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Lodging and Location Advice for Wachau Valley and Salzburg

Posted by (Placitas, NM, USA) on

Would love some input about where to stay in the Wachau Valley: Melk or WeiBenkirchen. We ill be driving from Vienna and plan on doing some wine tasting. We have 2 days and 2 night and we prefer to spend two night in the same location if at all possible. I can't decide if we want to drive to Melk staying there for 2 nights while we explore the area or stay in WeiBernkirchen driving to Melk for part of the day to see the Abby. I figure it will take up the entire day to drive from Vienna stopping in Krems & Durnstein having the next day to explore more, go into Melk, maybe do a bike ride or wine tour or boat ride. Those things are all pending as we plan.

After the two night in the Valley, we head to Salzburg where we drop the rental car off, spend one night and most of the next day before heading to Munich via train for Oktoberfest. I can't decide on which hotel to book there. We prefer staying in town or within walking distance of the tourist sites. I'm considering either Hotel am Dom or Hotel Goldene Krone, both seem like they are in a good location. The prices are very close and include breakfast. I'd like to keep the price range in the €155 to €160 per room per night.
Thank you all for the input, always helpful.
Sue

Posted by
5518 posts

First, I want to give a small German lesson. The town is Weissenkirchen, as the "ß" is not a "B," but a double "s". It German they call it a sharp "s".

Next, a geography lesson. The distance from Vienna to the Wachau valley is short. It takes slightly less than an hour by car or train, depending on where you are coming from in Vienna. That said, I do not recommend taking a car to the Wachau Valley. Please use the train, buses, boats, bikes and your feet instead. The Wachau Valley is a small area. A car would really be a hassle.

I highly suggest staying in Duernstein as it is a beautiful village with several restaurants and tourist infrastructure. I like staying at the Gasthaus Stöger. Staying in the same location for two nights is definitely what you should do. From Duernstein, you can easily visit Melk and to the other Wachau villages.

Krems is the largest town and the gateway to the Wachau Valley. It is a pretty town, but not really worth much of a detour. Duernstein, Weissenkirchen and Spitz are three lovely villages that are between Krems and Melk. There are many other small villages, but these are the most notable. Burgruine Aggstein is also very much worth exploring in this stretch of the Danube. Melk is much smaller than Krems and the highlight, of course, is the Abbey. The Abbey tour takes about an hour. The rest of Melk is cute, but not notable, in my opinion.

I've gone to the Wachau so many times, so I'm happy to answer any further questions you have.

Posted by
905 posts

Also, consider renting bicycles once there to get around.

And thanks Emily for giving her that very important German lesson!

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