My husband and I will be on a group tour of Switzerland (6/25/24 – 7/6/24), starting in Zurich and ending in Geneva. We want to extend our trip and travel independently in Austria (7/6/24 – 7/17/24). I have a tentative itinerary, and would love feedback/suggestions from more experienced travelers (trains, hotels, sites, towns to visit, etc.) Our group tour will end at the Geneva Airport on 7/6, with most of the group returning to the US. Since we will already be at the Geneva airport, I thought that we would fly to Vienna then work our way back to Munich by train for our return flight to the US. We plan to use trains/subways; we do not plan to rent a car. No flights booked yet, so I am open to returning from another airport besides Munich – possibly Vienna, if it works better. Another option is travel from Geneva to Innsbruck (by train?),then stop in Salzburg, Linz ending in Vienna and returning to the US from there (prices are good for flights from US to Zurich and from Vienna to US). Is it better to visit Innsbruck for a couple of days or spend a couple of days in Munich? I greatly appreciate any suggestions, thank you in advance!
7/6 fly from Geneva to Vienna
Vienna – 3 nights – July 6, 7, 8 – take train to Linz afternoon/evening of 7/8
Linz – 2 nights – July 9, 10 – visit Melk take train to Salzburg afternoon/evening of 7/10
Salzburg – 4 nights – July 11, 12, 13 & 14 – with side trips to Hallstatt, Bad Ischl, etc. – take train to Munich or Innsbruck afternoon/evening 7/14.
Munich or Innsbruck – 2 nights July 15, 16 – return flight to US on 7/17.
Posted by
3 posts
Sounds like a great trip! My husband & I did a day trip from Rinnen Austria to Innsbruck. We saw the Old Town, took the cable car to the top of the local Mountain & visited nearby Kristallwelten. We enjoyed it, but there is probably more to see in the Munich area.
Posted by
1906 posts
Melk is halfway between Vienna and Linz. Going to Linz first and visitig Melk from there means going back.
I would stay one night longer in Vienna, take an early train to Melk, visit the abbey, continue to Linz. Skip one night in Linz.
For me, Vienna is much more appealing than Salzburg. I like museums and not SOM. Therefore I would stay longer in Vienna.
The most interesting site for me in Linz is that: https://ars.electronica.art/center/en/
Posted by
San Diego, California
4699 posts
When in Salzburg, I'd advise a day in Berchtesgaden. It's easy to do via bus, about 45-60 min from the old town. The area is beautiful!
Safe travels!
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
17918 posts
A nearly perfect trip for the laid back travels who is in in no hilurry to see it all, not even the top 10 and who knows they will be back to see the rest of the region as a sampler or in depth.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5384 posts
Skip Linz and just stay in Melk (actually I would stay in Duernstein).
Posted by
Washington DC
27112 posts
I'm not sure whether you've been looking at two separate one-way transatlantic tickets or one multi-city ticket. The latter is usually considerably cheaper. It's usually best to treat the short, intra-European hop as a separate transaction, but it's always smart to check every possibility.
Posted by
OP
Virginia
2 posts
Thank you for the advice and suggestions. I am still working on our plans, so I am still eager to hear other information/suggestions. Currently, it looks like we may reverse the route and take the train from Geneva to Munich spend a couple of days there, then make our way across Austria by train ending up in Vienna. This seems to work better as there are non-stop flights from Dulles to Zurich and also for the return trip from Vienna to Dulles.
Posted by
Washington DC
27112 posts
Yes, I often see Zurich and Vienna as possible transfer points when I'm flying to cities with no non-stops from Dulles. I've never actually flown into either of those airports, but that's only because I found better schedules or fares through other gateways.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4412 posts
SOM in Salzburg was mentioned, I have good news and bad news. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the city is not totally taken over by Maria-fever, so it's possible to visit and not hear Climb Every Mountain ringing out from every storefront. Of course you can find all the usual souvenirs.
But that can also be bad news if that is your reason for going, so you need to dig deeper and take things like Bob's Tours to get your fix. If anything, I found Salzburg still pushes Wolfie very hard more so than the Van Trapps.
And as an aside, if you do love SOM you should watch Samantha Brown's Austria episode. She was a theater geek in high school and care to guess what her favorite play was?
I flew into Vienna and out of Munich, it's very easy and very doable. When I bought my train tickets from Salzburg to Munich airport the guy in the ticket office handed me a printout listing how to do the transfer (I didn't really look at it until I was on the train and realized what it said). You either go all the way to Munich Hbf and catch the S line, or you do a slightly sooner transfer at Munich Ost. The Hilton at Munich airport is literally 10 steps away from the terminals, it is ultra convenient.
Posted by
Hickory, NC USA
437 posts
I would agree with Emily, stay in Melk, not Linz. Melk is adorable. Linz is OK.
Posted by
Oberpfalz, Germany
1291 posts
Early summer in Austria. I would go with the car. Vorarlberg, Tirol, Osttirol and the into Italy Südtirol. A Berg Summer. The mountains are not so high as Switzerland, but the Stimmung is good. Maybe too much outside your purview, but you can do it. At least for 4-5 days.