Day 1: We arrived early into Vienna airport %26amp; took the train to the city centre %26amp; proceeded to our hotel for check-in. Our first stop was the Schonbrunn Palace, which was easily accessible via the metro. We alighted at Hietzing stop %26amp; walked through the gardens. It was beautiful. The palace was magnificent - my husband %26amp; I enjoyed our Imperial Tour very much. Lunch was a quick affair %26amp; we moved onto our next destination: Naschmarkt. The roads were lined with so many stalls selling vegetables, meat, fruits %26amp; many others. From Naschmarkt, we walked towards St. Stephen%26#39;s Cathedral along the direction of Hotel Sacher. There was so much hype about the chocolate cake that we had to have a slice of it as well. The cafe was full of people %26amp; almost everyone ordered the cake, which was delicious by the way. The walk from the hotel to St. Stephen%26#39;s Cathedral was pretty short. Unfortunately, we arrived late %26amp; the last catacombs tour has ended. So we walked around the cathedral for a while %26amp; took some photos.
Day 2: Our day started early as we took the 0918 train from Westbahnhof to Melk. We arrived at Melk at around 1030 %26amp; went to the Stift Melk Abbey straightaway %26amp; bought tickets for the 1055 tour. The abbey was very crowded. As all the different language tour started at the same time, we somehow got confused %26amp; followed the German tour instead of the English speaking one. Luckily, the kind guide told us to catch up with the tour in front. The tour was alright but what took our breath away was the magnificent view of the town from the abbey. My husband %26amp; I could not stop taking pictures. When the tour ended, we had lunch %26amp; made our way to the Wachau valley cruise (from Melk to Durnstein). We followed the signs but when we reached there, one of the cruise employees signalled for us to leave at the other station which was 15 minutes away as the boat would be sailing from there instead. We had to run for it as the departure time was 1350. Thankfully, we made it in time. The weather was nice %26amp; we had a great time on the boat. We didn%26#39;t even realized we%26#39;ve reached Durnstein as we were relaxing onboard while snapping pictures. Arriving at Durnstein, my first thought was %26quot;What a lovely town!%26quot; After an hour of exploring, we made our way to the train station for our ride to Krems then back to Vienna.
Day 3: We left Vienna for Salzburg in the morning. Upon arriving in the afternoon, we checked in at our hotel %26amp; proceeded to get tickets to Werfen from Salzburg Hbf. We took the bus service from Werfen up to the ticket entrance. It was a 20 minute uphill walk from the entrance to the cable car point, %26amp; another 20 minute walk from the cable car point to the ice caves. We were exhausted by the time we reached the caves. However, the walk was well worth it. The ice caves visit was one of the highlights of our trip. It was simply amazing. We took our time on our way down, taking as many pictures as possible. The view was spectacular. After that, we made our way to the ticket entrance, where the bus was waiting to bring us back to Werfen station where we took the train back to Salzburg.
Day 4: We started our day early again as we wanted to catch the 0815 bus to St. Gilgen. Bus #150 arrive on time %26amp; we reached our destination slightly past 0900. Though it was a foggy day, the view at St. Gilgen was still beautiful. We bought our ferry tickets to St. Wolfgang %26amp; while waiting for the boat, we wandered around the place. The ferry arrived at 1030 %26amp; as usual, it was packed with people. We found a good spot %26amp; started clicking our cameras away once the boat sailed. Luckily, the fog started to clear. My husband %26amp; I enjoyed the boat ride thoroughly. The view just left me speechless. Soon, we arrived at St. Wolfgang. It was a touristy town with plenty of souvenir shops %26amp; cafes. After walking around for an hour, we took Bus #2560 to Bad Ischl %26amp; then the train from Bad Ischl to Hallstatt (our last stop for the day). We were caught by surprise that we need to take a ferry from Hallstatt train station to the town itself. Nonetheless, we paid for the ferry %26amp; arrived at the town. We had lunch at Hallstatt %26amp; walked around before heading back to Salzburg via train.
