Austria and Surroundings 8 days - How and Who?

Thanks for the info James. Would you fly into Vienna or Frankfurt? My grandparents are from Shondorf Austria so I planned to stop there and see if I could locate any relatives or possibly see where they grew up

Hey, Jay, I bet you can do this on your own. Have you thought about where you want to go in Austria? Vienna? Salzburg? Innsbruck? I did the Berlin, Prague and Vienna tour with Rick's team and then went on my own to Salzburg. I had been to Vienna on my own years and years ago, but enjoyed going back a second time. It's not far from Munich to Salzburg so you could look at an open jaw where you fly into Vienna and back home from Munich. You'll want to price them out. Also, some of our group went from Vienna to Budapest and there was talk of Bratislava. Others just flew straight back to the US or Canada. Are you sure you mean Schondorf? Or is it Schandorf? BTW you can use this site http://www.deutschebahn.com to look at train schedules. I entered Wien for departure and Schandorf for arrival and found trains. ; ) Pam

I have found Austria to be quite easy to navigate, so like others I don't think you'd need a tour. If I were you, I'd split my time between a 2-3 cities with day trips to areas of interest nearby. Vienna is fantastic and worth at least 3 full days. Salzburg is fairly small but there's enough to see around it that you could easy use 2-3 full days there. Add another day or two in the countryside (can't help you there) or Budapest and you've got a fantastic trip! Flying and out of Vienna makes the most sense. Austria is not that large, you can use the wonderful train system to get to various locations within Austria.

Thanks for all the wonderful advice!! I will try planning this myself. I just started last night. My concerns are where to stay and what to see and do. I know the train system over there is fantastic and I did plan on using that or renting a car. I'm trying to locate a blog or book (maybe RS has one?) that I can use to find out more information. I watch RS on TV all the time and his trips look fantastic and I really like the places he goes. I know our library has hais videos, so I plan on checking them out also. By the way it is Schandorf, Burgeland Austria. Keep the advice,tips, travel advice, places to see coming, I'm soaking it all in Thank You!!

Yes, Rick has a guide book. Also check out Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide. Look at the itineraries that Rick has for Austria and see if that interests you. It's a beuatiful place. ; ) Pam

Not knowing what airline you are flying, there are several possibilities you could explore. Like you said, fly into Vienna and then maybe out of Salzburg, Munich or head back to Vienna. A possible itinerary could be Vienna, Schondorf, Villach, Salzburg and then either back to Vienna or Munich. Villach and the surrounding area is beautiful countryside. Beautiful valleys surrounded by mountains. Just north of there is the Salzgammergut region. To get info about a particular town, including lodging, you can try doing a search using this format: www.nameoftown.at Example would be: www.schondorf.at or www.villach.at Use this website to see train schedules: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en If you are planning a trip for more than two months from now, schedules may not be available. Just query the possible day of the week you may be travelling. Schedules generally stay the same. Purchase the Rick Steves' tour book for Austria and read about cities you may want to see and the accommodations that he recommends. If you want more info for lodging or sites to see, use the "To the West" part of this forum to post a question and to get answers to specific questions on this region. If you want info for renting a car, check AutoEurope or Kemwell prices online. Hope this helps. With our help, you can plan this trip.

Hi Jay, I don't know much specifically about Austria so I won't comment about that, but I wanted to mention that all of Rick's shows are available for free online at www.hulu.com. That way you don't have to wait to go to the library to watch the Austria shows -you can watch them whenever you want. :). Enjoy!

Jay.. you can most definitely plan this yourself and save lots of money. It is really easy to drive over there to all the places you are going and you can visit lots of the countryside as well. If you are flying Delta from DTW see what kind of options you have for the cheapest flights. If you start in Vienna you could see the city and then pick up your rental car after you are finished with Vienna.

I think my itinerary will be Vienna, Schondorf, Villach, Salzburg and then either back to Vienna or Munich. Is Tirol - Innsbruck, Hall or Bavaria and Western Tirol worth taking a look at if I extend my trip to 10 days? I plan on buying the book and checking out his vidoes on HULU (Thanks for that info!!!). I will also check out the other sites that were mentioned. I can't learn enough. Are there any airlines you can recommend that seem to run better fares? I'm flexible on my landing, if one airport seems to be cheaper then another... I'd be curious what time of year everyone went also? Thanks again everyone!!!

Sounds like a great plan. If you can afford to extend your trip to see more, you should! If Vienna is cost-prohibitive to fly into, you could always see if prices are cheaper in Munich. The cheapest fares in central Europe often seem to be Frankfurt, but that adds additional travel time and issues, obviously, so it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Jay, I have found that it is usually cheaper to fly DTW to FRA. I have flown into FRA and driven to Innsbruck and I think the drive time was about 5 hours. I would not recommend doing that though as I started to get very tired just before we reached Innsbruck. You have not stated if this would be your first trip overseas or to that area. 8 to 10 days is plenty of time to see some great sites. Good luck.

Yes this is my first trip. If anyone knows of a group going this year please let me know. I'm not opposed to traveling with a group.

Jay you will have such a wonderful time whether you go on your own or with a tour. Austria is such an amazing place. All I can say is Salzburg, Salzburg, Salzburg. When you go, make sure you take bus 25 to the end of the line so you can hop on the Untersberg mountain cable car to take you up to the top so you can hike and take in some amazing views. I would also highly recommend the St. Augustiner beer gardenwhen we were there last fall it opened around 3pm in the afternoon. There are many choices for food (almost food court style, but better), and delicious beer served in stone mugs you simply rinse out in a fountain and refill. I would also recommend the sound of music tour, which takes you through the hills and allows you to spend some time in the small town of Mondsee. Don't be afraid of how tourist trapy this might sound, it really was very enjoyable and our tour guide provided very interesting information along the way. We even got to drink a Stiegl beer (Salzburg's own) on the way back to town. :)
The Salzburg Card is a good purchase as it is a great way to get into all of the main tourist sites in Salzburg and it doubles as a bus pass to get you around. You can buy them for 24, 48, or 72 hours. Have a great trip!!!