Optional Tour question

We will be on the Danube over Thanksgiving, MS Bolero. Gate 1 offers an optional tour (all day) to Salzsburg or we can stay on the boat and sail to Passau. Does anyone have any comments or done either option?

A second optional trip is to the Schonbraun Palace. Worth taking?

Any comments would be welcome.

Sharon

We went to Schonbraun Palace and it is a beautiful palace. The grounds are delightful with all th plants and flowers.

We will be on the Danube over Thanksgiving, MS Bolero. Gate 1 offers an optional tour (all day) to Salzsburg or we can stay on the boat and sail to Passau. Does anyone have any comments or done either option?

 

A second optional trip is to the Schonbraun Palace. Worth taking?

 

Any comments would be welcome.

 

Sharon

What a decision. I've been to Schoebraun Castle and it's beautiful, but again it's just another big impressive castle if you've seen others. I've not been to Salzburg, but the pictures of those that have impressed me. I'd love to go and see it. Been on the river from Vienna to Passeau and it's beautiful, too. Good luck with your decision.

Carole

Can't comment on your first decision about Salzburg but Schonbrun is quite incredible. It's on a par with Versailles but since it was not pillaged during a revoultion, it still has all the original furnishings.

If this is an option offered while you are docked in Vienna, it would be very easy to do on your own. It's a five minute walk from a metro stop and they provide English speaking tours. Enjoy!

Decisions, decisions! Don't believe you could lose out making any of them, but the suggestion of doing Schonbrun on your own is an excellent one. It is on the Hop On, Hop Off bus line and easy to do. In fact, to see the entire city, do the Hop On, Hop Off and do it at your leisure. Salzburg is also gorgeous. Most people love to see that city because of the Sound of Music memories. Much of it was filmed there.

We have done the Hop On Hop Off in many cities - always great. We would like to do it in Vienna, but I have had no luck finding the closest stop to where the river boats dock. You sound like you have done this, so would be interested in any help. We have been in Vienna and have done the regular optional tour from our boat, so would like to see something different this time.

Thanks for any help you can give.

We will be on the Danube over Thanksgiving, MS Bolero. Gate 1 offers an optional tour (all day) to Salzsburg or we can stay on the boat and sail to Passau. Does anyone have any comments or done either option? We just returned and stayed on the boat. Very few people stayed aboard. We had a lovely relaxing day and had extra time to explore Passau. The people that did take the optional tour said they enjoyed it. The long bus ride did not appeal to us.

 

A second optional trip is to the Schonbraun Palace. Worth taking? We did do this tour and it was lovely. However, if I had known Gate 1 was providing shuttles on a regular schedule from Vienna I might have just stayed in the city. The Bolero docks far from the city center and buses you in. Then they provide return transportation until the evening.

 

Any comments would be welcome.

 

Sharon

There are no bad choices here. You will have a great time.

Cynthia

We have done Vienna, but not from a river cruise, so I am not much help in this regard. But we have found that any major hotel usually has the information about the bus routes, pick up spots, etc. That would be the first place I would go if you choose this option. But, if you have already done Vienna you might want to do the trip to Salzburg. The trip to Salzburg should be beautiful. Mountains, wine country and charming villages. Sorry I wasn't more help.

Bitzy Cole

Thanks everyone.

One of the other posts indicated that boats dock near the Vorgartenstrasse metro stop on(Red) line 1. If that is correct, it woud be an easy ride to Schonbrun. Vorgartenstrasse to Karlsplaz. Change to (Green)line 4 to Schonbrun. Metro has a "senior" fare if you can pass for 60+; I have no problem with that!

