Vienna itinerary
 

I will be in Vienna with family (4 people) at the end of this month, on a 3 days' trip (excluding entry/exit days). Based on the inputs from various forum members, I have chalked out the following tentative itinerary:

Day 1 - St. Stephens, Town Hall, Opera House, Hofburg Palace and the Giant Ferris Wheel. Any other places possible for a quick visit ?

Day 2 - Schonbrunn Palace. Do I need a full day for Schonbrunn or can I add some more nearby attractions ?

Day 3 - Melk Abbey, Salzburg and Hallstaff (If possible).

Would appreciate if someone can help me in finalizing the above itinerary by adding or removing the places appropriately. I have booked a hotel which is near the Opera.

Schönbrunn can be done in half a day. You will not get to Salzburg and Halstatt in a day's trip, especially if you intend to see Melk Abbey as it takes a couple of hours just for the visit of the Abbey itself.

You left out any museum in Vienna, and there are important ones. Get a guidebook on Vienna to see how to fill the third day and leave out your excursion. If you need to get out of the city, take a bus to the top of the hills above Grinzig and walk down.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...27111169/show/

I see no mention of the Vienna Riding School. I went to a rehearsal for which they also sell tickets, 10am to noon, and enjoyed it very much, right in the city center:

http://www.lipizzaner.com/home.asp
http://www.viennaticketonline.com/?cid=1,16,132

Thanks Michael and MmePerdu for your response and the excellent pictures (Some of them appear to be of 1975 !). If I can cover Scholbrunn in half day, then what other major attractions are available nearby which can be viewed the other half.

The Belvedere palace used to have a good collection of Secession art. You might want to invest in a guidebook to Vienna.

Schonnbrun, you can spend probably from a couple of hours to most of the day. There are 2 choices of tour, one of which has more rooms and is recommended (some of the best rooms are only seen in the longer tour). We also went to the carriage museum, and spent a while walking around the gardens. If you wanted to go to the zoo, that would probably be a full day.

Otherwise you might be able to fit in something in central Vienna, maybe visit the Capuchin crypt if that interests you? or the Secession building? Those are both shorter and might fit in.