Melk, with a side trip to Mauthausen en route to Salzburg in April

Ed: In 2005, I traveled via auto from Salzburg to Mauthausen Concentration Camp and Stift Melk before heading to Vienna. It was a quick and very easy drive to Mauthausen…mostly A1 Autobahn. The last 10-15 mile stretch was pleasant highway through scenic countryside. Travel time = 1.5 hours. Our visit was in late afternoon before closing…empty of visitors. It’s sort of a scary but moving place and might leave you feeling a little down. Still, it’s a must if you’re in the area and have never visited one of these camps before. You’ll need a couple of hours. The irony is that the countryside is quite beautiful in every direction, but the camp is sort of haunting. Mauthausen is easy by car...not sure about rail. Anyway, we then stayed the night in Melk at Goldener Stern. Based on our stay at the time, I would definitely stay there again, but the reviews on tripadvisor are mixed. Big, clean rooms, great restaurant with varied menu, and priced right. We then toured Stift Melk the next morning and had lunch in Melk before leaving for Vienna. You’ll need a couple of hours for the abbey. IMO, it’s one of Europe’s most magnificent buildings and shouldn’t be missed. If you’re going b/n Vienna and Salzburg, you should make an effort to do both…they’re both easy and well worth the time. If you only have time for one, see the abbey.

I toured the camp by train in between our nights in Vienna and in Hallstatt. They allowed us to leave our bags in the break room at the small station at Mauthausen the town. There was a phone number of a taxi to drive us to camp on the wall and a phone booth outside. Once we were dropped at the camp (about a 10 minute drive), I pointed to my watch watch and indicated for her to come back and pick us up in 1.5 hours. I thought it was a worth wild experience (sad too). In total it was about a 4 hour diversion, from the main tracks run between Vienna and Salzburg (which Melk is on). Good luck, Joanne

We did this trip in 2008. It was unplanned, so we showed up in Melk and the TI helped us find a place. We stayed with an older couple a short walk out of town. It was very simple, bath down the hall, but at 31 euros a night, we can't complain. We really liked the couple. We spent one day biking down the Danube and then taking the boat back to Melk. This was a highlight of our trip. It was so fun to pass through the small villages and see the sites. (You can drive it as well) The day we left, we toured Melk Abbey- a must. It took us a couple of hours. Then we drove to Mauthausen. We did have some problems finding it from the autobahn...got off somewhere on Rick's directions. The camp is much quieter and less visited than Dachau. You get a listening device that has lots of information...the info did not seem to correspond to what you were looking at. It was more history and personal experiences. You could spend a whole day there, we had several hours. However, we felt like we had seen it and were ready to leave. We hustled over to Salzburg arriving about 6 and started looking for a place to stay. (if you had a place reserved, it would be easier) I don't know how much time you have, but that was a full day for us. The drive is on the autobahn, so it is very easy. Melk itself is a wonderful little town. Stay close enough in and you can walk to everything. (Our b&b was about a 5-10 minute walk from the downtown, the abbey and the train station. If you have a car and stay farther out, you might consider parking at the abbey and walking into town from there (just down the hill)

As always, you guys are the greatest. We appreciate your time and effort. I'll be sure to personally propose a toast to your assistance at the Augustiner Brau in Salzburg...wish you all could join us!