Austria itinerary help

Though some on this post may discourage you because it is so loved by tourists we thoroughly enjoyed a night in Hallstatt……stay right on the lake and wake up to that view the next morning…..we took the funicular up to an incredible outlook. We toured there after being in Salzburg, which is a favorite for sure…..I would advise staying in the old section of Salzburg near the open square….Hotel Wolf….great location. Gasthof Alter Fuchs had the best pumpkin soup I have ever eaten! Vienna is charming though the Schonbrunn Palace was so crowded that it was not fun….make certain you walk to the back and tour the gardens. Prague is delightful…..stay near the astronomical clock and walk to the palace across the river……Love the Charles River bridge! What a wonderful trip you have to look froward to!

Thank you for your response Jane. We have considered Hallstatt and understand that it is likely overrun with visitors but does look lovely. Perhaps we can do a long day trip there. I’ve read that there are towns equally beautiful, does anyone have any experience in towns comparable?
I have looked at past weather for May but can someone who’s gone at that time share what temps were like for them?

We were there in May and it was delightful….a great time to travel in Europe. We flew into Prague, stayed 4-5 days, rented a car and drove to Cesky Krumlov…..such a special place…..I would not have wanted to miss that. From there we drove to Salzburg for a few days, on to Halstatt and then to Vienna. First time in Vienna and it was wonderful. We left Vienna and drove to Budapest, turned in our car there and flew home from Budapest. One of the best trips we have made….loved every city and none were disappointing! We stoppped in Melk and saw their amazing cathedral and drove through the Wacau Valley on our way to Vienna….beautiful wine country. If you want hotels, etc just DM me and I can send those names to you.

From Vienna by train

Salzburg. 2.5 hours
Budapest 2.5 hours
Graz 2.5 hours
Bratislava 1 hour
Brno 2.5 hours.

Prague 4.5 hours 🙄

With regard to Hallstadt, if you go, do plan to stay two nights. That will give you a full day and parts of your arrival and departure days. It is a wonderful place to visit, and even more so in the early and late parts of the day when the day trippers are not there.

I have thoroughly enjoyed two trips to Melk where we biked down the Danube to Krems, plus visited the monastery and other things along the route of the bike trip (Castle ruins, churches, wineries). Well worth 2 nights and a full day for biking if that is something you enjoy. You can also take a boat trip on the Danube, or do both - we biked down and took the boat back. We also had great meals and loved our hotel there.

We have also done a combined Budapest and Vienna trip which was wonderful. So easy to travel between the two by train. If you like cities, you should love Budapest - much sightseeing, great food, the baths, the opera...  The boat ride on the Danube there is also full of great views.

Thank you all for your advice and help. Budapest seems appealing and looks beautiful. For some reason I didn’t realize it was only 2.5 hours from Vienna, I thought it was about the same distance as Prague. I did plan on Melk and Krems but had not considered staying overnight, I will consider as they both do interest me. I have a lot to give consideration to with only 2 weeks in Austria and surrounding areas. I know I will definitely have to return after this trip.

I get accused of promoting BUDAPEST too much so I just gave you travel times LOL

https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?si=9xW6HrfXNIp3knZS

I did a daytrip to the Wolfgangsee outside Salzburg and loved it, you can look for my detailed travel report. No car or train needed, just a bus.

And I would suggest you don't stay in the old town part of Salzburg since I found it too crowded and too noisy. Consider staying "up the hill" on the other side of the river near the Linder Strasse such as the Hotel Auersperg, you're still plenty close to everything and also close to the train station.

https://www.auersperg.at/en/

Erica-
We are also planning a trip to Austria in May except in the first two weeks. Sounds like we are looking for similar from the trip . We are just starting to plan and would love to hear what other “advice” you have received. Right now we are planning on four days in Vienna, maybe Hallstadt and a day or two in Salzburg. Hadn’t really thought about Budapest , but it sounds like it’s highly recommended.

Thanks,
Dan

I think that you will find that summer "High Season" in Osttirol and Italian Südtirol Alps generally begins the third week in June. You could look around Lienz, Österreich and into the Pustertal, Italia or even further south to someplace like the Seiser Alm. This is not necessarily public transportation friendly. I think you will find many hotels and holiday apartments are open and free during your visit times. I would check on mountain lifts and Alm for opening times. It's still a little early in the year but should be a nice time in the Alps with sunny weather. You will have to plan cloths and shoes accordingly.

