My husband and I along with our son's family of four will be traveling in late June and early July. We are debating between these various mountains. My husband and I love the Berner Oberland and have been there several times, staying in a chalet just out of Wengen. We've been in Salzburg, but not spent any time in the mountains around there. Also we've been to Bled, but not spent any time in those mountains. We are flying into Budapest and plan to visit Prague. This trip is still in the early planning stages. Which mountains would you suggest? We will be flying into Budapest but haven't decided yet on our return flight. Thanks.
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
Dolomites still my favorite.
Posted by
Honolulu
60 posts
Where did you stay in Berner Oberland? can you describe it? Also for our first visit there, how many days would you recommend? We are not avid hikers because my husband broke his ankle and can't hike too far because of all the pins etc......but we will walk and take a gondola and hang out.....I was thinking four days or more...what do you think?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8141 posts
Patti: I too am flying into Budapest and out of Prague in April. While I absolutely adore the Austrian Alps, we are spending all our time in those cities and visiting Bratislava and Vienna via train. But if I was going to take in the mountains from Prague, I'd go south to Hallstadt (SE of Salzburg) and drive into the mountains south of there. My favorite drive of all is across the Grossglockner Alpine Highway, south of Zel-am-See, Austria over to Lientz, Austria (on the Italian border.) It's the second highest point in Western Europe, and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. From Lientz, you can go west thru Cortina and catch the autobahn through the Brenner Pass into Innsbruck.
See: www.grossglockner.at/en
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32747 posts
Hi Patti I absolutely love both the Berner Oberland (and other parts of Swiss Alps) and Salzburg. I will say this. I'm not young, and I have experience on all sorts of mountain transport, and the only time in those hundreds of rides I have genuinely been scared of the gondola crashing into the rocks was the lift from south of Salzburg up to the mountains. I'm not talking about the little funicular up to the Festung, I mean the large gondola up to the mountain top south of Salzburg - I can't remember the name off the top of my head. My wife didn't like it either. The weather was calm and we were actually safe but it wasn't very pleasant approaching the mountain station. The ride up what is commonly (but incorrectly) called the Eagles Nest was fabulous. YMMV
Posted by
OP
Safford, AZ, United States
4 posts
Thanks guys. David, your information is super helpful! Carol, have fun researching. We stayed in Wengen for five nights and loved it! Have been there three times and never get tired of exploring around those mountains and soaking up the scenery! We, too loved the mountains around Salzburg!