Driving from Munich to Salzburg near the end of May. Then on to Vienna. Will have one day available to Salzburg, next day to Vienna.
Is it worthwhile visiting the Eagles Nest at Berchtesgaden and if so, how much time to plan for?
What about Melk Abbey? Have always seen pictures of it taken from the Danube, but curious if visiting it from the land side is possible and worthwhile.
A visit to the Eagles Nest from Salzburg would eat up at least 4 hours. If you are only spending one night in Salzburg, when would you be sightseeing in that most lovely city?
Melk Abbey can most certainly be visited by car. The drive is almost entirely on the autobahn, and drive time from Salzburg to Melk and on to Vienna is less than 4 hours (stops en route not included). We found the Abbey very beautiful and very worth our visit, which took a little over 2 hours.
Note: you can always preview your driving routes on Google Maps. Street view is handy for identifying parking
It kind of depends on your interests. Clearly the Eagles Nest complex (you should not
forget the Documentation Center in your planning) is of extreme interest if you are into
history and WWII. You could easily spend an afternoon here. FWIW, the Eagles Nest
is more significant because of what it was, not what it is.
Melk Abbey can definitely be toured, and it is worth seeing if you are into ornate Baroque
churches.
There are frequent trains from Munich to Salzburg, for what it's worth. You could rent the
car in Salzburg and perhaps save a bit on a inter-country dropoff charge. You can get to
the Eagles Nest/Berchstgaden with public transport.
Thank you for your reply - very helpful.
I highly recommend that you ditch the car idea and take the train. The driving can be stressful, parking is challenging and you won't really need the car at all to sightsee.
There are very frequent trains from Munich to Salzburg and more frequent trains from Salzburg to Vienna.
With one day in Salzburg, I suggest you just enjoy Salzburg, unless you are a huge WW2 history buff.
For Melk, yes it is beautiful and it can be toured. The entire region is famous for its winding Danube Valley, old fortresses, wine and apricots. It makes an amazing day trip from Vienna. I suggest you just get to Vienna and then make a day trip from Vienna to this area on a nice weather day.
Thank you for your reply.
Yes, I'd much prefer to use the train system, but we're carrying large suitcases, since we'll be joining a river cruise in Vienna. So renting a car is more convenient.
It is going to be so much harder with a car, trust me. If you take Westbahn trains, the trains have low floor entry and an area to store luggage. Trust me.
Maybe take the time for the Rossfeld Panoramastrasse. The Melk Abby is something to see just by itself, then drive along the Danube. Visit a Vineyard time allowing. Or just drive to Vienna on secondary roads your route.
Danke für die Informationen. Will see if we can follow your advice.
Thank you, everyone, for your advice.
As I wrote, we are renting a car in Munich, then slowly driving to Vienna where we will join our river cruise tour at the Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna Hotel. We plan to return our rental car to the Vienna airport then taxi into Vienna to our hotel. Is that car return location best (least confusing) or should we drop the car somewhere in Vienna itself?
Is that car return location best (least confusing) or should we drop the car somewhere in Vienna itself?
That question can't be answered without knowing the car rental company and its car return places. The airport is outside of Vienna, so any spot in the city would be closer to your hotel.
As far as car rental return goes, chances are a dropoff location in downtown Vienna will
be harder to find and navigate. As noted, without knowing the agency and location, one
can only really generalize.
The airport dropoff, while potentially tucked away in the corner of a car park, is likely to
be better signed and easier to get to.
The rental car company is Sixt.
Thank you all for your advice.
As far as car rental return goes, chances are a dropoff location in downtown Vienna will
be harder to find and navigate.
The airport dropoff, ..., is likely to be better signed and easier to get to.
This is not the case. Autobahn (highway) A1 you will be driving from Salzburg is ending at the western border of Vienna. A4 leading to the airport starts at the south-east border of Vienna. So to get to the airport drop off point you would have to navigate across the city anyway.
Sixt has 7 drop off points in Vienna. Most convenient for you would be this one:
https://www.sixt.com/car-rental/austria/vienna/vienna-schonbrunn/?changeLocale=true&fir=80
This place is in the very street you will pass when you just drive straight downtown, approx. 5 miles after the end of A1.
A taxi from there to your hotel should cost less than €20.
Thank you for the information about the Sixt agency at Wien Schönbrunn. Will consider it.
Another question: any recommendations for hotels / b&b's / Pensions around Gmunden or Melk or anywhere in between?
I stayed already twice in Hotel Esplanade in Gmunden. It is right at the waterfront of Traunsee (Lake Traun). Book a room having lake view. Breakfast is very good, not overwhelming. I chose the hotel in the first place because it has an underground garage. Parking your car on the streets of Gmunden can be messy due to lack of space.
https://hotelesplanade.at/
Website is in German, but easily understandable.
Gmunden has a lot to offer. See here:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/peaceful-lake-suggestion-in-austria#2598799
Viel' Dank. This suggestion is very helpful and the German is no problem. We will consider the Hotel Esplanade.
As mentioned, we will be visiting Melk Abbey on this trip.
I see that there is an English language guided tour provided by the abbey every day at 10:55. Is the abbey open earlier, is this tour worthwhile, and/or are there other suggestions for seeing the complex?
We plan to drive to Vienna shortly thereafter, dropping our rental car at the airport, then taking a taxi to our hotel for a 15:00 check in and meeting our river tour group shortly thereafter.
IIRC, the abbey opens at 9. You can tour on your own. An audioguide (via app/smartphone) is available for a small fee. We visited on our own, just using our guidebook (Ive no idea how much info is in the current RS book). I think we took over 2 hours, but were not there for the noon prayer services.
Thank you again for your suggestions about Melk. You've been very helpful.
We plan to drive to Vienna shortly thereafter, dropping our rental car at the airport, then taking a taxi to our hotel ...
As mentioned already before:
Autobahn (highway) A1 you will be driving when coming from Melk is ending at the western border of Vienna. A4 leading to the airport starts at the south-east border of Vienna. So to get to the airport drop off point you would have to navigate across the whole city, which will cost you probably more than an hour. The airport is outside of Vienna in a different state.
Most car rental companies have several drop off points in Vienna. Most likely there is one much closer to your hotel.
Yes, I appreciate your reply again about the car drop off, but I reserved it several months ago. A change in drop off location will generate a new reservation - with a much higher rate.
A change in drop off location will generate a new reservation - with a much higher rate.
My son, who happens to live in Vienna, had several car rentals from Sixt in the past. He checked that issue by calling Sixt and got the information that a drop off change within Vienna should be no problem, i.e., no change of rate.
He got the advice that you should write to [email protected] for getting support.
