Vienna , Austria -- day trips to Salzburg and Budapest

For me, it would depend on how much time you have in Vienna as there is so much to see there.

Geee, everyone has different interests. Salzburg just didn't light my fire. So no. Regarding Budapest I am pretty biased. I liked it so much, I moved here. So, yes. But you do need at least 3 full days in Vienna first.

I will be in Vienna for at least a week.

JC

Personally, I think you will be shortchanging both cities with day trips that include 5-6 hours of travel.

Alternative day trips would be Bratislava (1 hour), Wachau Valley and even Brno (Czech Republic) (1.5 hours.)

I enjoyed a daytrip to Salzburg, but it was from Munich, which is quite a bit closer than Vienna. Budapest has so much to see and do, and is far enough away, that I don’t think it’s a good idea unless you can spend at least one night there, and preferably longer. Bratislava is a lesser light than Budapest but is an interesting city and makes a much more doable daytrip from Vienna, as it’s only about one hour away and it has enough to make a day there worthwhile, but not more than that so you won’t come away thinking you needed more time.

With just 7 days, I wouldn’t want two long day drips, but they’re doable if you can get an early start—around 6 am. Sometimes seeing a city for even just part of a day is better than not seeing the city at all.

What I might do is spend 2-3 nights in Salzburg or Budapest. It just depends on what you plan to do in Vienna.

Last year, my sister and I opted to combine Vienna and Pague, but we had more time than you do.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sisters-in-vienna-and-prague-our-trip-report

And looking back, I wish we had taken a day trip to Budapest.

There is no right or wrong answer to this one. Personally, If I have to spend a week in Vienna I would be crawling the walls by day 3. That’s why I ended up in Budapest the first time 23 years ago … escaping Vienna. But, again, I am not right, just how I am wired.

You need to research all three and make some decisions that work best for you. Both Salzburg and Budapest are close enough to a reasonable 1, 2, or 3 night stay and leave you 4 in Vienna. I have helped plan a couple of overnights in Budapest and a couple of 2 night stays before the river boat departed stays. Happy to help again. Actual dates might have a bearing on it too. There are a few “cant miss” dates here and some dates that might have some things of personal interest to you that might sway the decision.

I don’t have the love for either Vienna or Salzburg to be a representative of either. If you go to my RS profile page you can find some resources on visiting Budapest which might help. Maybe someone will help you with similar on Salzburg and Vienna.

Mr. E is the first person I have ever heard say that they didn't like Vienna. We loved it but we do really like museums.

"Didnt like" is a bit harsh. Back in the day when I had so little time and money; Vienna just wasnt the most ideal destination.

Maybe. Is a single day enough to see what you want to see in those cities? At best you'll have between 6-8 hours to visit. That's zipping through three or four major sites with a fast lunch on the street and something on the train for dinner.

I'll add that I've spent about 10 days in Vienna. I still have more I want to see--heading there in December--and I don't feel that a week is too much time in Vienna. If you want a day away from the city, consider Melk.

I will be spending 8 nights in Budapest (spent a week there in 2024), 7 nights in Vienna (spent 3 nights there in 2016) and 4 nights in Salzburg (I’ve been there 4 times only on day trips during previous trips) in November. We will probably do one day trip from Budapest and will keep our options open for day trips from Vienna. We have been to Melk Abbey but I’m sure there are other places worth seeing. Having been to these 3 locations I would say that if you only have time for a day trip to either Budapest or Salzburg I would choose Salzburg because it is smaller and you can see a lot of the city in a day. For me I would go to Budapest when you would have more time to appreciate it. I’m thinking about stopping over in Bratislava on our way from Budapest to Vienna. Otherwise we will probably do it as a day trip from Vienna.

Thank you so much for all your input
We decided to just do trips within a hour or so from Vienna during our time this trip which will be in Oct.

I think also we will fly from Atlanta to Zurich and then fly to Vienna instead of Munich to vienna

For all of you that have stayed in Vienna-- any suggestions of hotels or apartments to stay

Judith

Already mentioned previously in another post, this is an apartment for two adults where relatives of mine and friends have stayed already several times: https://airbnb.com/h/vienna-best
After reading the reviews you will agree that the name is well deserved.

I was going to suggest that you look at the Rick Steves tours that visit each of the cities and see how long he stayed and what he did each day.

Second suggestion, remain a bit flexible. I dont know how often you get to do this sort of trip, but in my case I almost always have a Plan B. After spending a small fortune crossing the atlantic I dont want to find myself in a place that doesnt speak to me with no options to improve the situation. Here it could be as simple as additional daytrips or even an overnight trip.

Hotels. Well, despite my first short stay 23 years ago I have been back on maybe a half dozen trips. Mostly short trips with an intended purpose of an event or a show or a celebration or to introduce someone to the city. RS Travelers will tell you to spend a week and do it in some remote neighborhood on or not far from the metro that represents the "real" Vienna. Its valid and you will get some of those suggestions. I am just an old hack tourist so I stay close to what interests me. In Vienna that puts me somewhere along the southern or southwestern side of the Ringstraße. But my trips are short (I live 2.5 hours away) so I can survive the crazy Vienna hotel cost for the 2 or 3 nights I might be there.

Seems everytime I find one that works for me, the next time the price has gone out of sight or its booked. So, to date, my favorites have been the Hotel Astoria and the Hotel Imperial. Both stupid expensive, but both very "Vienna" for different reasons and both extremely well situated for tourism and night time street wandering and great restaurants. The last trip, last year, I ended up at the The Levante Parliament which was a bit more affordable, the trip before House of Ble ... either of which I would do again ... and very okay.