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Austrian Alps + Vienna w/ kids

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We are planning a trip in July to attend a party in Vienna, where we will need to stay for 3-4 days at the end of our trip. We would like to spend the first half of our trip relaxing, hiking and also stop in Salzburg. There are so many wonderful places and regions to stay, I can’t seem to narrow anything down. Looking for advice, children are 9 and 11:
1. Do you fly into Munich or Vienna? It seems like taking a train or flight into Innsbruck after the flight would still require more driving to a hotel and require renting a car? No matter what it seems like once we land we have another 3 hours+ to get to where we want.
2. If we took a second flight, how long would you allow for the transfer in Frankfurt, Munich or Vienna? The airlines gives us layovers of 45 minutes between but that doesn’t seem like enough time, if anything goes wrong.

3. Recommendation for hotels/towns? Are the all inclusive hotels worth it? We do need some level of amenities - pool/swimming option. Some hotels look amazing but then are very isolated. I’d prefer not to be in the main city since we will be in Vienna at the end.

Thank you!

Posted by
2340 posts

How many days is your trip in total? Or how many days do you have before heading to Vienna?

I don't think there are direct flights from US to Innsbruck (and neither to Salzburg). For Frankfurt a layover of 45 minutes is not enough, IMHO, as the airport is really large. The train from Munich airport to Innsbruck is 2:15 hours (with one change).

Usually people go to Innsbruck for the mountains, not necessarily for staying at a swimming pool. There is a lot to see for the kids. You can go up the Nordkette with the cable car, there is the alpine zoo, the ski jump hill, Crystal Worlds, etc.

You could go by train from Munich to Salzburg, where is a lot of entertainment, e.g. the trick fountains. From there you can do some day trips, e.g. ice caves, St. Wolfgang cog railway, Hallstatt salt mines, Five Fingers outlook, etc.

All is doable without a car. Get acquainted with public transport.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for the input. We are looking at direct to Vienna or Munich with a direct train to Salzburg from Vienna or Innsbruck from Munich. We only have 10-12 days for the whole trip and some of those days will be eaten up with travel. I’d love to do the trip without a car, just difficult depending on hotel location, some are another hour from the train and I’ve seen many posts that a car might be needed to get around. The pool/swimming location is really for the kids when they need to do something once back at the hotel. We fully intend to take advantage of everything the region has to offer.

Posted by
21547 posts

Munich is the closest airport to Salzburg, Takes 2 hours and 18 minutes by s-bahn and regional train with departure every hour. Change trains at Munich Ost. Cost is 42 EUR for 2 adults and 2 children under 15 using a Bayern Ticket, available at the airport station.

Vienna airport has direct trains to Salzburg every 30 minutes, taking either 2 hours and 51 minutes or 3 hours and 16 minutes and 200 EUR is the anytime price.

For the Alps, look at Zell am See. There are direct trains from Salzburg and lots of hotels with swimming pools.

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