Austria...?

[karinad]

I don't know if I posting on the right board, but I'll ask anyway. We're going on a 4 day cruise out of South Hampton, England. We do plan to spend a few days in London, but we'd like to do another country as long as we're using free miles. We probably won't have the opportunity to go again anytime soon. My dh said he'd like to stop in Austria. I did check out flights into Innsbruck and Vienna, and both are totally doable. I didn't check Salzburg yet.

My question is, which would be easier to see in a couple days? Easy/short access to attractions, etc. I just started to do some research today. The cruise is late Sept.

Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[CruiserBruce]

All three are very easy to see and visit, particularly if you stay in the downtown. Vienna has probably the most culture and history, and is the biggest city, but Salzburg and Innsbruck are both really wonderful on their own, have their own culture and history- particularly Salzburg.

Don't know your interests, but all three are wonderful cities to visit. I think if I had to choose, I would go to Vienna, both because I haven't been there in a couple of years, and was just in Salzburg and Innsbruck last summer. Plus the greater history and culture, particularly as a once in a life time visit.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Agree with what Bruce says, but perhaps the key is what your father had in mind when he said Austria. If it was museums, galleries, concerts, spies and coffee shops, it's probably Vienna - one of the world'd great cultural cities.

But if it was fairylike-like castles, palaces and castles, with the Sound of Music thrown in, then Salzburg might be bettter. And if he thinks mountains when saying Austria, Innsbruck might be the better choice.

That's an exaggeration of the characteristics of each of the cities, of course, but might help to narrow it down.

By the way, it's Southampton, not South Hampton - can cause problems when looking up transport or hotels

[Cotswold Eagle]

Husband, not father - apologies

[brazilgirl]

We spent a wonderful week in Vienna . A week didn 't do it justice , truly an amazing city!

If you visit Vienna , you could take a day trip to the Wachau Valley , cruising the Danube . There is a stop at the unforgettable Melk Abbey as well as many charming villages.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Vienna is easy to get around, they've got trams everywhere. (Trams being electric trains that ruin on rails on the road, in English English. What they call Trolleys in San Diego and possibly the rest of the USA.)

[Cruise NH]

As others have said, it depends on your interests...but for my part...I loved Salzburg. It has history, a beautiful city and you can get out to the countryside and see the lake district and Mad Ludwig's castle...it's also not far to Hitler's eagles nest...if that interests you at all.

[karinad]

Thanks for your opinions and information! It's real helpful, especially when you don't know anything. Reading tour books or info on the internet, but it doesn't replace what others have experienced from being there.

My dh would be interested in seeing castles, etc. Thought about a river cruise, but way out of our budget.

[karinad]

Another question...if staying in Salzburg, what area would be best to stay in? I'm sure we want to do a tour to the castle. We also enjoy walking around and enjoying the area.

[CruiserBruce]

Anywhere in the downtown, although you don't need to stay in the old town. The town is very walkable, as long as no mobility issues. Or transit is good.

[Sauer-kraut]

Salzburg isn't that big. I wouldn't worry about what area to stay in. You are in the Alps region therefore its all mountain scenery, etc.

For Salzburg I'd go to one of the Salt Mine tours, I think the Bad Reichenhall one where you dress up in old miners costumes is more fun than the other one.

Sound of Music tour if you're in to the movie, you'll see the Cathedral from the wedding scene and a nice bus tour of the countryside.

Do the catacombs, see the concert hall and do the markets. You are also close to Germany and can do a day trip to Herrenchiemsee palace or Neuschwanstein castle.

For Vienna I spent a week there, lots to see if you like art museums, are into looking at royal residences, you can do a day trip on the river boat from Vienna to the Abbey at Melk. It is a big city, so you won't have a lot of mountains to look at. Also if you are going to Vienna I'd look up the Vienna Pass for museum entrance fee reductions. I loved the military history museum, Schonbrunn Palace, the zoo and of course looking at the Palace in the city proper and all the treasures. There is the Tecknisches Musum which has really neat exhibits including the railroad car built for the Empress Elisabeth, trains, the first automobiles, the improvements of city hygiene etc.
Then there is the Spanish Riding School if you are in to horses, the world famous Lippizans will do shows and you can take a tour of the stable.

You can spend a lot of time in Vienna and everything is accessible with a tram ticket and a tour book. I loved it.

I have never been to Innsbruck so I have no idea of what it offers for tourists other than the Olympic park.

[karinad]

Originally Posted by CruiserBruce

Anywhere in the downtown, although you don't need to stay in the old town. The town is very walkable, as long as no mobility issues. Or transit is good.

Would that be the City Center?

[CruiserBruce]

Originally Posted by karinad

Would that be the City Center?

The old town is city center.

[karinad]

All this info is so helpful! I'm glad I started researching now. Austria does sound like the best place to add as a stop-over on our way to London. My dh's ancestors are from Tyrol, and I do realize that Innsbruck would be the closest to this. Looking at the airline schedules it looks like Salzburg would have the better schedule into London.

[UKBayern]

If you are REALLY into the Sound of Music, you can stay at the castle Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg (a little out of the centre, but on a lake as you may recall from the film) where it was filmed. Officially a four star hotel, but we stayed there and I would rather class it as 3 stars.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Something else in Vienna, if you're interested in classical music - virtually every (or so it seems) composer of the 1800's lived in Vienna at some point in their lives, and many of their houses have been converted to museums.

[Cruise NH]

One thing that I find helpful when deciding where to stay in a new city is going to tripadvisor.com. It has opinions of hotels of course, but best of all there is a map feature (look to the right of the screen once you're into salzburg hotel recommendations) so you can see the location of the hotels relative to each other, the river, city center, whatever.

I agree with the previous poster...salzburg is small and easy to walk around.