I will be in Vienna from December 27th to January 3rd. I have been reading lots of trip reports about Melk Abbey and would really like to go. I just checked their website and tours are only available for tour groups (that will teach me to check websites before I get all excited!) I am wondering if any of you have a recommendation for a tour operator that would be reasonably priced.

I think you are misunderstanding the website:


3rd November 2014 to end of March 2015:

Visits possible only with a guided tour

<b>English tours for Individuals: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.</b>



Tours for groups (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) may be reserved for any day of the week

http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/

~Liz

Thank you, I understand now. It means that we can't just wander around but we can see the Abbey with their guided tour. I thought it meant that we had to be with a tour group. Now I can get excited again!

Yes, just be sure you get there in time for the English tour. I would contact them to make sure the groups won;t be too large - but probably not an issue that time of year.

I took a bus/boat tour from Vienna in May and while our group was a reasonable size there was a massive group in front of us that really held things up wandering around. Mine was reco'd by my hotel and it was fun in that while Egnish language it wasn't all americans but English speaking people from all over the world that I got to chat with at lunch and on the boat.

Thanks nytraveler - sounds like a good idea to contact them.

We made a point to take the first tour offered, knowing that the second tour would likely be crowded with visitors coming from the Danube cruises, and were glad we did. Granted, this was a Saturday in April or May and there were more visitors than possibly in December, but as we've discovered living here (and in touristy Washington, D.C.) getting an early start at a popular attraction makes a big difference in staying ahead of the HOHO crowds.

I do not know if the cruises run early enough to get you to the abbey by 11:00 (or how picturesque a Danube cruise in December might be), but it is possible to take the train from Westbahnhof to Melk in time for the first tour.