godb

I shall be in Vienna in September and plan to do a day trip to the Wachau Valley. Has any one done this trip using the Tageskarte Wachau that allows travel on buses and train in this region for 10 e? I find that day trips to this region from Vienna involve a combo ticket that includes entrance to the Melk Abbey. Instaed of the Melk Abbey, I rather want to see small villages in this area by bus. Looking for tips to plan an itinerary. Thanks

PalenQ

https://www.google.com/search?q=wach...EN%3B787%3B787

Here are the bus routes and relevant info. Durnstein was an absolute highlight. You can crisscross the river by ferries indicated on the map.

You can also rent a bicycle and cycle along paths hugging the river.

godb

Thanks. The only problem seems the relative infrequency of buses. Apparently you do not need to spend 1 hout in most of these villages except possibly Durnstein and the buses are usually at hourly intervals

PalenQ

The boat has the advantage of being able to see both sides of the Wachau Valley - bus you can only see one side. For lots of nice details on the Wachau Valley excursion and trains, boats, etc check out www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

godb

Thanks PalenQ. Checked both the links. How does get to travel with the cheap Sparscheine fares (mentioned in the latter link)?

PalenQ

godb - those discounted fares are mainly for long-distance trains and can be had at the Austrian Railways site - www.oebb.com (or.at?) and always cheap walk up fares can be garnered from Westbahn, a competitor to Austrian Railways that has walk up cheap fares as low or lower than the Sparscheine fares - this is not relevant to going Vienna to Melk and back as those are local trains with low walk up fares.