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Austria and Germany itinerary

Posted by (Dublin, Ohio) on

We will be going to Austria and staying seven nights in Bad Gastein from September 28–October 5 (we have to use our Hilton timeshare so the place/length of time is non-negotiable). We plan to extend our trip three or so more nights so we can see some of Germany (possibly stay October 5–9). We know we would like to see Hallstatt and Salzburg in Austria. In Germany, we want to see Berchtesgaden and Dachau and possibly Munich. Honestly, we are not very familiar with Austria other than the beauty of the Alps. We both are nature lovers and mostly want to hike and experience the beauty of the area. We feel lost with how to plan this trip. Would love any insight on the following:

  • Planning to fly into Salzburg and out of Munich. See any pros/cons of this?
  • Should we rent a car? if so, from where? we were initially going to travel by train like we did in Italy
  • ideas of efficient itinerary to see everything and not waste time backtracking or in transit
  • Any other places we are missing that we should see for the culture/sights? Is not going to Vienna a big miss?
  • suggestions on hiking? we are both runners and are in pretty good shape. possibly looking for anywhere between 2–8 hours is cool
  • Is Munich worth going? we are interested in WWII, Hitler, and concentration camps.

THANK YOU so much in advance!

Posted by
388 posts

Hi there Italybound,

There's a lot here I can't answer, but I can at least put in a comment for Vienna. I absolutely loved it and could have stayed longer. But I love museums and Vienna has a lot of wonderful museums. Vienna is away from where you're wanting to focus time, though we took the train from Salzburg to Vienna and it was pretty easy/quick. If you really want to see Vienna, then it deserves more time. Otherwise, if it's just because you think you should, don't this time.

I fell in love with Austria and there's so much to see or do, you don't have to to to Germany! ;)

FYI - there's is a concentration camp in Austria (Mauthausen) - though not convenient, likely for you. I chose not to go there as my kids were too young.

Do you have an Austria guidebook?

Posted by
1402 posts

In Dorfgastein the Gipfelbahn Fulseck to the top and walk to the Spiegelsee and down to the Wengeralm and back to Dorfgastein is nice. The best Zirbenschnaps I ever had was at the Graukogelhütte above Bad Gastein (really good and I took a bottle home). The Zirbenweg is a nice walk too (family orientated). If you have a car and are adventuresome, you can put the car on the train at Böckstein on the Tauernbahn to Mallnitz and explore travel to the Millstätter See. Over in the Großarltal you can drive to Hüttschlag (Hermann Göring hunted here) and farther and walk to the Ötzlsee. It's a beautiful valley and famous for all the Alm. I would double check for Alm opening times if you are ready to climb.

Posted by
31 posts

The Bad Gastein area has many great hiking opportunities. The websites for Tyrol (Tirol), East Tyrol (Osttirol), Carinthia (Kaernten), Austrian Alpine Club (OAV or Alpenverein), Bergfex, and others will have options. As alluded to in the prior response, there are many great huts to hike to in the area. The same websites will have information on huts. In my experience, the huts have some of the best Austrian food you will find - likely aided by the hike to get there and the beautiful scenery. I always rent a car in Austria as it allows you to access many trailheads and other sites that aren't accessed by train or bus.

Posted by
654 posts

You wrote:

Is Munich worth going? we are interested in WWII, Hitler, and concentration camps

When I'm trying to decide how to apportion my valuable vacation days, I look at guidebooks and videos to see what Munich, for example, is like. Yes, there are Hitler sites there and a concentration camp (Dachau) outside of town. There's a Third Reich walking tour. Whether Munich is worth a visit to you is something I can't answer. However I found it a charming and very walkable city with amazing cake and beer.

Posted by
623 posts

We spend 3 weeks in Bad Gastein every summer and love it!

The hiking in Sportgastein is stunning, one of the most beautiful and underrated places in the world. The thermal spas are quite unique, as well as the radon train. We enjoyed hiking & biking the Koetschachtal Valley. The food & service at Weitmoser Schlössl is wonderful. The cable cars Graukogel, Schlossalmbahn & Stubnerkogel all have views, hikes and mountain huts.

We fly into Munich and rent a car. It’s an easy drive from there. Trains/buses are possible in Bad Gastein, but we did enjoy having a car to go at our own schedule. If you’re staying at Mondi they include parking, so that’s not a problem. One draw back to flying into Salzburg and out of Munich is that rental car drop off fees can be quite a lot. Flying roundtrip Munich will probably be cheaper for the flight and rental car and it’s not that much of an extra drive.

We did a day trip to Königsee/Berchtesgaden from Bad Gastein, which was doable. You could also do a day trip to Salzburg/Halstatt from
Bad Gastein.

Maybe spend your last 3 nights in Munich to see Dachau and possibly a day trip to Garmisch or Fussen/Neuschwanstein. You’d also be hitting the end of Oktoberfest.

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