Q's for Austria - Salzburg, Vienna, Melk?
 

We will be visiting Austria for a long weekend this August and I would really appreciate comments on our proposed schedule:

Day 1 - arrive Vienna @ 12:30, immediately rent a car and drive to Salzburg (and then work our way back to Vienna for departure), Spend 1st night in Salzburg. Probably no sightseeing on the first afternoon, just driving. What are the must see's of Salzburg? I've heard it is a wonderful town, we are planning on visiting Festung Hohensalzburg & the Cathedral. Anything else not to miss?

Day 2 - Salzburg, spend night in Salzburg. We are traveling with a 2 year old, so we will skip the Sound of Music bus tour, but would like to drive by some of the SoM sights. I've made notes from other Fodor's SoM posts.

Day 3 - Drive to Melk early in the morning (visit Abbey, Krems). Spend night in Melk.

Day 4 - Drive to Durnstein and surrounding areas (Aggstein, Willendorf). Spend night in Durnstein.

Day 5 - Early a.m. drive to Vienna. Visit Hofburg and Stephansdom. Spend night in Vienna. Is the Hofburg an all day visit? We are interested in the weapons collection (Hofjagd und Rustkammer), the Treasury (Schatzkammer), and the state apartments.

Day 6 - Spend morning in Vienna. Leave Vienna airport at 5:30 p.m.

Are we planning on spending too much time in the Melk/Durnstein region? Another option is to try to see all of the Melk/Durnstein region on Day 3, spend the night in Durnstein and head back toward Vienna on Day 4, maybe visiting Schonbrunn Palace on the way into Vienna.

Also, is Hallstatt worth a detour after finishing Salzburg on Day 2? Possibly stay in Hallstatt that night and drive to Melk from there? I know we are cramming a lot into this trip, but we don't mind driving and staying busy on vacations to see the sights. Thanks for everyone's help!

Let's start from Salzburg.
The place is wonderful but also very packed with tourists.
The centre is really walkable and there is a useful undergound parking just behind it. If not full.
Places of interest : Dom and Hohensalzburg as you stated, Nonntal, a walk from Hohensalburg along the hills down to St.Peter's and its churchyard, Scholss Mirabell on the other side of the river Salzach. The market place. The narrow streets and courts in the old town.
My best dining places :
Stern (a court along Getreidegasse);
Zipfer, just in front of the market for a brief lunch siesta;
Weisseskrutz, Balkan and austrian specialities, Bierjodlgasse, behind Residentzplatz just under the castle rock,
K+K , in Mozartplatz.
To see out the town : Schloss Hellbrunn, watergames and zoo;
Cable car to Unterberg mount.
Best hotel I have been : Hotel Friesacher at Anif in the outskirts, just 5 minutes walking from the tomb of Herbert Von Karajan.

I'll be tried for heresy, but I've been to Salzburg twice and think it is one of the most overrated destinations in Europe. Its nice enough, but too touristy, too crowded. Definately not worth driving in a hurry across Austria for. At most its only worth one day.

I would skip Saltzburg spend an extra day in Vienna (plenty to do for a couple days) and drive up the Danube to Melk. If you must drive somewhere choose Budapest over Salzburg.

What you planned CAN be done, but I think you are trying to do too much in too short a period of time. Day one will be real stressful.

I'd save Salzburg for another time Vienna has plenty to do, you don't need a car, and an outing to Melk can be done in one day via train/boat.

If you must try to do more, I'd take an early train to budapest, spend the night and then come back late the next afternoon.

It's doable, but do you really want to rush to Salzburg after just arriving in Vienna? Why not do an open jaw, and fly into Salzburg and out of Vienna? Even if it's a little more money, it will be well worth not having to go back and forth in a few days. We found Vienna, Salzburg, and the Wascahu valley (Melk-Durnstien) all to be fabulous. Our favorite experience in all of Europe was staying in Weisenkirchen (near Durnstein) for two nights and bicycling along the Danube. I personally think Salzburg is well worth seeing if you can squeeze it all in - it's a very beautiful city.

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately, we have already bought our air tix (really cheap to fly within Europe this month), so we will have to fly into and out of Vienna.

LeCanard, thank you for the dining and hotel recommendations - are you French?

With regard to Budapest, I thought it was over 9 hours from Vienna (with Salzburg less than 3 hours away)?

So, there will be plenty to see if we stay two days in the Wachau area? I'll have to look into biking with my toddler and also look at Weisenkirchen, zootsi - can you give a name of the place you stayed?

