Mimmel

I have a week in April to tour Austria's smaller towns. I have a tentative driving route & would appreciate your input. Some of these towns we would just drive through & some places we would stay longer. I'm just not sure how much time to allow & where to spend the nights. The tentative itinerary is:

Salzburg to Gmunden (see pottery), to Mauthausen ( see concentration camp) to Ybbs & spend the night.

Drive to Melk ( see Monastery & castle) to Waidhofen ( see towers) to Gratwein ( see abbey & St Barbara church). Spend the night near Graz (?).

Drive through Irdning (see castle) to Bad Aussee, to Hallstatt & stay in this area a few nights. See Bad Ischl & St Wolfgang ( cog railway & boat).

Drive back to Salzburg.

Please give me suggestions on how much time to allow in each area, whether there is a better place for overnights and if I should cut back. We were also thinking of having a spa day & would appreciate any comments on ones you have been to & enjoyed ( or not).
Thank you so much!

Michael

You should stop an see the monastery church of Wilhering. The pictures 09 to 59 might give you some ideas of what else to see between Salzburg and Vienna.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622926792957/

violetduck

While staying in St. Wolfgang we took a day trip to Hallstatt and Bad Ischl the same day.
Worked well for us.

kfusto

We spent a day in Bad Ischl last month and would have liked to stay longer. I would not plan for there and Hallstatt in one day personally unless you really just want a quick visit.

Mimmel

Michael your pictures are beautiful.
Violetduck & kfusto - what did you like about Bad Ischl? I had planned to stay in the area for a few days to see the St Wolfgang, Hallstatt & Bad Ischl. What did you do on your visit?

violetduck

Our basic reason for going to this area was to enjoy the natural beauty and we were not disappointed. We stayed in charming SW, one day took a boat to St. Gilgen, visited a beautiful church and cemetery there and Mozart's mother's home is there, but we did not take the tour,another day took the bus from SW to BI to the rail station and the train to Hallstatt (around 30 min) A boat to take the train passengers across the lake to Hallstatt is right by the railstation. Hallstatt is a tiny place, but a not to miss place. We saw the church near the docks and also climbed the stairs to the church on the side of the mountain with another beautiful cemetery (graves covered in flowers) and a most unusual Beinhaus (Bone House)with skulls and bones that have been dug up to make room for more bodies. Then in Bad Ischl we just wandered about the town, strolled along the river esplanade,found the famous Zauner's tearoom, managed to get an outside table and enjoyed our pastry/coffee and people watching for a bit.There is a Zauners on the esplanade by the river and another one in town. Another highlight was getting to watch a huge wedding party when they had come outside for pictures. There were horse-drawn carriages,a band and the people in their native dress.The Kaiservilla is in BI, did not tour. Hope this helps in some way.

kfusto

<<What did you do on your visit?>>

We visited the outdoor markets, the Christmas markets, walked both sides of the town stopping in coffee shops, for lunch, etc.

We were there for about 5-6 hours (took the bus from St. Gilgen) and really enjoyed the town. We would like to return and spend a night or two in one of the spa hotels there.

Mimmel

Thanks for both replies. It helps to know just what is available to do. The spa sounds good to me too. I've looked at some web sites but I don't really get what all the options are. I was looking for a combination of things or a package but I only see lists of treatments with names or a la carte menus that don't really tell me much. It's also hard to get an idea of the total cost. Anyone have experience with the spas in the areas where we will be?