driving from Vienna to Salzburg (lunch in Hallstat?)

With one day in Salzburg, I would probably skip it. It is a bit of a drive back to Hallstatt. You could exit the highway and eat in Mondsee (It is not so far out of the way, but is a nice Bavarian village on a lake in the famous lakes district) Bonus: The church where they filmed the wedding scene in the Sound of Music is in Mondsee. Down side: Lots of tourists visit that church. It still is a nice little town with a nice promenade along the lake.

You can answer your question at this website http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&tab=wl&q=

Several years ago I drove from Salzburg to Vienna and then took the train to Prague. Make sure you inform your rental car company ahead of time that you will be taking the car to the Czech Republic. They do have restrictions and will only allow certain cars to go there.

To Cathy and to Kent, your responses were such good ones and I am definitely going to look into Mondsee and determine if it is closer to Salzburg or Vienna.
Since we plan to leave Vienna in the morning and we only have one day in Salzburg (we are headed to Prague the next day), I just wanted a quick
(on the way) stop for lunch. If Mondsee doesn't work, we will probably just have lunch in Salzburg. We are staying at the Marriott in Salzburg and are very anxious to make the right decisions regarding a tour and evening entertainment.
Thank you again for your input.

Two summers ago my daughter and I were in Austria, Bavaria and Prague and drove to all the places you are going. With only one day in Salzburg you will not have time to get to Hallstat but when you go back (you should go back to this area several times if you are like me) you should spend a day and night in Hallstat...it is beautiful and relaxing. Salzburg is worth at least 2 days when you have more time on your next trip. We drove from Munich to Prague. Make sure you stop at the border and get a sticker for Czech Republic driving. Its cheap but very expensive if you get stopped and dont have one. The cops there are friendly but sticklers for the rules and they patrol the freeways alot. They are strict on their speed laws unlike some other places. Get a very good street map for Prague if you will drive in the city. Many streets dont have corner street signs and it can be tough to navigate but with good humor and patience Prague is fantastic with really nice people. We spent four days there and loved it. Mondsee is a great idea for lunch. There are 3 nice places to eat within a block of the church on the same street. Have a great trip. We were there for 28 days and are already planning our next trip to the same area but this time we are going to add the Bernese Oberland to the itinerary.

Will you have a GPS in the car?

We tend to search "Along my current route" in the GPS for restaurants whenever we feel like stopping for lunch. It has been a quick and fun way to see all kinds of little towns that we've never heard of before, and it is always nicer than stopping along the autostrada/bahn.

Anyway, it's not exactly the answer to your question and maybe you've already thought about doing that... but if not I just thought I'd throw that out there :)

Tamara, that is a wonderful idea and since we have purchased the Tom Tom, which includes Eastern and Wetern Europe, we are thrilled to scout out stops along the way. We appreciate your input greatly.

I see you are from Italy (our favorite). On this trip we will also be visiting Switzerland, Como area and Venice before we head to Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Prague and Paris.

Any and all input will be very much appreciated.

Due to traffic and lack of parking, a car would be a hassle in both Vienna and Salzburg. Why not take the train? It is only ~2 hours. :-)

Thank you for the suggestion. We have spent many hours of discussion and chose the car for the trip based on several factors. We are four sixty something over-packers. We are not comfortable getting on and off trains with our luggage, and our physical limitations, which sometimes slow us down.
Given the train costs of four travelers, our need to stop frequently, our desire to see things along the way and the fact that we are seeing so many different countries, we decided on this mode of transportation. We feel it best suits our needs.