Ok, this one's a real odyssey. In a good way, I hope. I have slightly more than a month. Wanted to really explore Austria and a bit of Slovenia as well. I like having a mix of stuff in my trips, some cities, a lot of nature and easy hiking, some relaxing by a lake or beneath a mountain, some music, some food, you get the picture. Worked hard on trying to make a route that made sense. I know the general consensus is to not move much and try and maximize time in every place you visit, but my instinct is to move a lot, like in a road trip, so I planned accordingly while still leaving room to breath.
would love to hear your thoughts about the plan and if it makes sense.
Sept 12 - Arriving late, sleep near the airport.
Sept 13-14 take a car, sleep 2 nights in Melk. Second day can do the bike route along the Danube.
Sept 15-16 Hallstatt and the area (2 nights)
Sept 17-18 Salzburg (2 nights). I've been to Salzburg some years ago, so I'm not in a rush to see any attractions or anything, mostly just want to relax abit before the next part of the trip.
Sept 19-22 Kizbuhel (4 nights). the whole Hohe Tauern area and maybe a bit of Tyrol as well. one of the days do the Grossgluckner. The idea is to drive around, do some hikes etc. Chose Kitzbuhel as a base because I heard it's nice, but I'm not tied down to it. Should I consider a different, more mountain-hutish base?
Sept 23 last day of driving around the Hohe Tauern area, sleep in Hermagor or somewhere in that area, mostly to break the trip up.
Sept 24 Drive along the border (road 111 and then 83 and 85, then 82) to the mountain crossing into Slovenia, drive along Logarska Dolina, maybe do a hike there. sleep in Logarska Dolina. Sept 25-27 sleep in Bled/Bohinj (3 nights). first day maybe go to Valika Planina on the way from Lograska Dolina, but then just use the days to drive around the Julian Alps and the Triglavs park.
Sept 28-30 Ljubljana (3 nights). Some break from all the nature ;)
Oct 1-3 Rovinj (3 nights). Just thought at this point I might be tired from all the mountains and lakes, so a bit of Mediterranean views might be nice for a few days. It is a bit far though, I know.
Oct 4 drive back into Slovenia, go to the caves in Skocjan and the castle in Predjama, then sleep somewhere around that area or maybe deeper into Slovenia.
Oct 5 long drive across the country to Ptuj, stay there for the night. Not super excited about this day, but it seems like it's necessary.
Oct 6 cross back into Austria, drive the south Styrian wine road (I'm not really a wine drinker so it's mostly for the views) then maybe find a nice spa hotel somewhere for the night.
Oct 7-8 Graz (2 nights)
Oct 9-16 Vienna. I'm thinking of possibly moving to Vienna at some point in the future so I wanted to spend at least a week there to get a feeling for it. Again, I've been there some years ago so don't really need to see any attractions in particular, just try to live and enjoy, and possibly do a day trip to Bratislava.
That's it, that's the plan. I know it's a lot, I hope it makes sense. Please let me know your thoughts, I'd love to get feedback. Thank you!