As a part of my extended itinerary, I need a bit of help in the following section. Assume, we are starting from Mittenwald, preferably in the morning( 8 am) and shall travel via Innsbruck, upto Salzburg. We would like to have a lunch break at Innsbruck.......preferably by keeping our luggage in some cloakroom( after all, we are hauling one month worth of luggage)...just hang around in the city for an hour or so....and then move on to Salzburg, the final destination of the day. We want to reach Salzburg by late afternoon say around 5 pm. What is the best way to travel ......trains? Are there trains, that run in this section, that can support the itinerary?
Or, if we are 8 or 10 of us, is it better to take a small van?
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
"Are there trains, that run in this section"? There are a lot of trains in Europe. They go almost everywhere. Europe has about 175,000 km of tracks, 28% of that in Germany and Austria. In this case, the most direct way is via Germany (Rosenheim) although the trains are Austrian Rail express trains and don't stop in Germany. They take about 2 hours. You can find schedules on the German Rail (Bahn) website
Posted by
Phila, Pa USA
144 posts
First of all, if there are 8-10 people, each one with luggage, and you are thinking of driving, you are going to need something more than a "small van." It won't be big enough to hold all those people plus all their luggage. You will need either a larger sized van or maybe just 2 cars. I have travelled with 8 in a mid-sized van, and we fit fine, but with no room to spare - and all travelled with only the barest minimum daypacks - not a "month's worth" of luggage apiece. Secondly, in reference to whether taking trains would be a better option than driving, what time of year are you planning to take this trip? While this itinerary might be a beautiful and easy drive in August or September, it could be a different story in the middle of January .... Lee - any routing ideas ?
Posted by
OP
Pune, MAHARASHTR, India
19 posts
thanks...we are planning this tour in the last week of April or the first week of May.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
For the non-stop routes through Germany, it is possible to get advance puchase Sparschiene tickets from Austrian Rail (www.oebb.at) for as little as €9/p. IMO, the route through Germany is not very scenic. It's also possible to take a more scenic route around SE of Berchtesgaden through Schwarzach-St.Veit in about 4 hours. The Bahn website will try to show you the fastest route, which is through Germany. You can "force" the St. Veit route (about 4 hours) by using "Schwarzach-St.Veit" as a stopover; but check the routing using '>' on the Bahn webpage. Sometimes it's faster to go Innsbruck through Germany to Salzburg, then RT Salzburg to St. Veit to Salzburg, so that's the route it will show you. It doesn't look like Austrian Rail offers Sparschiene tickets for the scenic route. As for a place to store your luggage in Innsbruck, I remember seeing a bank of lockers ( Schließfächer) along the RH wall of the lower level (where the tunnel goes out to the platforms). Sizes and number of lockers: Klein 45/35/85 cm 100
Mittel 60/35/85 cm 30 Groß(Large) 90/35/85 cm 4 I don't remember seeing a cloak room ( Gepäckaufbewahrung).