Any suggestions on Hallstatt and/or Schonbrunn Palace? Thanks again!

expatmommy,
Just a note on the armor and weapons museum at the Hofburg: I went to the Hofburg complex intending to see several of the collections, but ended up spending my whole morning looking at the suits of armor and weapons. It was incredibly absorbing and the English-language audio tape was excellent.

How about going to the Belvedere to see the Gustav Klimt collection? Seeing "The Kiss" in its surprisingly large original was the highlight of my day.

Your trip sounds a little rushed but it will probably infect you with a longing to return to Vienna as soon as you can!

We stayed in Weisenkirchen(sp?) at a tiny b&b winery right in the village. I believe it was Schmeltz's. The rooms were recently renovated, and were immaculate. Having dinner at the winery tavern was unforgettable- nothing fancy, just cold cuts and salad with lots of the local wine. There are many other similar accomodations in this town, and in the area. Bicycles can be rented from the ferry that crosses the Danube in this area.
Hallstadt is beautiful, but is quite a ride from Salzburg, and may be too much for this short of a trip.

My husband will be so please to hear that the weapons/armor collection is that extensive!

Would you prefer the Belvedere to Schonbrum Palace, then? I did not realize that "The Kiss" was there...

Budapest is three hours away.

Do both, but, if possible, do the Belvedere before the Schonbrum Palace.

Is is possible to take a rental car to Budapest, or will there be an extra fee since it is considered Eastern Europe?

I would consider not staying in Melk. Drive there and visit the Catherdral and then drive on to Durnstein. Durnstein is very nice. We stayed in the Sanger Blondel. You can do an afternoon trip down the river if you like or walk up to the Castle for amazing views. Then you could choose to spend another night in Durnstein and see Krem or an extra night somewhere else.

Vienna is great and you need about 3 days to enjoy. The Wachau vally is beautiful but 1 day is fine and you can do that from your base in Vienna. Skip Salzburg. Just a small version of Vienna and overun with tourists. It so far and not worth the trip. If you have the wanderlust why not Budapest? I hear its fabulous. On the otherhand I would do Munich in a heartbeat. It better than any city in Austria.

Cheap and easy to take the train to Budapest, and avoids parking issues.

I have been reading up on Budapest and isn't everything relatively new, by European standards? For wanderlust, what about Prague - is it hard to get to from Vienna (if we skip Salzburg)?

Prague is a 6 or 7 hour train ride. Budapest is often compared to Paris. Where did you get the idea that it was "relatively new" by european standards. Not sure what you mean by that statement.

Budapest is not that close to Vienna. If I may also say, I was just in Vienna for 7 days and was busy everyday. For a small city there is a lot to see. I did not enjoy my day trip to Melk. I felt it was a long trip and I didn't see too much. Maybe if I went by car it would have been more casual. Prague sounds interesting and so does Budapest. One other thing... If you might consider flying I would recommend calling your airline and telling them that you already have a transatlantic ticket and see if there are any hopper bargains for you. Sometime they offer add on flights for very low prices. Also try to call Austrian Airlines and tell them the same thing. For example go to the website of www.staralliance.com and click on the link for AIRPASS for details.

Have you seen my Vienna trip report? If you put my name - richardab - in the search box it will come up and its called "Vienna Trip Report".

I may be way off base, but some comments from my travel mentions the Royal Palace being razed in 1945, the Matyas Church a reconstruction from 1896, the Gellert Hill Hotel built between 1912-1918, the State Opera House built in 1884, St. Stephen's built in 1851-1901, and the Vajdahunyad Castle built in 1896. I would appreciate comments, since I hadn't even considered Budapest before today. If comparing between Prague and Budapest, which would be best (assuming it will be years before visiting this region again)?

So, now we are thinking of skipping Salzburg/Hallstatt and going to either Prague (driving) or Budapest (train). So, that would be:

Day 1: Arrive noon/Vienna
Day 2 & 3: Prague or Budapest????
Day 4 : Durnstein and Wachau
Day 5: Vienna
Day 6: Vienna/Depart evening

richardab - I definitely read your trip report, it is what spawned our whole Austrian 'weekend'.

Unfortunately, we aren't flying over from the U.S., we live in France. However, I will mention the airpass info to some friends visiting Europe later this fall (they want to see Munich, Paris, & Switzerland).

I think you are trying to do way too much in the time you have availible.

You do not want to drive all the way to Prague for two nights and then drive back to Vienna.