Dear All,

We are in the midst of planning our first trip to Austria in May 2012. We are 2 adults and 2 children below 10 years. We will have no car and will use public transport - bus & train.

We plan to be in Austria for 12 - 14 days and are looking at spending time in these areas -
St. Wolfgang
Zell Am See
Seefeld

Can anyone recommend budget and conveniently located accomodations in these areas. We would like to stay on a farm too if it can be done. We are foodies and would like a place which is conveniently located to restaurants. Not anything touristy.

Please give your recommendations on the number of days we should keep for each area. Is it worth visiting St. Wolfgang and Zell Am See or should we give St. Wolfgang a miss?

Kindly critique our itinerary.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

Hi SKPKCP11,

I spent one afternoon in Zell some years ago and four nights in St. Gilgen near St. Wolfgang. I liked St. Gilgen more because the lake is larger -- one day, I rented a bike and cycled to Strobl and back. I love cycling days! You can also cruise the lake on ferries.

If you would consider staying in the smaller St. Gilgen, I stayed at the Pension Ferstl, which was perfect for me. It was right in the center of town, so convenient for shopping or touring.

http://www.ferstl.at/index_e.htm

I don't think that staying on a farm would be a great idea when using public transport. The farms really are out in the middle of nowhere; I don't think you'll find a farm that will be convenient to restaurants! You'd probably have to hop a bus for a 10 minute ride every time you went into town.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Agree with the above - St. Gilgen and Strobl by Wolfgangsee make for a great destination , fine scenery, things to do and as a base to explore city of Salzburg, Bad Ischl, Hallstatt etc.

We loved this place in St. Gilgen---very family oriented.

http://www.hotel-schernthaner.at/

I also can recommend the Hotel Schernthaner in St. Gilgen. Very nice people, nice room, and good breakfast. There is a charge for wifi in your room, but there is a computer available for free use.

I also highly recommend Hallstatt. I have stayed several times at Hotel Simony.

I have only been to Zell am See, and that was briefly. So I cannot compare to your other choice.

However, one good thing to consider with Zell is that you are at the top of the Grossglockner alpine road, which is beautiful. You can see a glacier while you visit it, and you can visit Heiligenblut which is stunningly situated in a valley. You can do the drive, turn around and go back to Zell, and consider going to St Gilgen too (unless they are vastly far apart, I haven't looked at a map).

Some photos of Zell/Grossglockner/Heiligenblut:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/2537218998/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/2763422481/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalk...57606734518803

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalk...57606734518803

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalk...57606734518803

flygirl, I love your photos! I have never been to Zell. Do you think it is possible to take public transportation and see the wonderful sights? I travel solo, so I never rent a car.

For scatcat --

Yes, it's quite easy to get to Zell am See by public transport. I also never rent a car, and get everywhere by public transport -- or bicycle or walking!

I took the train there from Salzburg -- you can get all the transportation options and schedules at the German rail site (very comprehensive):

www.bahn.de

good luck as you plan!

s

Hi SK,

From whence are you starting?

St. Wolfgang to Zell am See by train is 4-5 hr with 3-2 train changes. Seefeld is about 3 train changes and 5 hr from Zell.

>We would like to stay on a farm too if it can be done.<
Without a car?

I don't know if you can visit the Grossglockner via a bus/guided tour. I had my own car (just bought a BMW).

Thanks swandav and flygirl. I like to add one new place each time I visit a country. Zell am See is the one for my next trip.

Hi scatcat,

Just thought I'd add that we also liked Zell am See. We visited for a day in '07 and stayed in '09. We loved the old town and walking along the lakeside. Renting an electric boat for an hour (about 20 Euro) and touring the lake on our own was a highlight. If you can find a day trip on the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, it's well worth seeing.

www.worldisround.com/articles/355540/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338868/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/324599/index.html

Paul

pja1 Beautiful pics! Can't wait to go there, but I will have to wait until June of next year. I hope I can find a bus tour to Grossglockner.

Check the 7th post down:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...ee-TG-C-1.html

You could always write to the Zell am See Tourist Board:

http://www.zellamsee-kaprun.com/summ...st_service/en/

Paul

Thanks pja1. I am happy there is a bus! I will email the Tourist Office and get times. I read a lot of useful info on some of the other posts also. Now I'm excited to go. I would almost change my October trip to Italy and France just to go there. But I'm sure it will be warmer in June. I do not like cold weather at all.

hi, some hotels might be still closed in may in zell am see or seefeld... in zell am see I can recommend schloss prielau, which has the haute cuisine restaurant Mayer'S next door. There is also some other good restaurants in the area, such as steinerwirt, much more affordable and still very good. 3 days is enough for every location, as they are small villages. check out the website of the area http://www.salzburgerland.com/ for farm-stays, which are called Urlaub am Bauernhof.
Very convenient for the area is a card which gives you many reductions or free admission on sights,cable cars, museums, trains, etc...
http://www.salzburgerlandcard.com/en/

Dear Fodorites,

Thanks for the lovely info. Swandav2000 please confirm if the german rail site also gives the oebb (Austrian train) connections as I felt the bahn.de was more user friendly? We are planning to use Eifach Raus tickets. Is ER valid for any where in Austrian or is it valid for individual Austrian states?

Mangiacrauti - Is the Salzburgerland card valid for St. Wolfgang and Zell Am See? Kindly advise.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11

yes it is valid for all the Salzburg area, including st.wolfgang and zell am see.
see here:
http://salzburg.intermaps.com/v9/ind...Sommer&Lang=en
we saved lot's of money with it, doing some really nice things for free...
about the traintickets, bahn.de is more user friendly, but has all connections for austria. einfach raus tickets should work in all austria, but only for the slow trains!!

Hi again,

Yes, the DB site also gives the schedule for Austrian (and Swiss and French) trains. It gives the schedules for trains in all of continental Europe, I think, with maybe some small problems with Italian trains.

Good luck as you plan!

s

Dear All,

Thanks for your valuable feedback. Please advise conveniently located budget accomodations in Zell Am See and St. Wolfgang in the range of Euro 60-80 per night as we will not have a car and will rely heavily on public transport. Currently what is available is on the higher side.

Also, advise if we can do Ice Caves if we are based in Zell Am See.

What are the must do attractions from St. Wolfgang and from Zell Am See besides doing day trips to Salzburg.

Kind regards,
SKPKCP11