Inge_On_The_Go

I had planned to stop in Melk to visit the abbey on my way from Vienna to Salzburg in September. I am in Vienna 4 nights and Salzburg 2 nights and have been to both cities before - but not for many years.

I am now considering doing a day trip from Vienna instead to avoid having to deal with luggage and give myself a little more time in Salzburg.

I know several fodorites have done the day trip - has anyone anyone stopped along the way? Was the day trip a full day or was half a day enough?

nytraveler

You don;t need a full day in Melk - stopping along the way between cities should be enough time.

LN

We stopped at Melk for a few hours and enjoyed it tremendously. You really don't need a full day. Enjoy Vienna and Salzburg!

molker

The melk train station is not on the main Vienna- Salzburg line and requires a change of train to reach it. Also then a second change as you proceed Melk to Salzburg.

I would suggest you make it a day trip from Vienna- eliminates the hassle of luggage too.
But do you know of the special offer for this day trip.

You can buy a ticket combining the train trip Vienna - Melk , entrance to Melk Abbey, a boat trip down the Danube from Melk to Krems, a museum visit there if you wish and then a return train Krems to Vienna.
look to this website-
www.ddsg-blue-danube.at

for more info.

train schedule
www.oebb.at

The boat trip through a very scenisc area of wine vineyards and beautiful villages , castles etc.
makes a great full day trip.

tcreath

I personally would do it as a daytrip. The abbey is stunning, but the other towns along the Wachau are equally nice and make for a terrific day. We biked along the Wachau, stopping for wine tastings and enjoying the view before hopping on a boat back to Krems. If you do a daytrip you could easily spend the day exploring the other villages. We had a lovely day, one of my favorite vacation memories.

Best wishes,
Tracy

gypsy2_25

Maybe I'm dumb but I'm not seeing the combo trip anywhere on the site you've mentioned, Molker. Maybe you can provide the specific link you are looking at?

molker

Simply go to the website i mentioned

www.ddsg-blue-danube.at

click on english is if that is your mother language- then on the following screen-
on left side you will see various offers -
click on Sightseeing cruises Wachau

numerous interesting offerings
including All in one ticket
ship-train culture


provides good info.

roundbunny

Hi Molker,
To buy this special all day ticket for Melk, do I have to go buy this from the Vienna train station(westbahnhopf)? Or do they sell this at other locations in Vienna?

THanks.

molker

Just go to the ticket counter at the Westbahnhof shortly before the time of your train to buy your ticket .- then just one level up to the train platforms- very quick and easy -

to my knowledge the tickets are only sold at the station- website dors not mention any other ticket location.
The Westbahnhof is very easy to reach via public transport - from city center just take UBahn line U-3 take s about 10-12 minutes - the Ubahn line stops in the lower level of the Bahnhof - elevator or moving stairway to main level of the station 2-3 minutes.

Various streetcar lines including #5#18, 58, stop nearby too.

Musicteacher

I bought this train-abbey-boat ticket at a large travel agency in central Vienna, but this was several years ago.

kakijalan

bm

roundbunny

Hi Molker (or anyone else who can help me with these questions),

I would like to get the all day ticket as a day trip fr Vienna.

1. From the website http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at/engli.../e_lwac_fp.asp, it seems that there are only 3 trips from Melk to Krems: 11:00, 13:50, 16:15. Is this correct?

2. If I want to stop at Durnstein, can I get back onto the boat for free from Durnstein to Krems (so that I can take the train back to Vienna from Krems? If the boat is not an option, is it hard to take a train from Durnstein to Krems? (location of train station in Durnstein, frequency of trains....?)

3. Time wise, is it too rushed to see 3 places in one day? (Melk, Durnstein, Krems). I would like to go on Aug 19 on this day trip, and I checked the train schedule. There is a train from Vienna to Melk that arrives at 9:04 am. (There is a transfer at ST. Polten Hbf....is this an easy station to navigate?)

4. This is my proposed itinerary. Do you think it is too rushed? Thanks so much.
Depart Vienna at 7:44, arrive at Melk at 9:04.
Then, I plan on taking the boat from Melk at 13:50, which will arrive at Durnstein at 15:10. Take the boat from Durnstein to Krems at 17:40, which will arrive at Krems at 18:00. I am not sure if I am allocating too much time for Melk and/or too little time for Krems...

5. When searching train schedules for trains from Krems to Wien, what is the exact station of Krems? Is it Krems/Donau or

roundbunny

...sorry, I clicked 'post msg' by accident before I finished my sentence.

What I meant to type was: Is the station Krems/Donau or is it Krems an der Donau or....?

Thank you so much to everyone for your help!

molker

Krems/Donau Krems an der Donau the same station

Donau is the german name for the danube River - krems of course is on the Danube.

A full day of sightseeing but fun.

it appears you already do much research and know about what you want . Yes, leave Vienna early.

The train station in St. Polten is undergoing renovation but eays to negoiate . You probably have 5-10 minutes to transfer depending on the schedule.
be at the door as the tain arrives in St. Polten -the station not that big and normally good signage not a big trouble.

The station in Melk about 15 minutes walk to the Abbey.

perhaps you wish to eat something before getting on the boat down the Danube. A restaurant in the garden at the Abbey and also in the small town.

The boat trip to Dürnstein is very nice.
I would take the train back to krems rather than waiting for the boat -

The Dürnstein station is about a 10 minute walk from the town center - take the east gate out of Dürnstein down a walkway - across a street passing a food market on the kleft side and then take the first street on the left to the station-

Signs " Bahnhof " usually with a symbolof a locomotive will guide you.
You miss little on the river as Dürnstein is only 7-10 kilometers from krems -
The best river sights are between Melk and Dürnstein.

You can find the train schedule on the austrian rail website

www.oebb.at


The train station in krems not far from the town center 5 minutes walk perhaps .
The boat station 3- 4 kilometers from the train - less convenient.

Trains Krems - vienna run about every hour - you want one that makes no change of train and that arrives at the fran Josefs Bahnhof. more convenient thaan the much slower train that goes to Floridsdorf

The last good train to Vienna is about 9PM - 21:00-
No worry these are big trains of 4-5 double decked passenger cars - room for all without trouble.