Vienna Day Trips

Do you mean escorted tours outside of Vienna, or are you planning to organize your own day trip?

It also would be helpful to understand the time of year your trip is taking place as day trips are very weather dependent.

Do any RS guidebooks list day trips out of Vienna?

Pretty straight forward question. Sorry, never bought a RS Guide Book so dont know.

If you will be in Vienna 4 or 5 days or more; I might suggest an overnight in Budapest ... or even just a day trip. Just 2.5 hour trip.

Another idea: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/cruising-the-danubes-wachau-valley

I am interested in both suggested day trips I can do independently or 1 day tours that people have tried. Thank you.

The most popular day trip from Vienna is the Wachau Valley, a stretch of the Danube between Melk and Krems which is UNESCO designated. Beautiful scenery, vineyards, castle ruins and a famous abbey. I can provide more specific details if needed.

Nearly equally popular is a visit to Bratislava, which has a cute, but small, city center which is bustling with restaurants and cafes.

Other great ideas include Laxenburg Castle, Lake Neusiedl/village of Rust, Sopron, Perchtoldsdorf, Raxalpe or Schneeberg, Klosterneuburg Monastery, Baden bei Wien.

All of these are easy to do yourself - no tour guide needed.

Rick does list quite a few, yes. You do have the book, don't you?

You can also cheat and look for it here on the website.

Klosterneuburg Abbey is a favorite of mine , The Abbey is full of wonderful things to see - The Verdun Altarpiece is a highlight , and the Treasury is magnificent . In the Treasury are included a number of religious vestments done in Jugendstil ( Art Nouveau ) designs . The town outside the Abbey is quite a delightful place to stroll , and the trip from central Vienna is about an hour . The U Bahn ( U4 ) to Heiligenstadt then either a bus or the S Bahn ( S40 ) to Klosterneuberg . https://www.klosterneuburg.net/en and the Abbey https://www.stift-klosterneuburg.at/en/ To get a taste , this video , shot in 2013 for the Vienna New Years Concert in 2014 shows the Abbey and an Autumn day there - https://youtu.be/9Nl8y5KLpqs

Rick Steves Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol 6th edition guidebook has a chapter on Bratislava, Slovakia that’s a 1h direct train ride away. I took his self-guided walking tour there and it was spectacular. Wish I had stayed the night.

This is what I am planning for May:

Buy a Combiticket from OBB at the Vienna main train station which will cover all of the following transportation except maybe not the bus from Durnstein to Krems.

8:20 train to Melk
9:19 arrive Melk, visit Melk Abbey (entrance included in combiticket)
1:15 Boat to Durnstein. Visit Durnstein, when ready, local bus to Krems, visit Krems, have dinner then train back to Vienna.

Thank you for the fine suggestions; this was very helpful.

We went to Bratislava from Vienna on the Flixbus a few years ago. It was just before Christmas so it was freezing, but we still did a Segway tour. That was insane, but fun! And it was fun to pop to another country! :)

OP: Rick Steves lists at least three day trips: to Melk, to Bratislava, and to Concentration camp memorial.

Never used the RS guide on Vienna , only Rough Guide.

The days trips I 've done from Vienna have been Melk, Bad Ischl, Wiener Neustadt, Graz, and Wagram in Austria. Baden bei Wien is easily accessible on the S-Bahn from Karlsplatz.

Outside of Austria, I would recommend going to Budapest, did that three times from Vienna. All these excursions in and outside of Austria were solo.

Dear Emily,
Thank you for your invaluable info!
Would you rank the day trips from Wien you advised, please: Laxenburg Castle, Lake Neusiedl/village of Rust, Sopron, Perchtoldsdorf, Raxalpe or Schneeberg, Klosterneuburg Monastery, Baden bei Wien.
I mean, which one is the most important to see. The problem is: we do not have enough time to check them all!
Fortunately, I visited Sopron already.

Fred - perhaps you are thinking of the Badner Bahn from Karlsplatz to Baden bei Wien, as the S-bahn doesn’t go to Karlsplatz.

Andrei - I cannot possibly rank these as “important to see” as that is very subjective. These excursions are all very different - some are churches, some are drinking wine and some are hiking. What do you like to do?

Emily,
How do I get to Laxenburg and Raxalpe from Wien, please?
I would use train, bus and/or taxi.

Andrei - just use Google maps’ public transportation option.

@ Emily.... I was told at the hotel that to go Baden bei Wien take a certain line at Karlsplatz, ( don't remember the name), ie, the station behind the State Opera, I saw the sign as to which line to take but the wait time was too long so I canceled that excursion.

Thanks for the correct info on the S-Bahn, I just know where to catch the correct line to go out there.

If you saw the PBS series "Vienna Blood," one of the episodes takes place at Schloss Laxenburg. The time frame is 1908 dealing with the Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina , or the places appeared on the maps of the Austrians, Bosnien-Herzegowina.

Another reason to see that site and where the filming took place.

Fred - it’s the Badner Bahn from Karlsplatz. Trams leave every few minutes, so the wait time should have been no more than 5-8 minutes.

@ Emily....Thanks for information on getting out to Baden bei Wien.