Aurora

Hello. I am re-posting this since I missed selecting Austria as the search context earlier and this board does not allow edits.
This board helped me a lot in planning my trip to Italy this past summer. Now I am planning a trip for my parents in their 60s (I love being the travel agent)who will spend about 4-5 days in Austria with Vienna as the base. They can't do a lot of walking and prefer not to do too much of changing of modes of transportation (bus to train etc). I will appreciate responses to all the following questions:
1) I was thinking that either they could stay in Vienna all the days and take a day trip to Salzburg, or split 3 and 2 days between the 2 places. The viennasightseeing.com company (suggested on this board) has a day trip by bus to Salzburg - would that be worth it or too much time on the bus with too little time to see stuff?
2) Sounds like Vienna is really small so does location of the hotel really matter, if one does not want to do much walking?Suggestions, with some explanation of locations, for hotels around $100+/- $25 with elevator would be appreciated ?
3) Does the weather in last week of October require heavy coats/jackets, or is sweater and light jacket sufficient?
Thank you in advance.

savannah300

Aurora: Vienna is large enough that location does make a difference. I stayed at a Holiday Inn on the Danube River and it was just too far from the city and the cab rides back and forth became costly. I would make reservations in the city center possibly by the art museum or the state opera house. I've only been there once so I really don't know the hotels, but I like the site for hotels called Hotelclub.net. They have always seemed to have some really good prices and information about hotels in Europe. Also, I would have your parents stay for a couple of nights in Salzburg. It's a very quaint and interesting city and has lots to see. We loved it there and I can't wait to get back. I would recommend the Renaissance Hotel because it's within walking distance of the train station and is close to the old town area. It's a nice hotel also. I don't know what these cities are like in October, but I would assume they are the same as where I live in Chicago. I was there in the middle of March and the weather was pretty much the same as what I had come from. So, I would have to think if you're parenst are from the mid-west that's the weather you could expect in Vienna and Salzburg. Anyway, hope this helps. Good luck!

bettyk

Aurora, it doesn't matter if you didn't select "Austria". That is only used when searching for other posts about Austria. It does nothing for your post.

rex

I'll disagree a little bit. It does matter in the sense that there are some visitors who, as far as I can tell select a country, and follow it to a greater degree.

For example, if you come here about once a week, and scroll back say... 200 posts, you are missing as much as the 50-75% of the posts because there are sometimes 1000 new posts in a week.

But if you select Austria, then every new post for the past month appears on the "first 50".

So, Austria-oriented visitors (who make such a selction to keep up on Austria posts) are much more likely to see your new re-posting regardless of how frequently they keep up with the forum.

No intention of being argumentative with you, bettyk - - just didn't want to leave the notion that failing to "mark" the country doesn't ever "make a difference".

The less frequent a country gets postings, the bigger difference it makes.

Best wishes,

Rex

bettyk

Rex, you have totally confused me! If you look at the top of the page, it plainly says for topic SEARCH. It does not say anything about "marking" your post for a specific country. If somebody only wants to see posts about Austria, then they can select Austria and do a SEARCH. It will bring up all posts about Austria whether they were "marked" or not. Correct?

bettyk

OK, now I see where you are going, Rex, after looking at the "Post a New Message" page. But I still contend that whether you select a country/topic or not when POSTING a message, that country/topic will come up if you do a SEARCH for it.

elberko

bettyk, if you choose AUSTRIA above, and click FIND, this post comes up, but not Aurora's other post, so it does make a difference. I sometimes do that when I've been away for a while.

rex

At the risk of being too emphatic, I think that people who want to "keep up" with Austria would most likely use the country find - - not search on the word (newcomers are perhaps more likely to do that). After all, a "word find" would find a post on some other location in which someone used the sentence "we have decided against going to Austria on this trip..."

or pull up threads like "where are you posting from?"

maybe even that ghastly crossword puzzle mess.

Using the country find gets far better at the heart of the subject of threads that are REALLY about a given country.

I think that Aurora did the right thing by re-posting.

