Planning first-time travel to tentative route Krakow (Auschwitz), Slovakia, Vienna and (possibly) Budapest two weeks in Mid-late October. Looking for advice about impact of bad weather or seasonal closure of country-side sites (castles, salt/opal mines, etc.) on our visit at that time of the year. I'm also asking for recommendations about using trains or renting a car to get between countries, particularly from someone who's traveled this route.
We're taking our adult children along on a legacy trip - my heritage is Slovak and my husband's dad grew up in Vienna (grandparents died at Auschwitz, which is reason to go to Krakow only in Poland for 1-2 days). My husband and I have visited Austria in the 1980s (by train including Vienna, Graz and Salzburg) but the Iron Curtain prevented us to cross the Danube into Bratislava and more.
So this is our chance to do that and get a "feel" for the places our ancestors may have walked. I'm hoping, of course, that we (and certainly our kids) will go back for deeper explores in the future.
Any advice is welcomed from knowledgeable travelers!