cable cars

We plan an early train to Salzburg, check into the hotel, then train to Innsbruck day trip.

My goal is a cable car ride, and a walk around before heading back to Salzburg.

Any suggestions?

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If your goal in Innsbruck is a cable car ride, why go.

Just outside of Salzburg you will find the Untersberg Cable car. Fantastic views in good weather and a good ride also.

www.untersberg.net

This is reached by a easy and quick bus ride on line #25 from the center of Salzburg.

Checking in to your hotel and then immediately leaving the city does not seem the optimum use of time for sightseeing in my opinion.

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Thanks,

We may check out the Salzburg cable car.

I would really like to see Innsbruck as well.

Should have booked more days.

Maybe next time.

Love to see snow again.

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Hi,

I agree... a day trip to Innsbruck to ride a cable car? I wouldn%26#39;t do it. How about going over to Berchtesgaden 30 minutes away from Salzburg and taking the Jennerbahn?

Paul

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We visited Innsbruck in August and I will throw in my two cents -- I find that planning an itinerary is a lot like packing. Just as you can lay everything out on the bed and then put some of it back in your drawers, I usually have to go over the itinerary and take some destinations out, so that I don%26#39;t fall victim to what I call the %26quot;American Disease%26quot; -- spending the whole vacation racing from place to place and never really getting the full flavor or the enjoyment of any of the places. Innsbruck was nice, but I see it principally as a regional center, with a big hospital, a university, some industry, and a lot of local people living their normal lives, with some confusing one-way streets. I don%26#39;t think its character is compelling in any way that Salzburg%26#39;s isn%26#39;t. We used it as a three-night base for touring in the mountains by rental car. We drove a good 60 to 90 minutes each way to hike at the Krimmler Wasserfall (which is in the big and beautiful Hohe Tauern National Park, much closer to Salzburg than to Innsbruck) and to ride the lifts and hike in the Zillertal Alps and Tuxertal Alps. The moutains were very rewarding. For various personal reasons, it was better for us to stay in Innsbruck and day-trip into the mountains, than to stay in the mountains. But we did not go up the lift in Innsbruck. We wanted our mountain time to be spent in the more remote areas, not right up over a regional city. The Austrian Alps are loaded with lifts, and there are multiple glaciers you can ascend by lift. If I were based in Salzburg, I would not travel to Innsbruck to ride the lift and hike; I would do a little research into the many lifts closer to Salzburg, and look into the Hohe Tauern National Park, and probably take some of that transit time and convert it into true leisure. Even the Hintertux Gletscher -- south of Jenbach, through Mayrhofen, would be closer to Salzburg than Innsbruck proper. Time doing the fun things is what we%26#39;re really paying for, when we travel. If you are relying upon the trains, and you are thinking of Innsbruck because it offers a mountain that you can get to by train, you might also look into the mountain region buses. Ultimately, you know what%26#39;s best for you. Have fun.

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Thank you all!

The American disease...LOL... great one.

Appreciate the consensus.

So that would be 2 nights in Prague

3rd in Vienna

4th in salzburg

5th in Vienna

and last in Prague.

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If you know how (fast) visitors from Asia (especially from Japan) rush through Europe, then the %26quot;American disease%26quot; is minor.

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I wish we had more time.

But we enjoy just walking around, enjoying the architecture, and visiting select sights.

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We will only be in Salzburg one night.

So I think staying by the train station would be easier for my wife.

There is a Renaissance Congress hotel right at the station.

Then there is a Sheraton city center closer to everything.

Any thoughts?

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I don%26#39;t know about the hotels you%26#39;ve mentioned, but I can throw out this comment. We usually stay in Hiltons. We went to Munich recently, and we were fortunate enough to be visited there by our German cousins who live in the Frankfurt area, and traveled to Munich for the weekend to see us. I have been to their home, traveled with them on other trips, and know that they have good taste and a nice standard of living. When they go to Munich, they economize a bit by staying in a hotel chain that I was not familiar with -- Star Inns. Take a look at starinnhotels.com It is a relatively new chain, with five hotels in Germany, two in Salzburg, one in Budapest, and three more on the way. We met them there for breakfast one morning, and went up to see their room. It was sort of like a nice Hampton would be in the States, and priced accordingly. Clean, safe, pleasant, very comfortable, delicious and complete breakfast (at the rate of 10 Euros per person for us to join them, which is not bad at all in Munich). The hotel is kept reasonably simple, without some of the business traveler bells and whistles that a typical Hilton would have, I guess to hit the price point and fill that niche in the market. They were able to get a family room, with two double beds so that their two kids could share the room with them, which is not always so easy to find in Europe. (We, by contrast, were paying for a second room in the Hilton for our kids.) I made a mental note to look for Star Inns, and consider them in my future European travels.

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Thanks,

I guess what I%26#39;m asking is if it would be better to stay closer to the train center or city center?, being that we will arrive from Vienna by train, stay one night in Salzburg and leave the next day back to Vienna.