MUST SEE/DO IN AUSTRIA

I absolutely love the Salzkammergut region. It's got all that great Sound of Music scenery. It's just full of little resort towns.

I agree with Maureen. The Salzkammergut is a worthwhile site. Hallstatt is very nice, although somewhat small. I spent the evening there after I arrived, the whole next day, and left the next morning and I saw everything I wanted to see. I wasn't interested in the salt mine, although I did go up the funicular to near it. So, if you take in the salt mine and maybe take the bus around to Obertraun and go up the Dachstein cable car, you might be able to occupy a second day.

There are some notable towns near Vienna (Melk is one) that are good for a day trip. You should have seen them in Rick's guidebook.

Hi Robert,

I agree that the Salzkammergit region is worth seeing. Hallstatt in our opinion was extremely pretty but very small. We saw everthing we wanted to in half a day.

As for recommendations:

Zell am See is simply beautiful. Just south of Zell am See is the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse. A fantastic Alpine Pass.

While we're not crazy about Innsbruck, the area is gorgeous. We love Hall in Tirol and prefer to stay there rather than in Innsbruck.

The Zillertal is amazing! The Zillertal is about 45 minutes (east and south) from Insbruck. The further into the valley you go, the more dramatic the sceney becomes.

We have some pic's at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel15.html

Hope this helps.

Paul

I agree that Hallstat is a very small town and you can easily see all of it in a day, but it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen--I definitely recommend spending a day and a night there. We stayed in a great little hotel (unfortunately, I can't remember the name) and spent some time at some wonderful bars and restaurants.

I also recommend Hall--we spent the night there rather than Innsbruck on our way to Germany. Melk was a nice stop too, not far from Vienna. We had lunch there and walked around the town. It was very pretty.

I would include Salzburg, the Salzkammergut, Linz, the Wachau Valley, Melk and Vienna.

Since you have already been to Salzburg and Vienna, you can shorten your visits there somewhat and focus on the country between the two.

Depends if you are adverse to seeing and staying in the places you were in 2001. My suggestions are Salzburg, Linz and Vienna, but if you want somewhere other than Salzburg, then I would say LINZ, VIENNA, and GRAZ in southeastern Austria. Any particular interests or must-see
museums or sites?

Robert,

With only 10 nights to spend there, you'll have to be very selective.

As you've only been in Salzburg for a day trip, I'd suggest spending a few days there and exploring the city in more detail. I find the Hohensalzburg Fortress an interesting site to visit and it provides an awesome view of the city and surrounding country side.

I definitely agree with the others in that the Salzkammergut region and specifically Hallstatt would be a great place to stop. If possible spend at least two days there, so that you can explore the town, the Salt Mine, etc. It's a great place to unwind after more strenuous travels in other places! There's a old Fort called Rudolfsturm at the top of the Funicular, and the view from there is incredible (especially after enjoying a few pints of the local brew!).

From Salzburg you could also take a day trip to Berchtesgaden and tour the Eagle's Nest or the Documentation Centre & Bunkers above town. There's also a Salt Mine that can be toured in Berchtesgaden.

Happy travels!

The best day of my recent trip was the day we took a biking winery tour thru the Danube region. I found the tour guide thru another poster on this site. The tour is Grape Grazing and the guide is an Australian guy.

It was great because; we explored the Danube (which was beautiful), drank some great wine (discovered the Gruner Vetleener), it is harvest season in October, you get to inter-mingle with other people, the biking was easy and we really lucked out with some excellent weather, interesting history in the Danube, and probably more I am not thinking of.

My husband and I weren't able to get to over to Melk to see the Abbey, which is unfortunate - but just being out and biking thru the Danube was a real highlight for me.

Hallstatt is great for 2 days maximum (hiking and beauty and relaxing).

I have to get back to Vienna - we were their 3 full days and I still have more to see.

That is the extent of my experience in Austria.

If you're passing by (but don't make a special trip) Innsbruck, there's a really neat gondola ski lift type thing that goes up the mountain on the north side of town. In my mind it's the second best one in the world -- the best being First (near Grindlewald).

in addition I can recommend a European site that I have used before for best day tours in the UK: Isango. You can use it to compare day tours in Austria and to get an idea of what is feasible. I like to highlight that their email support service works and they answered plenty of my detailed questions - it's quite unusual. Their Austria pages:
http://www.isango.com/austria-tours_r7315