Side trip from vienna
 

Day or overnight? For a day trip, highly recommend Graz.

Another vote for Graz, but for a couple of nights.From there you might go on to Ljubljana.

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...acious-graz-2/

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...ing-ljubljana/

Salzburg and Llublijana!

Graz is lovely and an easy picturesque train ride from Vienna - you can see quite a bit in 2-3 days .

Ljubljana is a lovely city and well worth a visit. It's got a great young vibe because of the university along with numerous cafes, delicious food and fantastic Slovenian wines. If you go, make sure to try the Carolina wines from the Jakoncic winery!

Also, we just returned from a week spent in and around Krakow and Bratislava. The old town of Krakow is a beautiful. We also visited Auschwitz-Birkenau which is a moving and worthwhile destination not only to learn but to honor the memory of the people.

The possibilities are not endless, but they are numerous. If you could offer your preferences (e.g. love history, hate museums, enjoy wine, and so forth) and your preferred method of travel, I and others could offer more specific ideas.

Off the cuff these are my suggestions:

If you flew into Munich you could divide up the week between Munich, Salzburg and the Salzkammergut; and perhaps drop in on Melk Abbey before heading to Vienna, from where you would depart. All of this could be done by train.

September is a big month in Austria for grape harvest festivals in the vineyard towns (Genussmeile in Gumpoldskirchen is one of them) and Almabtrieb, celebrations in the mountain towns for a successful bovine alpine summer. The cows are richly decorated and paraded down from the mountain pastures; and of course there is much to eat and drink and be merry about. The Genussmeile is easily reached by train (and perhaps preferable since there are plenty of wines to sample); and many of the Almabtrieb can be reached with a train/bus combination.

Graz and Ljubljana is another good combination, with easy train access to both places. Maybe fly into Ljubljana and out of Vienna? In Steiermark, the state to the south of Vienna (Graz is its capital), September is an excellent time to go wine-sampling with lots of overnight packages. You could easily make a week out of this combination.

Slovakia is often overlooked, but has quite a few castles and castle ruins worth one's time. The train infrastructure is not as well defined as in Austria but it is entirely doable.

Of course, hiking and wandering is a prime sport here in September, too, if that is your thing.

Happy Planning!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We have decided to flyinto vienna, and train or rent a car to see graz and the coutryside. How far is Ljubljana from graz. How many nights in graz vs the countryside? Any recommendations for b and b's or small inns are appreciated. thanks Diane

Melk would be an obvious day trip from Vienna.

From Graz, do visit Stift Rein! It is jaw droppingly stunning. Try to get there before noon so you can hear the monks singing. https://www.stift-rein.at/en

Also, while in the vicinity of Stift Rein, the Pilgrimage Church Maria Straßengel is certainly worth a visit.

Also near Graz is the Piber Stud Farm, again worth a visit.

Hi Diane, I think getting a rental and going to the countryside is a great choice. Getting up on Dachstein (a mountain) with the panoramic cable car (you can get on top of the thing!) and visiting Liechtensteinklamm (a beautiful canyon) would be nice additions to your trip. Also visiting Salzburg of course, if you haven't been there as a side trip of your Danube cruise before!