All, <BR>We have never been to Austria and understand that both Salzburg and Vienna are wonderful. We need some advice on planning this trip.<BR>1. How long in each city? Days? Nights? We are also going to Switzerland and would like to see much of it. Planning about a 2 week trip...<BR>2. favorite places to stay under $150 in these areas? We use Karen Brown guides for Italy and LOVE them!<BR><BR>3. Are these cities walkable, like Florence or Boston? Or, large? <BR><BR>4. Any advice on Swtiz, too? We are thinking about taking the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt. We also want to see Lucerne and maybe Wengen area, too. We are early 30s, fun, love wine, people and food. A whole day in a museum is too much for us. We love getting to know the people and places when we travel. We love Umbria and Tuscany, just to give you an idea. But, we also love Venice and can hit a nightclub for some dancing now and then, too! <BR><BR>Thank you!

We were in Vienna recently and it is a lovely city. 2 days and 2 nights would be the minimum amount of time to spend. We stayed at the Pension Nossek for about $100 a night. The location is wonderful, as it is on the inner ring and it is on a pedestrian street. We were able to walk to everything we wanted to see. You could do a search on the Nossek on this forum as others have written about it. Their tel. number is 01/5337-0410. e-mail is<BR>reservation@pension-nossek.<BR><BR>

Salzburg is a relatively small town. You can see the main sights in a day, or even a half-day.<BR><BR>Vienna is a large city, with many more historical and artistic sights. I spent 5 days in Vienna, and did not finish visiting all the places on my to-see list. <BR><BR>There are also some very worthwhile day-trips from Vienna, for example the Melk Monastery.

I visited Salzburg and Vienna in October. We had two full days in Salzburg, and 2 1/2 in Vienna. Not enough for either place. If I was doing it again, I'd definitely add another full day (at least) to Salzburg. While we saw most of the sights we wanted to in Salzburg, I would have loved another day or two for the surrounding countryside.<BR><BR>We stayed at the Hotel Auerspberg. Very convenient, and 99/night for a twin, including a very good breakfast buffet. However, we did have a problem with the phone at a critical time, and they weren't at all interested in helping (by replacing it, or offering use of the front desk phone). Annoying but not earth-shattering. Bigger problem is that I had money stolen from the room (the one time on the whole trip that I accidentally left the money belt in the room). Didn't eralize it until later.<BR><BR>In Vienna, we stayed at the Pension Pertschy. Wonderful place...huge twin room (which they had ready for us at 8 am!), fantastic location, excellent price (120/night), including full breakfast buffet and internet access. Again, 2.5 days wasn't enough. I could easily see 3 or 4 days there.<BR><BR>As far as Austria vs. Switzerland, we chose to skip Switz and just enjoy the mountains around Salzburg.<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!<BR><BR>Anne

Hello;<BR>Definately give yourself at least 3-4 days for beautiful Vienna. You will love this city! Stay at the Hotel Fuerstenhof. It is right across from the Westbahnhof and all public transport which are all wonderful and cheap. You will love taking the Trams.<BR>We were there in May 2000 and had 5 days of beyond excellent little romantic cafes and culture. I will give you my website address so you may see our pictures and recommendations. http://alexstarke.tripod.com/<BR>Take a side trip to Grinzing and enjoy this quaint little village with many wine taverns.<BR>Enjoy!<BR>Alex

I think Vienna is a fascinating place to visit. How long you need there is a function of how much you like music.<BR>I have been there twice for a total of 8 days, and I have left a few attractions for the next trip.<BR>The last time I was there we attended 3 performances at the Volksoper and I think I could have gone back for more with ease. <BR><BR>I think that 4 days is barely enough, but much of it depends on what interests you. <BR><BR>Vienna is a huge city, and you will use public transportation and/or taxis to get around.<BR><BR>Salzburg is considerably smaller, but fun to visit. I think 3 full days there would enable you to see the highlights and do it at a fairly slow pace so you can enjoy yourself.<BR><BR>When I say 3 days for Salzburg, I am not factoring in trips out of town.<BR>Some people want to do the Sound of Music bit. I did, too, and thought I gave my money away for a bus ride to St. Gilgen and Mondsee.<BR><BR><BR>

Zack, if you will send me your email address I will send you my files on Vienna, Salzburg and Switzerland. Lived in Vienna for 2 years in the 80's and made a 16-day trip to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and London this past May. Would be happy to share my info on hotels, sights, etc.

