My friend and I along with our two 16 year old daughters are traveling to Italy and we would like to do a 2-3 day trip to a nice town in Austria. Can anyone suggest a few places that will be scenic and interesting to see. We don't mind renting a car if need be. We prefer that it is not more than 3-4 hours away. My friend is suggesting Villach. Any suggestions?!
Posted by
Charm City USA
183 posts
Not sure if it is too far, but Admont (Styria) might be interesting. Cute village with an abbey that has a very famous baroque library. It's in a gorgeous valley on the edge of the Gasaeuse National Park, so the scenery up to the mountains is wonderful. Lots of hiking/rafting/kayaking opportunities there. They have a very nice visitors center for the park, too, with plenty of info. Park website here: http://www.nationalpark.co.at/en/visitors
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
I haven't been to Villach, but Klagenfurt a little further east is an atmospheric town with nice lake views.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thank you for your responses. I am going to look into both places!
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5382 posts
Villach and Klagenfurt are cities, or at least large towns. Wouldn't you prefer something more quaint?
Posted by
OP
10 posts
We love quaint also! What did you have in mind? We do have to consider that we have two teens with us though! I have never been to Austria ,so any suggestions will be great so that we can get an idea as to what we would like to see or do!
Thank you
Posted by
29 posts
Sept of 2014 my husband and I took the train from Vienna to run the Wacchau marathon which was based in Krems, where we spent 3 nights. We were bused out to Emmersdorf to run the 26.2 along the Danube back to the finish line in Krems. The views were beyond spectacular, the people amazing and I'm pretty sure they invented the word "quaint" in all the small towns in that area.
For driving I might suggest a route over 2-3 days out to Krems, then Melk, back through St Polten and back to Vienna. Otherwise it's pretty easy and scenic to do it by train with many trips making connections thru St Polten.
The Abbey at Melk is spectacular. We saw lots of people cycling the paths beside the Danube. We absolutely fell in love with Austria and in particular the beauty of the Wacchau Valley.
We did 13 days in Austria/Germany using only trains and it was easy and fun.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Great information! Thank you. I will definitely look into it.
Posted by
Sydney
275 posts
Graz is a nice city in southern Austria. It is not a small place, since it is the second biggest city in Austria, but there are lots of nice buildings in the city centre. There is also Schloss Eggenberg on the outskirts of the town which is a very nice old manor house.
Posted by
NYC area
2906 posts
Does an area that was once part of Austria, but now a part of Italy, count? If so, check out the absolutely spectacular Dolomites, about 3.5 hours from Venice. The main language is German and you'll feel as though you're in Austria.
Paul
Posted by
San Francisco
14507 posts
Hi,
If you do take the suggestion of seeing the area that has been part of Italy only since the end of WW 1, see the main town Bozen.