What should I see in Austria?
 

I've been to Vienna three times and Salzburg once. I'd like to see pretty villages and towns and also beautiful scenery. I enjoy architecture but am not interested in big museums. (I think I've seen too many museums and don't care if I ever see another, except for open air museums that show life in times past.

I've heard that Dürnstein is pleasant, and I'd like to see Insbruck and Melk. Other than those places, I'm open for suggestions. My trip will take about two weeks, and I'll probably drive if I have a travel partner. If I"m alone, I'll take trains and busses.

What time of year will you be traveling?

Omigosh, Austria is my favorite country. And I love the smaller villages perhaps even more than the grand cities. If you will be traveling all across Austria, I'll give you a list of wonderful villages and scenery that will enthrall you. Here's just a beginning, starting from the western part of the country and proceeding to the eastern end:
-Larger towns besides Salzburg and Vienna: Innsbruck, Linz, Klagenfurt, and Graz. Of these, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt are my picks.
-Smaller towns and villages (this is where Austria shines): Bludenz, Galtur, Zell am See, Mayrhofen, Heilegenblut, Bad Gastein, Spittal an der Drau, Hallstatt, Bad Aussee, Mondsee, Traunkirchen, St. Wolfgang, St Veit, Friesach, Velden, Maria Worth, Gurk, Melk, Gmunden, Steyr, Wels, Lienz, Markt St Florian, Kremsmunster, Mariazell, Grein, Durnstein, Klosterneuberg, Eisenstadt, Friestadt --- and a few more I can't remember.

I've seen all these and more, and the great thing about it is the roads that take you there. They are wonderful, offering every kind of sights and views you can imagine. And this doesn't even begin to name the numerous castles in this beautiful country. For one example not many people visit, try Hochosterwiz near Friesach. There are many others.

This might whet your appetite, and might help you establish an itinerary when viewed with a map in hand.

http://www.photoworks.com/members/sl...846&key=mksfca

We were in Bad Gastein in Sept 07. The setting is lovely, but Bad Gastein was a disappointment to me. It looked somewhat shabby and desperately in need of some TLC.

Hall in Tirol IMO has more to offer than Innsbruck. It was a wealthy salt mining town (as was Hallstatt) and this is reflected in the buildings and churches.

Hallstatt is unbelievably beautiful and we loved the time we spent in St. Gilgen on Wolfgangsee. Lots to do in this area.

Here are photos of some of the areas mentioned in our webshots albums if you are interested:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/561038806XxDcvw

http://travel.webshots.com/album/354...PMkPVQ?start=0

I enjoyed travelling to the wine country around Vienna starting with Krems which is a lively wine town on the Danube. The rain prevented us from biking to Bad Durnstein.

There is Lake Neusiedler just an hour south by train from the Sud Bahnhof in Vienna. Plenty of good red wine villages to do wine tasting.

Peg, I was with three women friends a few years ago and we splurged on a car and driver arranged by our hotel--Konig von Ungaren. He drove us to Melk, which we toured then boarded a boat for a lovely trip on the Danube to Durnstein where the the driver met us for the trip back to Vienna.

We had all the time we wanted in both Melk and Durnstein. It was a real indulgence as it would be easy to do without the car. Loved Melk and Durnstein and the boat trip through the Wachau Valley was beautiful.

Here's the website for one of the Danube sightseeing cruise companies:
http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at/en_index.asp

Hi Pegontheroad,

I agree with bettyk that Hall in Tirol has more to offer than Innsbruck. Just my opinion. We've stayed there three times and simply love it.
I know you are looking for places in Austria, but If you'll have a car and are staying in the Innsbruck area, take a short trip (about 3O minutes or so) into Italy to the very charming old town of Sterzing/Vipiteno. A little further (but not much) is the beautiful old town of Brixen/Bressanone. Our favorite. I know they are both in Italy, but they are so close to Innsbruck and are so worth the time.

www.sterzing.com/en/home.html

www.brixen.org

For villages, small towns and great scenery (in Austria!), consider the Oetztal (Oetz valley), west of Innsbruck. We spent four nights in the town (village) of Soelden. Mountains, waterfalls, etc. Beautiful!

www.oetztal.at/en/willkommen-im-oetztal.html

Other places we'd go back to in a minute are Zell am See and Heiligenblut.

With a car, it's hard to beat the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse for scenery! Heiligenblut lies at the southern end of this road.

www.grossglockner.at/en/

If interested, we have some photo's at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel15.html

Paul