Day 5: The rain in the morning did not dampen our mood as we headed to Berchtesgaden on Bus #840 at 0815. We alighted at Salzbergwerk to visit the salt mine. The tour was more like a fun theme ride with the slides, train %26amp; funicular. Needless to say, my husband %26amp; I had a great time. It started to rain again when we were waiting for the same bus to Berchtesgaden Bahnhof after the salt mine tour. Bus #841 arrived soon after %26amp; we headed to the Jennerbahn (our next stop). While waiting for the cable car, we walked around %26amp; took some pictures of cows %26amp; goats playing. The backdrop of the mountains was a delight. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our scarves %26amp; gloves that day %26amp; were freezing at the mountain top. The weather was very cold after the rain %26amp; most parts were soon covered with fog. We decided to give the boat ride from Lake Konigssee a miss due to the weather %26amp; took the bus back to the Bahnhof %26amp; then Bus #840 back to Salzburg. As this was our last day at Salzburg, we walked around the old town %26amp; did the Sound of Music %26quot;self-tour%26quot; using one of TA%26#39;s destination experts%26#39; guide. We covered most of the attractions %26amp; headed back to the hotel slightly after sunset.
Day 6: We departed Salzburg early in the morning %26amp; reached Innsbruck just before noon. After check-in, we bought the 48 hour Innsbruck card %26amp; covered most of the attractions in half a day as they were very close to one another.
Day 7: Our first stop for the day was Nordpark. With the Innsbruck card, everything was a breeze as it was all inclusive. We took the funicular up to Station Hungerburg where we stopped for some photo-taking time. Then, we took the cable car to Seegrube where we stopped again before heading up to Hafelekar. This time, we were well-prepared with scarves %26amp; gloves. The view from Hafelekar was great. After almost 2 hours, we made our way down %26amp; took the free shuttle (with the Innsbruck card) to Swarovski Crystal World. We didn%26#39;t appreciate the Swarovski Crystal World as much as the other attractions though. We left the place after an hour but had to wait another hour for the free shuttle back to the Hauptbahnhof.
Day 8: We said goodbye to Austria %26amp; headed to Munich via train where we took a flight back to Amsterdam.
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What a lovely report. I%26#39;m so glad you enjoyed your trip to Austria. As your report covers a lot more than just Vienna could I suggest you copy it and post it in the general Austria Forum too?
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Hi Norman_Cope,
I had wanted to post it under the Austria Forum but somehow it gave me an error %26amp; prompted me to choose a specific forum to post in. I remembered being able to do it the last time. Can you help me?
Thanks.
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Looks like you were right and there is no general Austria forum to post to. It%26#39;s just an umbrella for all the regional/city forums.
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Which hotels did you stay in?
You did much as we did last visit to Salzburg - what a great little city that is!
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Hi caviargal,
Here are the hotels we%26#39;ve stayed in:
1) Vienna: Hotel Hadrigan - about 15 minutes walk from the metro but there were a lot of good food stalls around. The hotel is a little on the retro side - they still use the key (instead of keycard) %26amp; I find the lift interesting. The floors will creak when you walk around. However, I still enjoyed my stay there.
2) Salzburg: Best Western Hotel Stieglbrau - about 7-10 minutes away from Salzburg Hbf. It%26#39;s a nice hotel %26amp; the buffet breakfast was great.
3) Innsbruck: Ibis Innsbruck Hauphtbahnhof - located just at the train station itself! It%26#39;s very convenient for us to travel anywhere. However, one downside was the lack of free internet in the room (which the other 2 hotels provided).
And I agree that Salzburg is a great city. We had so much fun %26amp; there were just so many things to do. It%26#39;s a pity we ran out of time so we didn%26#39;t visit the Hellbrunn Palace %26amp; the famous trick fountains, Salzburg Fortress, Untersberg etc. I%26#39;m already planning my next trip back again!
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Wow! Thanks for taking the time to write. Enjoyed reading your report and glad you had a nice trip.
Paul
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Thanks for taking the time to narrate your experiences. I really enjoyed reading your trip report!
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thank you so much for all the details. we have 2 1/2 days in vienna in december (cold...). do you think it is enough? thanx for sharing!
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Hi nodan7,
It depends on what you like to do. If you%26#39;re into art, culture %26amp; history, then maybe 2 1/2 days might not be enough as the city has a lot to offer (e.g. cathedrals, museums, performances). Technically speaking, we only spent a day in Vienna so I%26#39;m not in a position to advise much. Perhaps the friendly TA destination experts can provide you with more information.
Maybe out of the 2 1/2 days here, you might wanna leave 1/2 day for the Stift Melk Abbey. I don%26#39;t think the Wachau Valley cruise is operating in Dec (as the website states it%26#39;ll end on Oct 26), hence, you%26#39;ll miss out on the boat trip. You can check at the operators%26#39; websites to see if there%26#39;s any changes.
Yes, Dec will be cold, so remember to bring along your scarf! Have a great time %26amp; hope you%26#39;ll enjoy it as much as my husband %26amp; I did!
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Thank you for your quick reply! If you think of anything else, please send me a post.
Thank you!
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