Please sign in to post.

July 29-Aug 5, 2018: 1 Week Road Trip in Austria - Looking for Your Ideas!

Hello!
We are going to do the boat/bike Danube River Cruise trip from Passau for one week. (We will see Vienna and Budapest).
The next week, July 29-Aug 5, we are planning a road trip thru Austria!
Would love to get your thoughts on what would make for a good road trip in Austria for this amount of time.

We would like to stay in B&Bs (or similar) along the way.. any ideas?

Any advice on car rental or driving in Austria?
Anything else we should know?

Thanks so much
PS We start in Passau, Germany and must end up in Munich to fly out on Aug. 6th.

Posted by
32519 posts

Will you be renting and returning the car in the same country? Austria? Or are you hoping to drive to the Munich airport?

All drivers in Austria require IDPs which are available at AAA/CAA. They convey to police and other parties what you are legally able to drive and also translate your license into German. They are valid for a year and you need photos, and you must carry your home license too.

Even though a car rented in Austria will come with a toll vignette (not so for cars rented in Germany) there are private roads like the Grossglockner which are not covered and you have to pay a large toll to drive on them, and several large tunnels where you have to pay in addition to the vignette.

If you want to dip your toe into the north of Italy there is a big toll for the Brenner Pass between Innsbruck and Italy.

Car fuel in Austria tends to be quite a lot less expensive than in Germany.

Posted by
15 posts

Hi Nigel,
Thank you so much. Lots of very helpful information! I will go to AAA as you suggested.

I also was wondering about the family-owned "hotels" (at private homes) that I have heard mention of ....(I am sure this type of lodging has another name). This is something that my husband & I might really enjoy staying at in various places in Austria. Do you know about these?

Again, thank you for all the great information!

Posted by
54 posts

I have used Avis on my 9 visits to Austria and booking through my airline gives me the cheapest price. Look at the airline that you are flying with and see what discounts they offer on car rentals.

The this link is used by motorcyclists but I have found it useful when planning my trips to Austria.
http://www.alpineroads.com/index.php

P.S. Please add a little more to your profile. We will not use it for nefarious purposes. But it could help in giving a more detailed response.

Posted by
15 posts

Hi Jason,
Thank you! The tip about checking about a car rental thru our airlines (which is Lufthansa) is a good one! And also, thanks for the link to AlpineRoads.com - another great tip!

I will update our profile as you suggested, but briefly; we are a married couple in our 60's traveling together to Europe for the first time. This July trip, with the combination of a Danube river cruise with bicycling everyday (on electric bikes!) except for 2 days when we will tour Vienna and Budapest (on a Hop On-Hop Off bus tour) --- followed by a one week road trip in Austria after the cruise. It is the perfect combination of things for us. This is the river cruise we are taking: https://en.radreisen.at/austria/bike-and-boat/danube-waltz-bike-and-boat-mv-carissima

Thanks for asking! And thanks again for sharing your tips.

Posted by
54 posts

Be mindful that the temperature can get pretty hot during July, even in the Alps.

Posted by
15 posts

Thank you for the heads up.
My research says that in July and August, the highs are around 75 degrees fahrenheit.
Does that concur with what you know?
Being from So. California, that sounds perfect me!

Posted by
54 posts

It can get into the 80's in the Alps and 90's in Vienna. Austria is beautiful and you will have a great time.

Posted by
3 posts

I haven't traveled much in Austria but I personally love Salzburg, much more so because of its role in The Sound of Music. It's gorgeous there! Vienna is nice but both times I went it was winter and the coldest wind I've ever felt! Thankfully you won't have that problem. If you do go to Vienna, take a night out to attend an opera. It's memorable and beautiful. I'm not much help otherwise but those are my two cents. :)

Posted by
15 posts

Hello Ashelle.pack,
Thank you for you tip! Very helpful.

Your comment helps to add to the excitement we have about our trip.