HSaxa

Hi all -

I've read the most recent posts about Austria and Vienna and have picked up a ton of pointers and suggestions.

My wife and I will be spending some time in Vienna in late May... 7 1/2 days to be exact. At first we had ambitious plans to see a lot of Austria and Hungary, but after our reading here we're leaning towards being less aggressive... maybe just spending our time in and around Vienna, The Danube Valley, and perhaps Bratislava.

At a high level, good strategy? Should we expand out further? Salzburg? Budapest? Linz?

Thanks!

Chapel Hill Guy

Seven days in Vienna seems like a lot. It has great architecture (rivals Paris IMHO), but I wouldn't describe it as an exciting city.

We just did three days in Budapest, three in Vienna, and four in Prague, which was a great trip and about right for each city.

I would do Budapest again in a minute. Great city that exceeded my expectations.

delmargal

Yes, Salzburg is a day trip and beautiful. After about 4 days in Vienna, you've seen it all. PM me if you need food recs!

RCyyz

If you're into classical music then you'll have a plethora of choices in terms of top notch concerts & operas to take in in VIE. Otherwise if you're just there for the sightseeing then a few days will do.

Salzburg is a really pleasant town, particularly in the old section. Of historical interest is the Eagle's Nest which is just down the road (in Germany). This was the mountaintop retreat of Hitler. Not to be missed if you're a WWII history buff. There are quite a few famous pics of Adolf & gang as well as various members of the 101st Airborne after they took the hill at the end of the war - rather interesting / eerie to see things for real if you've ever seen the pics.

Although it may seem a little cheesy, the Sound of Music tour from Salzburg is actually pretty good. It's neat to see the sites for real while remembering them from the movie.

The area around Salzburg is picturesque, peaceful and really quite wonderful. You can use Salzburg as a base and drive around, or you can stay at B&B which are both plentiful and fastidiously clean. (And generally cheap too.)

From VIE you can easily get to Budapest, Bratislava which are both worth seeing.

gaelflyer

Bratislava is well worth a day trip. Gyor and Sopron in Hungary can be easily done as day trips.

uk1

I travel to Vienna often and have done so for ....... too many years. We're arriving for our next 5 day visit in a few weeks.

Whilst 7 days is longish there is a lot to do if you want to chill out including some of the day trips otherwised mentioned. A couple of our favourite days are:

1. Take the N tram to Prater. Hire a bike (they have those double side by side bikes if thats better) and then for lunch have a Stelze (pork knuckle) and Budvar in the Swiss House.

http://www.schweizerhaus.at/1024/eng/index.html

2. Take the tram and then bus (38 and then 38a) up to the top of Kahlenberg. Walk back down towards Grinzing across some vineyards and have a buffet lunch at Martin Sepp in Grinzing. Avoid weekends and it will be quieter and last time I was there the buffet was cheaper (7euros 90) during the week.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...G=Search&meta=

http://www.zummartinsepp.at/html/home/index.asp.html

We do lunch!

Any questions ask.

szg

If you want to have more informations from my hometome SZG, PM me.

It´s not only a daytrip worth !!

Romelle

For the way I like to visit a place, 7 1/2 days really isn't enough.

Beyond the regular tourist route there is so much. Local grocery stores, department stores where the natives shop, farmer's markets, IKEA, parks, the less major museums (Vienna's Furniture Museum, Washington DC's Bead Museum,...), botanic gardens, zoos, just walking in residential neighborhoods, looking at houses/apartments for sale, factory tours, music in the park, local street fairs, church festivals (any denomination), odd classes/lectures at museums. Take time to read the inscriptions on all those monuments. In Vienna, I mapped down a University student cafeteria and had an odd but totally memorable lunch, whereas I've eaten in lots of nice restaurants various places and can't remember them at all.

The big idea is essentially to try to find tiny slices of life of the actual people that live/work/play somewhere. Local newspapers, museum bulletins, church flyers,etc. as well as the original research via guide books. A Greek church festival in Miami was grand fun - great food, interesting people, entertainment. I sort of got adopted by a family.

