Talk about bad timing! We have airfare booked flying into Munich on June 21st and flying out of Budapest on July 5th. After 7 days around Munich and Salzburg we were going to move on to Vienna for 3 days (dropping our car off there) and then taking a train or (boat?) to Budapest for the 4 days before we fly home. Sounded like a great plan to us until I began looking for a place to stay in Vienna. 1st, Very few 3 stars are airconditioned and I need a/c, but no need of a 4 star experience. 2nd, and this is the real problem. The very week end we're there is the 2008 European Football Finals in Vienna. No rooms, a/c or not! And no, I haven't checked out the 4 and 5 star places, because they aren't affordable for us. Any ideas, anyone? I guess we could hang out in Germany a few more days, but then we would eat up a full day in travel to Budapest, and I don't want to do that. Anyone have roadtrip ideas so we can stop along the way? Alternately, Is there somewhere close to Vienna that we could stay and go in daily, by train or bus? Or best yet, does anyone have some inside info on an a/c apartment for 2 couples that weekend thats under $400.00 a night? Any advice will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Try an apartment. I've been doing some research on Vienna (trying to decide whether to go) and if you just google "vienna apartment" a few rental agencies come up. I've no personal experience with any of them but the apartments look nice and it doesn't seem to be a problem to get a 2 bedroom for $300/night. Not sure if they will let you stay just 3 nights. Let me know what you find please!

You could perhaps stay in Bratislava, which is about an hour from Venice by train, but I don't know if you will save much money. Only the most expensive hotels in Bratislava have a/c.

We were in Brastilava and Vienna last year the first week of July and it was very cool.We needed windbreakers and rain coats so it might not be hot at all this year. I don't know if you even need air cond.

Your chances are not very good for success, but you could try a 4* bid on Priceline for Vienna. You could even try the outlying zones if they have 4* hotels also. You would need two rooms for two couples.

The reason I suggest this is that it appears hotels sometimes "forget" to remove their Priceline inventory for busy times, so every now and then, someone scores an incredible deal in Oktoberfest or New Year's Eve, or some such busy time.

Are you sure you want to share Vienna with a bunch of football fans even if you can find a room? I'd stay away, myself.

I agree that Bratislava is a possibility, although I was a bit underwhelmed by it. Also, I was going to day trip to Sopron from Vienna, guess you could do it the other way. Or you could go to Graz, which I really liked, instead.

My guess is rooms are booked up 50 miles out in any direction. You could add time in Germany in Regensburg and Passau. Take a boat along the river and stop at Krems and Melk. Eliminate Vienna. Go to Sopron and Estergom. End up in Budapest.

You could try Baden, a suburb of Vienna...a quick check on hotels.de shows a couple of hotels available in that time period.
I can't see the attraction of being in a city mobbed by football fans (unless you're one of them), so I would find someplace else to visit...how about Graz? A lovely city, great countryside, lots to see and do, you could even fit in a side trip to Slovenia. Although the train service is excellent in the region, you also could keep your car an extra couple of days to drive around the countryside, maybe going up to Piber to see the world-famous Lipizzaner farm.
Plenty of hotels available in Graz (with AC) on those dates.

I'm also planning to be there around that time. When I discovered the dates of the football finals I am able to change my dates. Does anyone know how soon after the final (June 29) things goback to "normal" in vienna?

i see a couple hotels on www.gtahotels.com that seem to have "normal " prices starting the 28th or 29th of june.

good luck.

Thank you all, I have some questions, but am in a hurry so will post later. My BIL and DH are soccer fans (bigtime) so they think this is great. They hope to buy scalped tickets! We'll try apartments and pray for cool weather I guess!

We visited a lovely village called Durnstein I believe that is an hour away from Vienna and near the vineyards right on the Danube. It was my favorite day of our Vienna visit.

g.

Hi there:

You might try Gästehaus Deutscher Orden. Here is their email address and phone number:
[email protected] and 0043 1 512 10 65. Address: Singerstrasser 7/1. A-1010 Wien.

My boyfriend and I just recently stayed here over New Year's, and it was great. These are rooms in a monastery just behind St. Stephansdom, and I can't recall whether or not it had a/c, but it definitely had heat, as it snowed the entire time we were there.

Note: the charming nun who met us at the door spoke no English at all, so that caused a bit of folly when checking-in.

Anyway, they might have availability, as I'm not sure how many people know if this place. We participated in a home exchange, so the Austrian couple we changed with pointed us to their contact information. It included a great breakfast and was proximate to everything.

Best of luck!

Five or six years ago my huband and I stayed in the Rothensteiner apartments in the 7th district of Vienna for 10 days. The apartments are fully furnished and very comfortable. The price (which is quite reasonable) includes buffet breakfast which is kind of unusual considering that the apt. has a kitchenette. The location is about 15 minutes walk to the museum district or 20 minutes to the shopping street mariahilferstrasse) so, although not right in the centre, was not a problem for us. The web site is: www.rothensteiner.com Hope this is helpful for you.

Spending some time along the Danube in Germany might make sense. Regensburg would be my pick with a side trip to Weltenburg Abbey -- boat trip from Kelheim is lots of fun, Asam church is impressive and the beer is famous.

If you want to break up the trip from there you could stop in/near Melk for one night and see the Abbey