Rick Steves has a pretty good description of traveling to Melk from Vienna by train and then by boat to Krems and train back to Vienna. Any further hints to simplify my trip?
A nearly exact question to yours was asked a few weeks ago. Please read this:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/day-trip-to-melk-krems
Not much to simplify--I made this exact trip in August 2014 and it was quite easy, bought my combi-ticket from OBB in advance. You can take the train and boat at whatever time works best for you, I left Vienna around 9 am, toured the Abbey at Melk and had lunch then caught the boat around 1:30, then the train back to Vienna around 4. The website gave me the schedule so I knew what my options were.
We traveled by train from Vienna to Krems to Sazlburg. Easy and fun. No worries.
Although I did find out that Austrians take the seat assignments very seriously.
We were on a virtually empty car and I sat in the wrong row in error. An elderly gentleman
came along and was very very annoyed to find me in his seat. :)
I did this exact trip also in 2014. Nothing really to add to Rick's description. We didn't buy any tickets in advance, just purchased them the day of at the train station and at the boat dock. It's definitely worth the effort. Both Melk and the trip down the Danube were beautiful. Hope you enjoy!!