Ride the public transportation. Get those "all you can ride" passes.

This sort of program takes a lot of research, and indeed sometimes things don't work out so well (unexpected closures/lost/etc.), but when I've visited a city that way, I feel I really know it. Whereas all those big churches/museums/monuments the guided tours take you to everywhere get to be more of a blur in your memory.

Before your trip, search your local library on "Vienna" and read some of the novels based there. It will give your trip more depth and color.

Romelle

CarlTheWebmaster

YES! Prater is very nice and if you are feeling especially adventurous you can ride along the Danube as far as Wolfsthal (30 or more Km) and take the S7 back, or even all the way to Bratislava and return by train.

I can also highly recommend a somewhat more arduous hike, based on Wien City Hiking route 1a: Start at the Heiligenstadt U4 station (end of the line). Walk to the river, and up past Nußdorf. Just beyond Nußdorf, take the Nasenweg path up to Leopoldberg. Enjoy the view. Walk through the Wienerwald to Cobenzl (great ribs and/or chicken at the "Am Cobenzl" grill. If your waitress's name is "Lili" tell her that "Carl sent you'. Then take the bus back to Heiligenstadt or walk to Grinzing for some wine.

Up for more hiking? Try the other City Hiking Paths.

Enjoy!

-C

HSaxa

Thanks to all for the advice, suggestions, links, etc. Such a valuable resource. My wife and I have decided that we're going to keep our time in Vienna/Austria relatively unstructured. We'll spend at least 5 nights in Vienna and just see how we feel / where things take us. We may pop over to Bratislava for a day.

We are however intreagued by the Wachau / Danube Valley. How much time to spend there? Rent a car? take the train? bike? interesting places to visit? any advice on how to get the most of our time there? We're into wine to any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, is this a good place to do some hiking?

thanks again to all!

szg

Take the train from Vienna to Krems and then take the ship through Wachau (I remember, that ÖBB have special offers !!) You can also rent a bike. It´s a really nice location.

Tanya934

Having just returned from a 2 week holiday in Germany & Austria, one thing i would say is avoid the Schonbrun Palace unless you can book your tickets in advance.
We waited for over an hour for tickets early on a Friday morning.
The gardens are amazing as well as the maze & the gloriette but the appartmens were so full of tour groups that we were unable to see anything properly and at times we were so crowded in some rooms that it became very stuffy.
Although the entrance tickets were timed to allow the smooth flowing of visitors it didn't work out that way & i can forsee the problem worsening rather than improving as the season progresses.

If Saltzburg proves a bit on the pricey side for accomodation, i'd recommend Bad Reichenhall over the border in Germany.
If you do cross over into Germany, buy any fuel in Austria as it's a lot cheaper than over the boarder.

uk1

Personally - I'd avoid the Palace - but would certainly not avoid the gardens.

If however you really want to see the Palace the secret is to buy the tickets in advance and print them off and then queue not at the ticket kiosk but at the entrance past the ticket purchase kiosks. Then you will be first through and have the palace to yourself as long as you stay in front of the queue.

https://eticketing.schoenbrunn.at/am....html?eLngId=1

http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/home.html

One of the best Vienna treats is to arrive at the Gloriette in the Palalce gardens when it opens at 09:00 in the morning and have breakfast outside. A glass of Sekt and some smoke salmon .... a great way to start the day.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl...-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Another "secret" is to arrive at the zoo as it opens at 09:00 and beat the school crowds.

http://www.zoovienna.at/e/index.html

They have just added another boat on the Bratislava hydrofoil route making there more flexibility. You can pay more and choose seats on some "flights" although this option is booked up early.

http://www.twincityliner.com/english/index.shtml

florin

I going to spend 3 days in Vienna in July. What are some things that I shouldn't miss?

Polar Man

I have read here that there is some sort of jetboat between Vienna and Budapest. I heard that it is a long day there and back but it is well worth it. I do recommend seeing Budapest it's a wonderful city.