Try these web sites for metro pape and great city map :

http://www.homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro

http://www.hot-maps.de/europe/austria/vienna/homeen.html

Don

We cruised Budapest to Amsterdam on the Avalon Tranquility in July.Having done several coach tours the idea of a long bus ride was just not appealing at all.On the advice of "Steamboats" we decided to stay on board and sail to Passau. It was a beautiful part of the Danube and we had a lovely day sitting on the sundeck and watching the world float by. No regrets at all.:D

We sailed Budapest to Amsterdam on the "MV Sound Of Music" a couple of months ago and did the Salzburg day tour. The countryside through the lakes and mountains was magnificent but our guides were hopeless. We were expecting to see the SofM film sites but didn't and in Salzburg they seem to shudder at the thought of any publicity re one of our favourite films, it was almost impossible to buy a souvenir. The day we in Salzburg it was over 40C and there was no air conditioning anywhere and we were abandoned for hours by the guides. We wished we had stayed on board like LetsGo did.

Macca

Don,

Vorgartenstraße is the subway stop next to the harbor at Handelskai / Reichsbrücke. Some cruise lines (and I think I read something on here that Gate1 is one of those) does stop at Wien-Nußdorf which is a bit more outside (see below).

The website of the Vienna public transportation system is

www.wienerlinien.at

The cheapest ticket I found was the Wiener Einkaufsticket (Vienna Shopping Ticket) for EUR 4 (valid from 8 am to 8 pm). But I didn´t look for any senior discounts :D .

At Karlsplatz (5th subway stop from Vorgartenstraße) you´ll find the Vienna Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off busses.

http://www.viennasightseeing.at/

A daily ticket including the ride out to Schönbrunn castle is 20 EUR.

Wien-Nußdorf is a bit more upriver and not close to any subway station. Check google earth with Heiligenstaedter Strasse, Wien Nussdorf and you´ll see two cruise ships docked. There is a tram (Line D) line running out to Nußdorf. But I estimate it´s about 15 min walking distance from the river cruise ship dock. At Heiligenstadt you can change to the subway Line U4.

Check my review (MS Mozart) linked in my signature for more links and information about what to do in Vienna (on your own).

In case you are on a shore tour in the morning and the optional tour is offered in the afternoon it might be easier to go on this tour instead of trying to do it on your own. Schönbrunn castle can be quite crowded and with your shore tour you have an English speaking guide and - as far as I read here - an Apple Strudel demonstration.

Regarding Salzburg: I always recommend visiting this beautiful town because I love it.

steamboats

We did a similar cruise last year. Please bear in mind that it will be late November and so it will be getting dark by 5.00pm and the chances are that the weather will not be very kind. Some people off our boat went on the Salzburg trip and rejoined the ship at Linz. Many were unhappy about the length of time on the buses. I note that your boat goes through to Passau so it could be an even longer ride. Staying on the boat means that you can sit inside or out depending on the weather and all the facilities are at hand. I would suggest at this time of year, it is better to delay booking any trip until you can get an idea of the weather.

By the way, we think that Salzburg is a wonderful city, full of beautiful architecture and history - especially for Mozart buffs!

Woofas, we can't delay our trip. We are leaving on Nov. 21st. I do realize that it will get dark early:( and that we will most likely have to stay in the lounge or our room if we don't take the optional trip. So, we can sit in the lounge/room or on the bus. I guess we will decide once we get there and talk to the cruise director.

First, thank you, and others for information regarding my question re Vienna. Some of us in our family group had planned to visit Salzburg, and we have read various opinions on Cruise Critic, including yours recommending the visit. Others indicate that the length of the bus trip discouraged them. However, I haven't had any luck finding out how long the bus trip from Linz, or Passau (depending on where the bus leaves from) would take, or how many miles it would be. Before making definite plans, it would be good to know just how long the bus trip would be, so all in our family can make a decision.

Thank you so much to you, and others, for invaluable information.

Passau to Salzburg 50 miles. Linz to Salzburg 68 miles. Salzburg to Vienna 156 miles. Please remember that these are on european roads not American Interstate Highways! You can expect to average around 35mph.

Hope this helps

sorry double entry

Thank you so much for letting us know the distances between Passau or Linz to Salzburg. We live minutes from I-95, 60+ miles from New York City, so we don't consider 50 - 70 miles a long bus trip at all. And often our mph are not even 35, especially at rush hour, which seems to be dawn to dusk and later, so we have learned patience. I think you have helped us to make a decision - most of us don't want to miss Salzburg.

Thanks again!