Haven't been there, but Burg Hohenwerfen near Salzburg looks good. Of course, there is always the Königssee and Nationalpark Berchtesgaden in Deutschland.

Lots of options...

https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/lienz/
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/toblach/
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/funtenseetauern/

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Dan, I’d be happy to let you know what we find as far as helpful information.
At this time we have no airfare booked and we may be omitting the Prague and Budapest options. We will just have to plan those for a future trip. It seems that we can find so many things to do in Austria, so we will likely fly into and out of Vienna. I’m interested in places in the Wachau Valley including Krems and Melk. Can anyone suggest other towns that can be accessed by public transportation?
Erica

Wiener Neustadt is a half hour away by train from Vienna. There are nice Heuriger/restaurants nearby like Weingut & Heuriger Piribauer in 7201 Neudörfl, Austria. Rust is a nice unique wine village on the Neusiedler See, but could be a 1.5 - 2 hr. bus ride from Vienna. You might consider an overnight there with a visit to a Weingut or two. There are boats on the Neusiedler See too. Mörbisch am See is nearby, but we did not find it as nice as Rust.

From Wiener Neustadt you can go by train to the Schneeberg mountain. This is the closest place to Vienna having an elevation above 6000 ft. Tough people take a hike all way up, but I recommend the cog railway which will carry you to Austria's highest train station.

... consider getting the Austrian vignette online in advance https://vignetteoesterreich.eu/.

CAUTION: This is a third party reseller, selling the vignette with a 30% surcharge.

Should you need it, buy the (physical) vignette at a gas station or from an automobile club (ÖAMTC, ARBÖ, ADAC).

For the electronic vignette or an online purchase there is a grace period of 18 days before the vignette is valid, and you must know the car's license plate, which you normally don't know when renting a car.

Austria besides Vienna and Salzburg:

Melk Abbey, Wachau Valley.

Stay on Wolfgangsee a couple nights. Beautiful!, easy to get to Hallstatt if you want to look.

I like Linz. But maybe not on a 2 week trip or you don't happen to be going right past. But it is a cool little city, not a mistake to visit if it fits.

Berchtesgaden - Germany but it's right there.

The Porsche toy museum, very close to Salzburg. Very cool. Look it up online.

Can anyone suggest other towns that can be accessed by public transportation?

Pannonhalma Archabbey,
Gyor,
Sopron

Erica-
Any updates on the trip? We have finally decided on flights. We are flying into Vienna (April 27) and out of Zurich (May 10). We have an AirBnB in Vienna from April 27- May 3. Time in Vienna will include time to explore, a food tour, a Wachau Valley wine tour, maybe a boat trip on the Danube to Bratislava. I have also heard of a Maypole raising in Durnstein on May 1 that is supposed to be fun. The second week is open at this point .
How are you doing with your plans?
Dan

We spent 5 nights in Hallein, just south of Wengen in June 2018. This was our second trip to Austria. We day tripped to Hallstatt and did not find it overrun. Were there people there? Yes. But it didn’t feel uncomfortably crowded. I think it is absolutely worth the trip. We ate lunch at the restaurant at the top of the funicular, then went up to the salt mine tour.

The area just south of Salzburg is stunning. Consider a trip to Werfen. There is a wonderful fortress there.

Berchtesgaden is gorgeous also. If it open at that time, go up to Eagle’s Nest on a clear day. Konigsee is also worth while. There is a salt mine in Berchtesgaden also.

We spent 5 nights in Hallein, just south of Wengen in June 2018.

Salzburg?

We did 10 days in Austria in September 2023 and we were there in 2016. I definitely recommend renting a car. It is wonderful to drive in Austria especially on the secondary highways. Some suggestions for you:

Innsbruck (amazing City in Tyrol) Main highlight in Innsbruck is the old City centre. Do not miss the Hofkirche (Court Church) - incredible. Lots of great cafes with some of the best streudel I have eaten. Lots of nice places to stay but stay within walking distance to the old town centre or within it. easy spot to do a day trip via car to South Tyrol in Italy. There are lots of castles in South Tyrol and you can do a driving loop through Dolomites which are beautiful. We visited Castle Taufers. We drove the Dolomite Way, going to Cortina and then back. Its worth staying overnight in South Tyrol we just did not have the time.

