almostmrsm

My fiancee and I will be in Austria for our honeymoon in a few weeks. We are first going to Vienna and staying at Le Meridien, and then going to Salzburg and staying at the Alstadt Wolf Dietrich. Does anyone have any experiences with these hotels??

Also, are there any tips or "must-see" sights?

Thanks!!

nytraveler

Have you read the destinations sections above for Austria?

Have you read any guidebooks?

Surely there must be some reason you decided to go to Austria - if you tell us those - and your interests (history, art, architecture, fine dining, wines, hiking, palaces, churches????) people may be able to help more.

tcreath

Salzburg is a wonderful city but if you have the chance I highly suggest a daytrip to the Salzkammergut. The mountains and lakes are incredibly beautiful.

Tracy

almostmrsm

Thanks everyone!

We do have a guide book, and I have looked around on this site alot, so we do have ideas of things that we'd like to do. I think I'm just looking for tips or recommendations from anyone who has been there...the kind of places that you might not hear a lot about but "discover" and love?

AisleSeat

While you are in Saltzburg, if you take the Sound of Music tour (rent the movie and watch it before you go) they will take you out to the saltzkammergut to Mondsee to visit the wedding scene church. They also stop at a sommerrodelbahan luge ride that is fun.
If the weather is nice having a beer on the terrace restaurant at the castle above the city will be memorable with the alps spread out before you.
For dinner one night in Saltburg the St Peters shriftskeller restaurant right behind the Sound of Music graveyard where they hid from the Nazis. The restaurant has been there since about 1300 and the food is excellent!

BTilke

I spent a week at Le Meridien. It was pleasant, but not as much a rave as I expected, based on the glowing reviews. I probably would have preferred the Style Hotel or K&K Maria Theresia. I did not like Le Meridien's bathrooms at all, it was impossible not to spray water all over the place and there is no shower door or curtain, not even the half door you usually find in European hotels. The bar staff have a lot of attitude and the bar gets very smoky.
But it's certainly a good quality hotel, very pretty exterior (too much white in the room for my taste). An easy walk to the Kunsthistorische and the Museum Quartier, also a pretty easy walk through gardens and back streets to St. Stephan's.
Have a lovely honeymoon!

tcreath

I second eating dinner at Stiftskeller St. Peters. The food is fantastic (loved my turkey schnitzel!) and the ambience is nice.

In Vienna and in Salzburg we had the sachertorte at the Hotel Sacher. It doesn't get too many rave reviews on these boards, but DH and I loved thi chocolately cake. It is a little on the dry side, but worth the effort imo. Our lunch was also good.

In Vienna we loved our coffee and apfelstruedel at Cafe Central. The building itself is gorgeous and worthwhile.

Tracy

buongiorno

When in Vienna, make sure you stop at Sacher and get one of their original Sacher torts.

LLindaC

Just got back from 2 weeks in Austria. We stayed on the outskirts of St Gilgen, Wolfgangsee Lake in the Salzkammergut. We loved it, as we are into nature, hiking, serene aqua lakes. We loved Salzburg and took 2 dayttrips there, but would never stay in a city. If you want something fun, take the bus 150 to St Gilgen, then take the water ferry to St Wolfgandg. Take the cog train up the Schafberg Mountain for incredible views and maybe lunch. Food was pretty good! I liked that a LOT better than Berchtesgarden which we thought was WAY overrated and simply crammed with tourists. You can take bus 150 all the way to Bad Ischl, then take the train to Halstatt and visit the salt mines. Be sure to get bus and train schedules ahead of time- you'll need to start your journey back before 6 pm. I'll top my trip report and the picture album for you. Enjoy!

JN

A fun thing to do in Salzburg is to go to the Augustiner Brewery Bier garden. It has outdoor and indoor seating and tons of locals go. Get a stone mug full of beer, a huge pretzel and enjoy the slice of Salzburger life.

bob_brown

I guess I am the nay sayer of the bunch. I think Sacher Torts are overrated. Fancy name for chocolate sponge cake.

I thought the sound of Music Tour I took was an egregious ripoff, one of the worst ever.

