little cafe overlooking a spectacular valley in Spain, dinner under a tented summer restaurant beside a canal in England, tea in the big garden of the mayor of a tiny village in England, arriving way late after a restaurant had closed, only to have the owner see us and call his chef, who came and made us a wonderful meal.

OTOH, making time for leisurely eating is a trade off for other things that might be important to you that you would regret missing.

You can never do or see everything, but as someone said, you can't go wrong, whatever you choose to do or see, your trip will be wonderful with great memories.

Thanks again for your replies. Fourfortravel, the vineyard hike sounds appealing and we did one in Germany finishing with wine tasting onsite; a nice time we could repeat in Vienna and could be a romantic way to spend our Anniversary day. Sassafrass, I agree with you too about meals sometimes being part of the sightseeing and becoming a big part of the trip's experience. It looks like we will head to Budapest right after Vienna to attend the final day of the Wine Festival there on Castle Hill.After our train arrival from Vienna and hotel check in that's near Chain Bridge,we can tour St. Matthias Cathedral, The Fisherman's Bastion, and Buda Castle first and as part of the Festival inclusion, see the exhibits inside Budapest History Museum (housed in the Royal Palace) before the wine tastings. Sampling all kinds of food in Lion Courtyard there will be exciting along with live music and dance into the evening. I hope we are not too overwhelmed by the extra crowds in the Castle District for the site visits there and it being our first day in Budapest.

Does anyone know how much time to allow while visiting the Dachstein Caves and Mountain? We want to tour the Ice Cave (50 min tour) and go up to the 5fingers viewing platform. From researching here, it seems like the cable car rides from the valley station to the tour ticket desk and then up to the 5finger stop and back to the Ice Cave stop is very slow along with the hikes from the cable car stops to the cave entrance and viewing platforms. We'd like to visit Hallstadt afterwards before returning to our hotel in Salzburg. Can this all be done in one day?