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Vienna to Venice

Help!
My friend and I along with our two teen daughters are thinking of visiting Austria for 3 days. We would like to do 1st day in Vienna and rent a car for 2nd and 3rd to see mountains and end up in Graz ( or another town ) where we can
take trian to Venice. Since I really don't know much about Austria I need help with ideas for mountainous towns to visit maybe on the route to Graz. Where to stay on that 2nd night (somewhere charming) and I would like to know if the drive is fairly easy or challenging.
I would appreciate any suggestions , I know we have very little time but we would love to get a couple days in a picturesque / mountainous town!
Thank you

Posted by
17635 posts

Its a long train trip to Venice. You might go to Google Flights and see from what town you can get a non-stop discount airline to Venice; or near Venice. For instance Budapest to Milan or Budapest to Bologna are under $100 and under 2 hours. Munich to Venice is also under $100

Posted by
183 posts

Two suggestions:

Annaberg (in the Mariazell area) might be good. It's a ski town in the winter and a hiking town in the summer. Some short hikes or drives will get you great views of Oetscher. The drive up to Annaberg from the Vienna side is beautiful--along a small river valley, two lane, windy road.

Admont (near the Gasaeuse National Park). Scenery is spectacular, a beautiful baroque abbey with a famous library, lots of outdoor opportunities there (hiking, kayaking, etc).

The train from Graz is slow. Maybe look at using Innsbruck instead? If you only need the car to get into the mountains, maybe take the train from Vienna to Innsbruck, get the car there, go to the mountains, then return the car in Innsbruck and continue to Venice. (It's a very scenic train ride, by the way.) Avoid drop off charges and might be more efficient for you. Just a thought.

Driving won't be anything I would call challenging, but on weekends or holidays, there will be traffic. So allow some time buffer for that.

Posted by
183 posts

Quick addition: the trains to Venice can be FULL. You need to book ahead. OBB online is not so great at giving you all the options and best prices for international tickets. I go to the train station and buy one in person for these trips (and sometimes the options/prices are different in different train stations--go figure!). But if you are only in Vienna a day or two before you travel that might be a problem. Something to be aware of.

Posted by
5362 posts

Between Vienna and Graz, there are really no major mountainous areas such as Austria is known for. Perhaps when you rent the car, you should consider driving west to Innsbruck and then getting the train from there? Perhaps look at stopping in the Wolfgangsee area.

Posted by
10 posts

Thank you all for great suggestions. I'm thinking of heading to Hallstatt with maybe a stop at Annaberg or Melk (if possible). What do you think?!
Then on the last day head to Villach or Innsbruck to take train to Venice. I'm not sure if all this is doable in 3 days. I feel like how can I just go to Innsbruck to get on a train and not see the beautiful town!
Great advice on trains. Thank you