Vienna & Salzburg- how many nights?

So in Vienna you will arrive, crash and not get much done on day one. Day two will be more productive, but then you’re headed to Salzburg the next day. Why even bother with Vienna? In July, all the orchestras, etc are on break in Vienna, so you’ll only have subpar tourist fodder available. Most musicians head to Salzburg during this time or go on tour.

For either city 2 or 3 nights are not enough. If your arrival date is during the "Salzburger Festspiele" (usually starting the 3rd week of July) I would agree with Emily to skip Vienna. There are express trains going to Salzburg directly from Vienna International Airport.

My wife and I just spent 4 days in Salzburg and we could have stayed longer.(this was our second time there)We just love it. Along with the Sound of music tour you can take side trips to Hallstatt and Berchtesgaden. We have not made it to Vienna yet but don't cut Salzburg short, give yourself at least 3 days.

My husband and I just back from a trip to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. We only spent 2 days in Vienna but wish that it had been much longer. We stayed at the Arcotel hotel close to Schoenbrunn Palace, it was a great 4 star hotel and it was close to a train station, tram, laundromat, bakery, and grocery store. We are now talking about planning another trip so we can spend more time there. We spent 2 full days in Salzburg and felt like that was too much time there. We went back the second day with friends to go on the Sound of Music tour and we went with Bob's Special Tours that Rick had recommended, it was the worst tour ever. I actually asked for our money back, of course they wouldn't give it back. Their tour guide could barely speak English and there were 9 of us crammed in a van, it was a miserable experience. If you want to do the tour, check out the other tour companies on Trip advisor.