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Salzburg, Melk, Hallstatt and Bad Gastein help please

Hello,
Trying to figure out our itinerarey for our upcoming trip. We will be flying in and out of Salzburg and renting a car as we don't love to be on a specific timetable and we worry about train availability this time of year. We have never been to Austria and look forward to hiking. Here is our itinerary:

Tuesday, Sept. 24 – arrive Salzburg, tour the area, hike-any suggestions where?
Thursday, Sept. 26 – drive to Mauthausen concentration camp, then continue on to Melk. We want to ride bikes and do wine tasting (maybe take the boat to our BnB after wine). Spend the night in Melk
Friday, Sept. 27 – drive to Hallstatt, hike, relax and tour the village. Spend the night in Hallstatt
Saturday, Sep. 28–Saturday Oct. 5 – stay in Bad Gastein. We have a time share there through Hilton so it's "free". Any suggestions on day trips, things to do?

We are contemplating staying 2 nights in Hallstatt so we are not rushed this first week. I am most excited to go there because of the photos.

I would love your feedback on itinerary suggestions! Thanks so much!!

Posted by
2141 posts

In which order? How do you plan to travel? What do you want to visit?

Posted by
13 posts

We are going in the order listed above. We will probably be renting a car so we have more flexibility with our schedule, as at that time of year the trains seem to be limited. If that’s incorrect, please let me know as I would rather take the train

Posted by
1358 posts

If you want a little adventure, you can put the car on the train in Böckstein (near Bad Gastein) thru the Tauerntunnel and get off the train at Mallnitz. Then drive to Millstätter See. You can go a little farther to Biosphärenpark Nockberge, Falkertsee, Turracherhöhe, etc. The best Zirbenschnaps I have had is at the Graukogelhütte (Bad Gastsein). Zirbenzauber path too.
https://www.oebb.at/en/regionale-angebote/kaernten/autoschleuse-tauernbahn

Posted by
2141 posts

We are going in the order listed above.

A somewhat strange route. Where do you fly in/out? How do you get to Salzburg? Where do you go after Bad Gastein?

Without knowing the whole picture it is difficult to give a reasonable advice.

Posted by
476 posts

I don't think you can leave Salzburg on a Thursday, see Mauthausen, ride bikes and take the boat back all in one day. For us, waking up in Melk and leaving in the morning to bike down the Danube with stops, and be in Krems in time to catch the last boat back up to Melk was a very full day. But, maybe you don't want to rid the bike much. Still, the boat schedule will be limited at the end of September, so you will want to check the latest time you can get any boat.