We went to Vienna and Salzburg a few years ago, and loved them both. We had two nights in Vienna which wasn't nearly enough. Try and spend at least one night in the Dachau valley area while en route from Vienna to Salzburg. This is a very beautiful area of tiny villages surrounded by vinyards, along the Danube. If you enjoy bicycling, the bike trails in this area are world famous.

Zack,<BR><BR>Second the Pension Nossek in Vienna - it's centrally located, clean, and the staff are great. The management there was very helpful getting us tickets to Mass where the Vienna Choir Boys sing.<BR><BR>Bev - glad to hear that's it's still a good place to stay.<BR><BR>Adrienne<BR>

I spent 3 days in Salsberg, 3 in Vienna with other time in the countryside. If I had 1 more day, I would have added it to Salsberg. It was much smaller, but for me, more fun.<BR><BR>Public transportation is very good in Vienna.<BR><BR> Keith

I stayed in Salzburg 2 nights and Vienna for 3 nights...definitely not enough time. <BR><BR>A week to 10 day trip visiting Salzburg, Vienna and few points in between would be ideal. <BR><BR>Salzburg and Vienna are mostly walkable, but for the farther points both cities have great public transportation, especially Vienna.<BR><BR>Here's some photos:<BR>http://www.jimtardio.com/austria.html

I used a Swiss pass, which was good for every transportion I used. I went to Mullen where you could almost touch mountains such as Eiger and Jungfrau. I loved Luzern. My heart was warmed by the flower adorned graves in Hallstatt in Austria.<BR>

Zootsi, I think you meant to say the Wachau Valley area outside of Vienna (Melk, Krems and Durnstein specifically). Dachau was the concentration camp!

Whoops! You're right it is Wachau valley. One letter makes a big difference!

My wife &amp; I visited Vienna last year for the 1st time, and you need at least 4-5 days to view the necessities (palaces, museums, Ringstrasse). I still haven't gotten my breath back from the moment when we first walked into St. Stephen's Cathedral. I recommend the Hotel Kartnerhoffe, only 3 blocks from everything.Take your time, and enjoy an amazing city!

We took the glacier express and loved it.Make sure you do first class( not very expensive upgrade),and dine in the dining car, a real treat.Swiss rail has lots of good rail deals.

I have lived in Vienna since August last year, so couple of strong points to make on Viennese comments here. Vienna is 1.6ml people or so and is compact. A &quot;huge city&quot; as Bob Brown describes is rather relative - perhaps if you come from Hicksville. If you have any experience of London, New York, Bangkok, Sydney and so on, huge is precisely the word you would not use. Second point, if someone booked me in a hotel near Westbahnhof, I would kill them. It is a grotty area which is however convenient for getting in by train and is 15 minutes from town by underground - also convenient for down market porno clubs and hookers if you would like that. For goodness sake stay in the 1st district on a first visit. Pension Nossek has a great location, although no idea on quality. Vienna, like Salzburg is very walkable - except in Vienna for places like Schonnbrunn Palace. Recommend driving from Salzburg to Vienna via the lakes in Salzkammergut - stay over night and then down the Wachau -gorgeous countryside and avoid the motorway as some parts are quite tedious. Train trip is not as pretty but admittedly very comfortable and easy. Driving in Austria is OK although faster than the US (but is anywhere slower?) and is (usually) not quite as manic as the nutters you often find on German autobahns driving up your rear at 220km per hour. I would do Austria in the two weeks without necessarily doing Switzerland. But Switzerland does have some beautiful places - like Berne and Lucerne, and is more expensive!<BR>Drop me an email if you want any more specific advice.