Aurora

I did the re-posting when I realized that when selecting Austria, my earlier posting was not showing up. As a person who recently returned from Italy, when I am curious to see what questions people are posting and maybe I can help, I just go to the country listing of Italy without typing in any search words. I think other people in similar situation (not searching for an answer but for questions to respond to)probably do the same thing.

I got excited when I saw 7 new responses to my posting only to find out the debate about how to post it. Although it was a healthy debate, would appreciate similar enthusiasm in responding to my actual questions.

This is a wonderful forum, except for the occassional extremely negative postings.
Thank you.

ira

Hi Aurora,

Click on your name and you will get all of your posts.

There are responses to your other posting.

bettyk

Well, at the risk of making Aurora mad (altho I did repond to her other posting), I now understand what everybody is talking about! Mea culpa!

Aurora

No, BettyK, there is nothing to get mad about. Besides I don't think this forum is a place to feel or express negative emotions - I just appreciate it as a resource and the ones that are unpleasant can be ignored.

Thanks for your input.

DeborahAnn

Aurora, we have stayed at the Vienna Hilton which is connected to the bus terminal. The hotel is very nice,very comfortable. One of our friends was given a suite because the hotel was booked and his suite had an incredible bathroom. For a lark we took a picture of about eight of us in the tub (avec clothing!!!) Location is good for walking but as I remember it was a bit hilly. Do you think your parents would be more comfortable in a major chain hotel or a small, more personal hotel? Good luck with your planning. Deborah Ann

molker

Location in Vienna and Salzburg does matter. I would suggest 3 days in Vienna and 2 in Salzburg( The trip between the two cities is at least 3 hours by train or bus. A day trip to Salzburg is long, expensive and tiring.
Regarding hotels - a hotel in a central location( First District) is the best as it affords easy access to many tourist sites. This forum has many recommendations so I will not add to them except to say that the Hilton mentioned is closed for renovations until sometime in 2004.
The center of Vienna is not hilly and can be easily walked.
Vienna has an excelent public transportation system that permits good transfers to most areas.
A "Hop on Hop off" bus is also available to give tourists timely and good access to sightseeing.
October is a good time to visit as the weather is usually mild withmany less tourists.
Numerous websites such as www.wien-vienna.at can provide good background and planning information.

Aurora

Deborah Ann & Molker - small hotel or big chain hotel does not matter as long as they have an elevator, the rooms and bathrooms are a little more spacious than typical European cramped small hotel rooms are, i.e. US hotel room size is good, and they are not priced exhorbitantly. I was wondering if Austria in general especially Salzburg is too hilly to walk around comfortably.

jenviolin

Aurora - it really does matter where your hotel is in Vienna if you are not completely mobile. Most of the center city sights are very close together - even if several hundred yards' walking is taxing, they can take the trams that run all the time around the perimeter of the Ring - so if they stay inside or on the 'Ring' they will be most conveniently situated. I would definitely try to get a hotel on the Opera House/Hofburg side of the city (using St. Stefan's cathedral as the middle point). That will put them just a short walk from several art museums, the opera house, the Volkstheater, the spanish riding school, the Hofburg itself, St. Stefan's, numerous other churches, Parliament... and, of course, the Hotel Sacher with the original Sachertorte. Other trips, such as the Schoenbrunn or Belvedere palaces, can be done by taxi or with a tour bus if your parents don't want to take a tram.
Try the Kaertnerhof Hotel (inside the Ring) or the Hotel Kaiserin Elizabeth for reasonable prices in this expensive area.
Agree with others that a day bus tour to Salzburg will not really give much feel for the town.

eurotraveller

Hmmm... for a while there I was wondering if this was a thread about how and where to post!

In my opinion, the distance between the two cities is much too far for a day trip. Salzburg would be good for two nights. The main part of Salzburg is flat but it is a climb to get to the top of Hohensalzburg but you can also take a tram to the top. Great view from up there! Salzburg is a great city. I don't know when your parents are going but I am on my way to Vienna in two days. I will post my thoughts on it and hotels upon my return.