My family of 3 plan to visit Vienna in August. I am really want to have Danube river cruise in our itinerary. I am thinking take train from Vienna to Kram then take the up stream river cruise to Melk. Finally from Melk take train to Salzburg. Does it make sense? or I should take the down stream river cruise and go from Kram to Salzburg ?
Please help. Thanks
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Downstream, that is from Melk to Krems, would be the better option as the whole cruise takes 1 hour 40 minutes (if you wanted to get off at Dürnstein, you´d have to add time to that) - the other way round it would come to three hours, and bearing in mind that the train journey from Vienna to Krems would take an hour at least (provided you catch a direct train), and that you´d have to get back to Vienna or to St Pölten to catch a train to Salzburg, it seems a bit much for a day. It would definitely need detailed planning (and no delayed train services).
You can check times and stops here ddsg-blue-danube.at/english/…e_lwac_fp.asp as well as …brandner.at/partner/…46594.htm .
I´d rather make the Wachau a daytrip from Vienna - you could get a train-cruise combination ticket (Austrian Railways offer and available at major stations) which would also include a visit to Melk Abbey, and which, on the Danube, would permit you to get off both at Spitz and Dürnstein, too.
Then take a train from Vienna to Salzburg the next day (2 hrs 40 to 3 hrs, depending on the connection).
Alternatively, there are river cruises on the Danube in Vienna, but in terms of views they are not much to write home about. Still, if you wish to have a look ddsg-blue-danube.at/english/…e_lwien_fp2.asp .
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Thank you for quick reply. I will make it a day trip.
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You should also bear in mind that due to a total replacement of a railway bridge near the town of Tulln, which normally handles all traffic from Vienna%26#39;s Franz Joseph%26#39;s Station to Krems (and Gmünd), all trains need to divert via the town of Stockerau. Because of capacity issues on the Stockerau-Vienna railroad not all Krems-bound (or vice versa) trains are direct meaning that you (eventually) need to perform a transfer in either %26#39;Absdorf-Hippersdorf%26#39; or %26#39;Stockerau%26#39;. Check beforehand:
http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/e
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How did you enjoy your Danube cruise? Which method did you use I%26#39;m curious we%26#39;re going to Munich in October and wanted to do the same trip....once we arrive in Vienna.
I would appreciate your insights. Its a first time visit for us.
Thanks~
Bill
Dallas, TX
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We only had 3 days in vienna and decided not to do the cruise.
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Hi, Bill,
I did the trip in August. I travelled with my wife and daughter of 15 years old. We bought the combo ticket at the Tourist Office Centre in Vienna (they act as the agent without any additional charges.)
Three sets of vouchers (train, visit to Melk Abbey, and boat trip) were issued. The voucher for train is in fact the train ticket for the day of travel.
We took the train at around 9:00 a.m. from West train station to Melk. The journey was around an hour. From the station, we walked to the town and up to the Abbey. Exchanged the voucher for visiting Melk Abbey at the entrance for the ticket. The Abbey is very beautiful and worth visit. After then, we went to the ferry terminal. (Around 15 minutes walk from the Abbey.)
There were booths for two companies, Brandson and DDSG, and the voucher was good for either one of their ferries. We chose the one of Brandson and the ferry was good and pretty new. Lunch and refreshment were served on board at additional costs. I would say the food quality was good and price reasonable.
According to the salesperson at the ferry terminal, they mentioned that we might choose to make only one stop at either Spitz or Durnstein before continuing to Krems. Moreover, we chose to travel directly to Krems and spent some times walking in this town. After then, we travlled back to Vienna by train.
A nice day trip and the Melk Abbey is worth a visit. Hope the above might give you an idea in planning.
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The two Danube boat companies are Brandner
www.brandner.at
and ddsg
www.ddsg-blue -danube.at
both firms offer very similar schedules . They leave from docks in Melk and arrive in Krems at docks very close together.
They use the same dock in Durnstein.
I recommend leaving the boat at Durnstein- touring this nice village. A 5 minute walk from the village finds the Durnstein train station that takes you directly to the Krems train station in about 10 minutes.
This route saves much walking or transfer time in krems as the boat dock and train station are about 3 kilometers apart- you need to walk, wait for the local bus or a sightseeing train that is relatively costly.
At the krems train station ,the small regional train normally arrives at the end of the same platform used for the Vienna train- you walk about 25 meters and schedules are co- ordinated.
makes for a better transfer.
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