Vienna v Salzburg -- either worth a 3 day trip?
 

Heading to Europe in mid September for a 2-week vacation. We're looking at a full week in Paris, a few days in London to see some friends, and are considering a 3-day stay in either Vienna or Salzburg, to take advantage of the Mozart celebrations this year.

So first question, is either city worth seeing for a mere 3 days? That is, should I bother going at all for such a short amount of time? Or would it make more sense to come back at a future date for a full week in those cities?

Second, if it IS worth going for a quick trip, any suggestions on which city to go to?

You could go to Vienna, however, three days is hardly enough to really get a good feel for the wonderful city, maybe it will give you just enough of a taste to make you want to return for a much longer stay. Salzburg and the surrounding area will work for a three day visit.

Vienna is magical and 3 days there would be perfect.
Havent been to Salzburg so cannot comment.

Assuming you are planning to go SOMEWHERE for those 3 days, rather than staying put (which would probably be cheaper) I would heartily recommend either city for a one-time visit. But if you think you will get enough of Vienna in 3 days, you will probably be mistaken. Salzburg once for 3 days is OK, but Vienna will only tantalize you to return over and over.

Like the other advice, 3 days would be enough to see Salzburg, but just a taste of Vienna. I'd be more concerned about spending the entire 2 weeks in large former world capitals. Just for the change of pace, I'd reccomend Salzburg as a small to medium town compared to Paris and London.

I'd say Salzburg, particularly since you want to join the Mozart celebrations, but you surely need to get arrangments made quickly. Salzburg has a great web site that will tell you everything that is going on.
www2.salzburg.info

Vera

Mozart celebration are held in both cities. I can not compare Salzburg with Vienna, there are so different! I love both of them, but three days are not enough in Vienna, while in three days you can visit Salzburg and also make some trips to lakes, Eagle's nest, etc.

I would go to Salzburg, because after Paris, London it will be nice to be in a smaller town, to see nice landscape, etc.
Keep Vienna for a next trip, when you will can have more time.

Either would be nice; I've visited Vienna for only three days and while of course we didn't see everything, we had a wonderful visit. Our favorite experiences included the Freud museum over by the university. Of the two I'd go to Vienna first, though I think others have made a good point about seeing some areas other than the large cities.

Great, thanks for all the advice. Definitely want to go somewhere for those 3 days, expenses be damned. =) Just to see something a little different. Looks like Vienna will be saved as a future trip for us.

Thanks again!

As the other poster said - from Salzburg you can go to the Eagles Nest which I think is terrific. Has to be a nice clear day however.

If you only have 3 days, I'd vote for Salzburg. Both are worth a trip, but Vienna takes longer than 3 days to do it justice and you can cover a lot of ground in Salzburg since it's relatively packed and easy to get around.

We just got back from Salzburg 2 weeks ago and it was worth every minute. Lots of impromptu, informal musicians in different plazas playing variety of music (mainly Mozart, of course). We attended a Mozart concert one evening at the Salzburg Fortress with the Salzburg Chamber Quartet - the music and the views of the mountains at sunset were unforgetable.

I don't know details of activities in Vienna, but Salzburg certainly seems to be at the center of the celebrations and there are more activities than one can possibly attend. It is well worth a trip.

We stayed in Salzburg 2 nights & Vienna 3 nights. I wish it had been Salzburg 3 nights & Vienna 5 nights.

3 days will be perfect for Salzburg, a little short (but do-able) for Vienna.

Agree that Salzburg is the perfect "long weekend" town.

Think that Salzburg is vastly overrated with lots of Mozart hype, tour buses and probably a very strong tourism promotion budget. If you're looking for charm, it's easily found elsewhere in Austria.

I'd vote for Vienna, even for 3-days. I'd say it's way too long for Salzburg. You can buy Mozart candy bars anywhere.

JEFF may say Salzburg's overrated, but others would strongly disagree. Lots of tourists come there for a reason: it is stunningly beautiful and has amazing churches, good food, several concert options and nearby places to day trip. If I had three days, I'd pick Salzburg. If, indeed, you run out of things to see/do, take a trip to Berchtesgaden, St Gilgen, Hallstat or any nearby small, picturesque villages.

I've been spending two weeks in Vienna at the end of Feb for the past 7 years and still have many things left to see and do.
However, I just spent 6 days in Salzburg and didn't see everything there, either.
Both places could easily fill three days. In Vienna, you would probably spend those three days in the city itself, venturing only as far as the outskirts to see Schonbrunn or to a heuriger in Grinzing. In Salzburg, you would probably head much farther out of town for at least a day...to Berchtesgaden or St. Gilgen or Zell am See, etc (all reached easily by train or postbus).
So if you want an mostly urban visit, go to Vienna. If you'd like to include a day in the mountains or by the lake, then go to Salzburg.
Both are winning choices.

I admit that I too thought that Salzburg was a little overrated. We really enjoyed the city, but it is small and, to be honest, we didn't think that there was that much to do. We spent a whole day there, but could have easily done the main sights in probably half a day.

Its a beautiful and interesting city, but I was more impressed with the gorgeous surroundings (Salzkammergut and Berchtesgadenland). With three days you could easily see the sights in Salzburg and take a daytrip to the Salzkammergut (Hallstatt, St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang), which is definitely worthwhile.

Tracy

Forgot to add that I too love Vienna but agree that three days just isn't enough. We spent three nights there and felt a little rushed. We would love to go back. Salzburg and its surroundings will be perfect for a shorter trip.

Tracy