Itinerary help for photography tour starting in Vienna

If you google "Vienna Austria photography tours" you will see that there are a few. However (not being a photographer) I think you will find plenty to shoot without a tour. The first district of Vienna is packed with tons of old buildings and narrow cobbled streets that beg to be photographed. Go to the top of Stephansdom (cathedral) for views across the rooftops. The Naschmarkt is a giant open-air market that is very colourful and full of good photo ops. The Naschmarkt is sometimes touted as being "where the East begins" and has lots of ethnic stalls including Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern and Easter European. Definitely a photo-safari must. Another place that I like for atmospheric photography is the zentralfriedhof (Main Cemetery). It is reputed to have more occupants than the number of people who live in Vienna. The old Jewish section of the cemetery is especially evocative. (Speaking of which, about a block from the "Rosauer Lande" U-bahn stop there is a small Jewish cemetery dating from the 1500s hidden in the courtyard of a retirement home. If you ask nicely, they'll let you look at it!) Vienna's second district is home to a reviving orthodox Jewish community that might also offer some good pictures. Then: Get on the 38 Tram and take it all the way out to Grinzing (only about 25 minutes). Hike up into the vineyards. Really, you can easily spend the better part of the day on the Nussberg, which is a big hill covered with vines overlooking the city and the Danube. There's an archaeological dig of a Roman city going on at Carnuntum. About 2 hours from Vienna (accessible by train) is a town called Puchburg am Schneeberg, which offers a special tourist train to the top of an Alpine peak. There are also a couple castles within a stones throw of Vienna: Lichtenstein Castle and Kreuzburg come to mind. The list goes on and on. You can't miss! Have a great trip!

Farther afield: Budapest is only 3 hours away by train and is very picturesque. Unlike Vienna, Budapest straddles the Danube. In the other direction Salzburg is 3 hours away by train and has that stunning castle. Munich is only a short hop further. Heck, Venice is only a days travel away. There. I think I have successfully used up your full 2 weeks! Bon voyage!

I, like you, am an avid photographer. One thing you don't want to miss is a trip down the Donau. I can't speak for the scenery from Vienna to Krems but the stretch from Krems to Melk is gorgeous with photogenic towns, vineyards and castles at every turn. What we did was do the trip one day by boat and then do the same trip by car the next day. Many of the villages on the north side of the river are very photogenic - the Melk Abbey is also not too shabby. If you like photographing landscapes, don't miss the area around Hallstadt (St Wolfgang, Gossausee, etc) Also make sure you drive over the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse. I made a similar trip a few years ago. If you let me know some timelines and roughly which directions you're traveling I can really help you out. If you want to photograph castles and medieval villages you're going to want to head south and west from Vienna for your best selection as I recall. Personally I found the Rough Guide and Fodor's Austria guides very helpful in my planning.

One more thing: The Dolomites are absolutely gorgeous. They're in very northern Italy just south of Austria and you can hit them after your drive over the Grossglockner. Unimaginable beauty at every turn! If you're interested, I can send you the itinerary from my trip for you to use as a starting point.

I'm very grateful for all the quick responses to my question. I'd also be interested in seeing any suggested itineraries that were mentioned. Keep the ideas coming. I'm forwarding all this info to my son since I'm giving him the first cut on what we do since it's really his trip. Thank you again! Roger