tcreath

Last year, my husband and I took a night train from Vienna to Florence via Venice. About an hour (give or take) outside of Vienna was this gorgeous town I have been dreaming about since we passed through it! We were definitely in a mountainy region. The train was climbing and making a left turn around this little town that was nestled in the valley below. This was in February and there was snow on the ground and this town was just picture-perfect beautiful. It was a fairly small town with cute little streetlights that were glowing in the snow. It looked like something out of a Dicken's novel! The town did not have a train stop but I am really hoping that somebody took this route during the day and could perhaps tell me the name of the town or even the region we were in (I'm assuming somewhere in the Tyrolean Alps?). I know its probably far-fetched but I thought I might as well hope for the best.

Thanks!
Tracy

travlsolo2

Tracy -- I wonder --- if you go to the Deutsche Bahn website, put in from Vienna, to Florence, via Venice, then find the train times you traveled, then click on show intermediate stops, maybe you could figure out (by the time) what's in the approximate area, and then look on a map of Austria. Good luck!

whitey

Tracy,

We drove that route this past May. I videotaped alot of the scenic vistas along the way. Do you imagine the town was closer to Vienna or closer to Italy? The first few hours drive out of Vienna are just OK. You only start to really notice the scenery the closer you get to Italy.

travlsolo2

I just tried that... maybe it was St. Valentin or Linz area??

tcreath

travlsolo2, I did try that earlier but didn't get anywhere. I don't think it was St. Valentin or Linz. Actually I've been to Linz so I know it wasn't that town. It was much smaller and more mountainy. There seems to be different routes between the two depending on which time is selected. Thanks for the suggestion though!

whitey, if my memory serves me correctly it wasn't too far outside of Vienna; maybe an hour or two. It was an overnight train and we were sleeping within a few hours (the train was only about 9 hours long so we wanted to get as much sleep as possible) so I'm assuming its closer to Vienna. We had just started getting into the mountainy region and started climbing, if that helps any.

I'm thinking we took the direction that went towards Graz instead of straight across Vienna. I've never been to Graz, but I understand it to be a fairly mountainous region. Is this correct?

Thanks for all your help!
Tracy

brookwood

Do you recall if the town was before or after Klagenfurt?
Bruck is a stop on even the express train and it is about an hour, 45 minutes from Vienna. It is the stop before Klagenfurt.

That would help narrow down the search area if you could recall a key detail here.

It probably was not Mürzzuschlag but if you had a map of Austria look on either side of that town, which would fit your time frame in terms of when you passed it, and perhaps you can pick one of the large number of small villages along the river.

The tracks along there are confined by the river, so my guess is that you were on that route. If you ever go back, you could drive the road in a rental car and perhaps by passing through the various towns along the stretch of track on either side of Mürzzuschlag you might identify it.

The problem is, in the day time, and in the summer, those villages look entirely different.

I know Heilegenblut has a similar appearance. Mountainous, small, and pretty.

Look on the high side of the trip. Even if you don't find the exact spot, you will find more than one little village with charm.

whitey

When I get home tonight, I'll check my map. I'll also check the video that I have..When I see a town, or a castle etc. I make a note of it on the tape for later reference. I do remember a couple of sweet little towns nestled in a valley that fit your description.

rkkwan

The direct Euronight goes though Salzburg. So, it's on the main Vienna-Salzburg route. Never been to Austria, so can't help you with the name.

BTilke

Hi tcreath, could it have been Kub? or Semmering? I took that train towards Graz in March and shot a lot of pictures from the train is it got into the mountains and the villages...those towns fit in with your timeline and route (although Semmering does have a small train station, not all trains stop there...Kub or one of the villages near it seems more likely). If you email me, I could send you some of the pictures and you could see if they're from the spot you mean. My email is [email protected]

tcreath

Thank you all so much for your help! I am so grateful.

brookwood, you are right. The area was just so beautiful that I'm sure that even if I didn't find that exact town I would find many others that were equally as impressive. We've been to many areas in Austria but this is a section we haven't hit yet, and are contemplating adding it to our Slovenia/Croatia trip planned for next year.

rkkwan, it wasn't a direct train and it definitely didn't go through Salzburg. I've taken the train between Vienna and Salzburg before and, while very impressive, definitely wasn't the area that we trained through. I'm thinking the train headed in a southern direction, skirting the border of Slovenia, before hitting Venice.

Thank you all for the town names. I am going to do some research right now and see if I can find any information on those towns online to see if they fit the bill. I really appreciate it!

BTilke thank you so much for giving your e-mail address! I will be sending an e-mail shortly!

Thanks again!
Tracy

tcreath

brookwood,

Oh my gosh! I just checked out a picture of Heilegenblut and I think that could be it! If not, the town I am thinking of is very similar. What a gorgeous town...if that's not it, who cares? I want to go!

I wish I could remember if it was before Klagenfurt or not. Its been long enough now, and we were just gazing out the windows so honestly I can't remember.

Thank you!
Tracy

brookwood

I doubt if it was Heiligenblut. It is south and a little west of Salburg, but not reached by any train line that I know of.
Even it was, it would be a dead end because the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse has a gate just outside of Heilgenblut.
The route north and west is blocked by high mountains.

Unless you took a really devious route via Graz, and you did not go by Salburg, the only alternative is through Mürzzuschlag to Klagenfurt, then to Villach.

That is why I suggested looking on either side of Mürzzuschlag.

If you went by Graz, I think you would have needed 3 changes of train to get from Vienna to Klagenfurt.

I think Klagenfurt is the key. If you can recall if the village was before or after that point, we can come a lot closer to reconstructing the area. Also if you can recall whether or not you went through Graz it would help, too.

Graz is well out of the way to get to Venice from Vienna, but possible.