If you want to see the church in Mondsee, and it is worth it because it is a beautiful church I might add, go on your on. The bus trip is 44 minutes out and 46 minutes back.

The Austrian rail scheduler at www.oebb.at will give you the details.
The bus leaves from several places in Salzburg including Mirabell Palace as well as the main train station.

Must see sights? Vienna is loaded with them. What do you like?

LLindaC

Oh yeah....a HUGE second vote to the Augustiner Beer Garden!!! It's a bit of a walk...but we had a BLAST there! Lots of good eats in the little kiosks, or you can bring your own food.

nytraveler

Well - I agree the Sacher torte - even at the Sacher hotel was nothing to write home about - dry and not very chocolatey.

Agree that the Stiftskeller in Salzburg was a hoot - the night we were there they someone playing a zither - and the mixed grill include teeny hot dogs bernaise. (The food was certainly edible - but again, go for the fun - not the food.)

For things that other might not mention, we enjoyed

the Abbey at Melk

Insbruck - definitely have the trout in an old town restaurant (I think they catch out the back windows that overlook the River Inn

Check out the giant chess game - with full size pieces - in the little town park

In Vienna defiitely ride the little trolley cars, go to one of the outdoor places where they have waltzing (it's amazing how fast and energetic it is when done properly - they were practically galloping), and stop and have a wurst from a stand when walking back to the hotel from a musical evening (you MUST do something musical in Vienna)

If you love horses get the best tickets you can afford for the Lipizzaner performance - if you're not interested in horses don;t bother - you may not appreciate it (When you ride yourself you understand the true difiiculty of what they;'re doing.)

di2315

Hi almostmrsm

My suggestion for something a little off the beaten path in Salzburg would be Hellbrunn Palace.

It's a bus ride from the city centre, and you could spend a short time just exploring the Palace and garden, or a half day to see all that's on offer there.

If you go, the main attraction is the water garden - pay for a tour of this, and you also get into the Palace afterwards.

The water garden is quite unique (be prepared to get lightly wet)! The web site is: http://www.hellbrunn.at/hellbrunn/en...tart/index.asp

Have a wonderful honeymoon, Di

tcreath

Linda, I must say I was surprised to read your comments about Berchtesgaden. We based ourselves in that area in 2005 and simply loved it. We too loved the Salzkammergut but were happier near Berchtesgaden. Now granted we stayed in small town near Schonau and not actually in Berchtesgaden, and we were there in early May instead of peak summer seaon, but we loved it and found it very untouristy for the time of year.
With that being said, we too were glad we did not stay in Salzburg itself. We took two daytrips there (actually one day and then one evening for dinner) but are more nature-lovers and really enjoyed being in the countryside instead of the city.

Tracy

LLindaC

Tracy, we were there June 19. I am talking about Eagle's Nest and the town. It was packed with tour buses and it was elbow to elbow at the top. I'm sure if you stayed in the area at a smaller town, it would have been much different! I was really glad we didn't stay in St Wolfgang either...it was already swarming with tourists. I do like a serene place!

tcreath

Linda, I absolutely agree. I'm not one for big crowds of tourists so we prefer to stay in off-the-beaten-path locations. Berchtesgaden was pretty dead when we were there, and the Eagles Nest wasn't even open yet (apparently it doesn't open until the middle of May, about a weeek after we departed) but it was nice because we could enjoy the town without the mass of tourists.

Tracy

martyharly

We are also staying at the Le Meridien to celebrate our 20th anniversary at the end of August. Its also our first trip to Vienna, though we have been in the Alps before. Despite the above post, check out TripAdvisor. Le Meridien got very good reviews and I'm sure it will be a spendid place to celebrate your honeymoon. If you return before the end of August, I would love to hear about your trip.

NeoPatrick

Well, I thought that the Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel WAS worth writing home about -- but not in the way they'd like. It was the dryest, most tasteless dessert I think I've ever had. I had great coffee with mine, thankfully, to try to wash it down. But Lee, who normally would drink nothing, had to order a bottle of water to get his down. Think powdered cardboard made into a cake and then allowed to sit and dry out for a week or so and you're close to the effect I got. On the other hand, the coffee shops are filled with other fantastic pastries!!!!