Salzburg - a must - visit the castle, great views. Eat at the oldest restaurant in the word St. Peter's Stiftskulinarium (opened 803 A.D.).
Grossglockerner High Alpine Road (in Hohe Tauren National Park) and stay at Heligenblut. The highlight of our stay in Austria. The road is incredible, scenery out of this world. Heligenblut was charming small village/town. Stop midway near the highest point and have lunch at Fuschertorl, take the side road up from Fuschertorl to Edelweissspitze (just 10 minutes) the highest point and definitely take the side road to Kaiser Franz Josef's Hohe for great views of the Gross Glockner (highest mountain in Austria) and glacier beneath it.
Hallstaat
Hochosterwitz Castle in Carinthia (awesome castle), from here drive up through a secondary highway to one of the Lakes in Salzgammergut or Upper Austria. We took a secondary highway off the beaten path over the Solk Pass (very nice).
Stay on one of the lakes near Salzburg. We stayed at St. Gilgen. Rent a bike, we biked from St. Gilgen to St. Wolfgang and stopped for lunch along the way, we took a boat from St. Wolfgang to St. Gilgen (there is one which allows bikes). Take a ride up a cable car to a mountain top - nice one in St. Gilgen.
Stay in a smaller Austrian town and if possible splurge and stay in a Castle. We chose Mittersil and stayed in Schloss Mittersill with the dinner and breakfest package. Beautiful rooms - the Jagdzimmer was amazing. Other small towns villages that are nice include Saalback-Hinterglemm (in 2016 we stayed in a hotel/working dairy farm combo, great alpine trail from Saalbach-Hinterglemm to Zell am See (Schattberg to the Schmittenhohe), Kitzbuhel, Zell am See, Zell am Ziller, Badgastein. Go paragliding, tandemn I recommend Flugschule Air Star - Saalfelden but will take off from various mountains.
Hohenwerfen Castle is another great site to see. Easy to get to about 1/2 hour from Salzburg along the A10.
Another nice city is Graz.

If you are in Salzburg it would be a shame not to go to Berchestgaden (for a few days) and go on boat ride at Kongisee. Get off the boat at the end of the lake and take the easy hike to Obersee. Other great things to see in the Berchtesgaden area are: Ramsau village (famous picture of alpine stream, church, bridge and mountains), Wimbachklamm in Ramsau, Kehlsteinhaus (Hitlter's Eagle Nest) and the salt mine.

I would also highly recommend doing more in Bavaria in Germany such as: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Ettal Monastery, Weiskirche, Zugspitze Mountain, Burghausen Castle and, Passau. If you can go to Munich - a really fun City and great food and great beer. None of the foregoing Bavarian destinations are far from Austria.
Nice places to stay relatively near the first five places listed for Bavaria above are: Oberammergau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Mittenwald and Fussen.

I recommend driving because you will waste less time travelling than by train and you will have more freedom of movement. The roads are all fantastic even secondary roads in the country.

Agree that the corner of German near Salzburg is amazing. Beautiful scenery, great hikes, lots to do and see. We stayed at https://hotel-nutzkaser.com/en/hotel-english/. The views are as advertised, the attached restaurant is fantastic and the rooms were comfy and cheap.

Thanks everyone for all your helpful information. I am grateful for all the responses. I’ve been absent due to dealing with medical issues in our family and feel terrible for not responding sooner but have had to focus on something else. We are likely postponing our trip to late August to early September as we need to take care of things at home before traveling.
The weather in August/September seems to be fairly nice according to timeanddate.com and other weather websites I’ve looked at. Although there is a chance it will be slightly warmer than late May (our original plan) the temps seem pleasant enough. We have our fingers crossed that we won’t have to postpone further and will be purchasing our airfare in the next couple of weeks. At this point, airfare for Aug/Sept is way less expensive than May which we are happy about. Thanks again to you all. If anyone can share their thoughts on Aug/Sept travel I’d appreciate it.

People will tell you AUGUST!!! You will bake! Truth is July is the hottest month in a lot of the region and by mid-August temp generally begin falling at a good clip. That's why September is so nice. And September and October are my favorite months is Central / Eastern Europe. Good choice. Better than May in my book. And you being from AZ wouldnt bake anyway.