train versus car for Austria

Michelle, if I were you I'd rent a car and really see the areas you mentioned. I just rented from AutoEurope for 17 days in Austria and Germany in August and it only cost $25 Canadian a day (get your own insurance coverage through your Visa card and rider on your home car insurance). Get a small car; the driving is very easy in Austria (I suggest GPS - we have a North American Garmin model and purchased a European chip which works great). Melk Abbey and Hallstatt (do the salt mine tour) are fantastic. Haus am Moos is a fabulous bed and breakfast in Salzburg (about 56 Euro a day for a couple including big breakfast). Personally, I find Austria and Slovenia better than the hyper-expensive Switzerland.

Thanks, for your reply. Looks the car wins out over the train. Did you by any chance spend time in Veinna? Suggestions on places to stay? Also, what city did you pick up your car? Did you reserve from home?

Thanks
MIchelle

If you're renting in Austria and want to drive into Slovenia, then drop the car in Slovenia:

-Make sure you are permitted to drive the car in Slovenia.

-Double-check the drop charge for returning the car in a different country. On this forum, we've seen figures ranging from €100 to €500. If it's too high for you, you may need to drop it in Austria and take a train or bus to Slovenia.

My choice of this trip would be to rent a car and drive. Switerland is expensive but I'd never pass up a chance to visit if I could. If you can comfortably fit it into you itinerary and budget, I would.

I certainly suggest you get a good European map and see where all the places on your itinerary are. Your most efficient way of travel is to travel in a straight line in an effort to avoid expensive backtracking.
You really should have started your tour in Munich and caught a train to Salzburg or just fly into Salzburg. You could then pickup your rental car and drive to Wachau Valley/Hallstadt and Melk on the way to Vienna. Then take the train down to Budapest.
I hate to tell you, but that's enough territory to see in 18 days.
If you'll look closely at a map, travel from Budapest thru Slovenia and into the Venice area is very, very difficult. Roads are bad and the mountains are very difficult to cross. Unless you have more time, forget Switzerland and Italy.

Thanks all for your replies. We are actually flying into Brussels to begin our European adventure. Then on to Prague, Budapest, Vienna. Hence, the starting point for Austria. Any suggestions on places to stay in Vienna? B&B's are great, but, other suggestions welcome. Also, I will be picking up a car for our tour of Austria, etc. Are there locations outside of the city for pickups? A little concerned about "big" city driving.

Another question regarding the Austria drive. I have been looking at pros/cons of purchasing a GPS for this trip. The cost of renting one as well as a purchase is high. Will I be ok just having the regular road maps vs the GPS?
Thanks

You can certainly do it with just road maps - that's how people got around Europe for years before GPS was available. Having a GPS will make your life easier, though. To save on the cost of purchasing the GPS we borrowed one from a friend and paid to load the European maps on that. Chances are you will end up with a rental car that has GPS anyway, though. That's what has happened to us on 80-90% of our visits.

For what it is worth, we have always rented from Sixt and had good cars and excellent service. I would note, however, that I have never had a GPS standard in a rental - it always costs extra. The idea of bringing a pre-loaded one from the US is good.

Just a reminder -- Vienna has excellent transportation so you might want to wait to rent thr car until you are leaving the city. K&T Boardinghouse is right next to U-bahn and walking distance to the ring trams

Train vs. car is fairly simple. Driving in Austria is easy once out of the big cities and the cost of a car shared by two people is not that much more than a train. The fantastic things to see in the alps are our of the way and the train service is not always that frequent. The trains are very punctual and if you are one-minute late, the train will be gone but your faithful car will be sitting there waiting for you. If you do decide to rent a car remember you must get an International Driving Permit, they are easy to get for about $10 or 15 from AAA ... getting caught without one get very expensive on the spot.

Regarding a GPS. Buy or borrow one, get a European map card and learn how to use it before you go. For that matter you can also load in destinations before yo leave. The drawbacks to renting a car with a GPS are; 1) yo will have to learn how to use it in a rental car parking lot supported by a manual that will not be written in English and 2) when you park in a large town or a city you can designate your parking place as home and put the unit in your pocket. More than once wee have gotten lost and I had to pull the GPS out, turn it on and have Ms. Garmin lead us back. The GPS should also be backed up with some good paper maps since the GPS is great for telling you exactly where you are but not generally where you are in the large picture.

I would eat the expense and add Switzerland, specifically the Lauterbrunnen valley in the Berner Oberland, it is in a class by itself. I have heard it called, "Just a little piece of Heaven.", so many times by people who seriously meant it. Austria is beautiful but when you try to see all of it, it will start to get a bit repetitious.