Driving from Switzerland to Austria
May 21st, 2005, 07:02 AM
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Driving from Switzerland to Austria
In September, my husband and I are planning on renting a car and driving from Lucern, Switzerland to Salzburg, Austria. Michelin states that it is about 4 1/2 hours. Is is at all scenic or mostly freeways? Any cute towns or villages we can stop at for lunch? Thanks for all of your help!!
May 21st, 2005, 08:29 AM
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By Michelin, do you mean a book? The website www.viamichelin.com says 482 km in 4 hrs 52 mns, and all but 41 km of that is autobahn.
To avoid toll roads (a choice on viamichelin), you mostly go through Germany, and add at least 2 hours.
I have driven the portion from Vaduz, eastward (headed the other direction), and its still fairly scenic. There are a few very long tunnels in the Vorarlberg.
A nice stop might be Igls, which is roughly where the road from Reutte intersects the main east-west Autobahn.
Best wishes,
Rex
To avoid toll roads (a choice on viamichelin), you mostly go through Germany, and add at least 2 hours.
I have driven the portion from Vaduz, eastward (headed the other direction), and its still fairly scenic. There are a few very long tunnels in the Vorarlberg.
A nice stop might be Igls, which is roughly where the road from Reutte intersects the main east-west Autobahn.
Best wishes,
Rex
May 21st, 2005, 08:37 AM
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I have driven sections of the road.
there are some long tunnels as Rex so well described.
I suggest for a break you deviate a little and turn south in the Ötztal and visit the Ötzi type village. I am speaking here of the Ice Man who was found a few years ago and who now resides in a special compartment in Bolzano, Italy. (Or Bozen to use the alternative name.) The village is a very accurate reproduction of life in the times of Ötzi. At least it is as accurate as the antthropologists know how to make it.
The village of Langenfeld is not too far down in the valley from the main road. It is scenic, if not "cute".
To eat lunch, I think you can leave the autobahn and find most any place. I have yet to get a bad meal in Austria. Perhaps I am lucky, but I am not trying to be "cute" when I say that.
Perhaps the least good one was at a famous place in Vienna, the one known for the huge Wienerschnitzels - Figlmuellers or some such name? Anyhow, it was famous and not so good.
The schnitzels in Heiligenblut at the hotel were much better. Excellent in fact.
there are some long tunnels as Rex so well described.
I suggest for a break you deviate a little and turn south in the Ötztal and visit the Ötzi type village. I am speaking here of the Ice Man who was found a few years ago and who now resides in a special compartment in Bolzano, Italy. (Or Bozen to use the alternative name.) The village is a very accurate reproduction of life in the times of Ötzi. At least it is as accurate as the antthropologists know how to make it.
The village of Langenfeld is not too far down in the valley from the main road. It is scenic, if not "cute".
To eat lunch, I think you can leave the autobahn and find most any place. I have yet to get a bad meal in Austria. Perhaps I am lucky, but I am not trying to be "cute" when I say that.
Perhaps the least good one was at a famous place in Vienna, the one known for the huge Wienerschnitzels - Figlmuellers or some such name? Anyhow, it was famous and not so good.
The schnitzels in Heiligenblut at the hotel were much better. Excellent in fact.
May 21st, 2005, 11:57 AM
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When they say "long" tunnels they are serious - they're 10 to 12 miles long, one lane in each direction. Before you do this - just make sure you don't have any problems with tunnels or claustrophibia (this happened to a co-worker of mine in a tunnel between Italy and France).
May 21st, 2005, 04:05 PM
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I see that you have asked the same question twice in a short period of time. Perhaps you couldn't tell if it "took", or were puzzled where your post was. Remember to "refresh" from time to time (f5) in Windows...
... and as more posts are added over the next hour... and next 24 hours... your post will be come all the more challenging to find.
Although I see that you are not "all that new" here - - how do I know that? just "click on your own name" (upper lefthand corner, once you are logged in) - - this is a valuable tip that Fodors fails to tell you when they send you that e-mail confirming your registration.
... and as more posts are added over the next hour... and next 24 hours... your post will be come all the more challenging to find.
Although I see that you are not "all that new" here - - how do I know that? just "click on your own name" (upper lefthand corner, once you are logged in) - - this is a valuable tip that Fodors fails to tell you when they send you that e-mail confirming your registration.
May 24th, 2005, 04:35 AM
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Those tunnels are long. If claustrophobia is a problem, they could pose a problem.
But, if you go that route by train, you have similar tunnels.
I really did not think the route was all that scenic. Most of the trip you are in a steep sided valley, or in a tunnel.
We drove it one year when one of the tunnels on the west bound side of the autobahn was closed for repairs. Traffic was diverted to the other lane, and there was 2 lane traffic to get around the blockage.
Traffic was backed up for a long ways.
We got off, had lunch somewhere, and drove along the secondary roads which were actually faster even though crowded.
But, if you go that route by train, you have similar tunnels.
I really did not think the route was all that scenic. Most of the trip you are in a steep sided valley, or in a tunnel.
We drove it one year when one of the tunnels on the west bound side of the autobahn was closed for repairs. Traffic was diverted to the other lane, and there was 2 lane traffic to get around the blockage.
Traffic was backed up for a long ways.
We got off, had lunch somewhere, and drove along the secondary roads which were actually faster even though crowded.
May 24th, 2005, 06:25 AM
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I have to agree with Bob Brown. We just did this drive about a week ago from Salzburg to Appenzell, Switzerland via Vaduz. There is a lot of road construction and it doesn't look like its ending anytime soon. Several long sections of the road are one-lane and very slow moving. I would definitely add some time to that 4 1/2 hours that viamichelin.com quoted you. There are a ton of tunnels and several are very long, so you miss a lot of scenery. One in particular has a toll of, I believe, 9 Euros per vehicle.
We didn't find much of the drive past Innsbruck to be very scenic and were more than ready to get to our destination. We ended up eating at a rest stop because there really weren't many appealing towns to stop at along the way. I would suggest you stop at a town off the Autobahn somewhere between Salzburg and Innsbruck or wait until you enter Switzerland.
Tracy
We didn't find much of the drive past Innsbruck to be very scenic and were more than ready to get to our destination. We ended up eating at a rest stop because there really weren't many appealing towns to stop at along the way. I would suggest you stop at a town off the Autobahn somewhere between Salzburg and Innsbruck or wait until you enter Switzerland.
Tracy
May 24th, 2005, 07:00 AM
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Rex-
Thanks for all of your help. I am aware that I posted the question twice. However, I did that because I am refering to two different countries (Switzerland and Austria). I do appreciate all of the tips though.
Rose
Thanks for all of your help. I am aware that I posted the question twice. However, I did that because I am refering to two different countries (Switzerland and Austria). I do appreciate all of the tips though.
Rose
May 24th, 2005, 08:27 AM
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That's a valid reason - - though it will elude 90% of people who use this forum(I think) - - because they never look at the forum in its country-specific "sub-forums"; the rest of "us" just always browse through all of the Europe forum.
Still for those people who do choose to "keep up with" just the "Switzerland" forum or just the "Austria" forum (by always clicking on one or the other of those specific countries) - - then you did the right thing; they would not see your post(s) otherwise.
Still for those people who do choose to "keep up with" just the "Switzerland" forum or just the "Austria" forum (by always clicking on one or the other of those specific countries) - - then you did the right thing; they would not see your post(s) otherwise.
