In our experience of travelling, Austria was one of the easiest to plan transits between cities. Everything was online and even while we were there, it was easy to find our way thanks to the readily available maps. We entered Austria from Prague by train and started our trip at Salzburg.
Travelling in Austria – Buses
Austria has a really good network of buses. For our travel from Salzburg to St. Gilgen and beyond, we took the local Postbus service. For long distance travel, you can check Flixbus (https://global.flixbus.com/) and GetbyBus (https://getbybus.com/en/) who are aggregators. Do check out the ratings and reviews of the operator to make sure you pick the right bus for your travel. They can charge you for heavy luggage, so keep change handy. But we would recommend the trains which are very efficient and fast.
Travelling in Austria – Train
You can get details of the Austrian train service OBB on their website here (https://www.oebb.at/en/). The trains are clean, fast and efficient. Booking tickets is easy and we had a very smooth experience. We booked on OBB for our trip from Bad Ishcl to Hallstatt, Salzburg to Vienna and Vienna to Budapest.
Other Tips
Make sure you keep enough buffer between transfers in your journey so that you don’t miss out on a bus/train. It is always better to reach a place early than deal with the frustration of missing a connection.
We always recommend making your bookings atleast a week or two in advance to ensure that you get a seat (preferably, a reserved seat). Also, advance bookings can get you some good deals! Keep your eye out for these.
Where to Stay
If you have checked out our Croatian blog, you would have come across our Golden Rule – to have our stay close to the main attractions while having access to the transit systems. The access part is kept at higher priority as it is convenient when you’re moving in/out with your luggage. We found it very convenient everywhere in Austria as the cities have been designed with great connectivity.
Salzburg: We stayed at Hotel Turnerwirt which was less than 3km from the city centre. There was a bus stop very close to the hotel and was at walking distance from the Salzburg Gnigl station.
Salzkammergut: We made our base at St. Gilgen as it gave us a nice central location to plan our day trips. There are many lovely homestays in St. Gilgen and we stayed at one called Eislbauerhof which had a really nice view of the lake and the entire valley.
Vienna: There are a lot of places to pick from in Vienna. We stayed at an Airbnb with the only criteria that it was very close to a metro station (mainly because we were staying just for one night). Had we planned for a longer stay, we would have picked something close enough to the palaces and museums.
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The capital of Austria, Vienna is also considered a hotspot for art and culture in the whole of Europe. With beautiful palaces, museums where you could spend days exploring, operas, musical shows and old coffee shops, Vienna has a lot to offer everyone who visits.
Vienna was the last stop in our Austria trip. It was a short stay – just one day. We arrived at the Vienna train station from Salzburg and left most of our luggage in a locker there – we had to be back the next day for our train to Budapest, so it didn’t make sense to carry all our luggage around the city.
We picked up a 24-hour travel pass and took the metro to Schwedenplatz, which was the starting point of the Ring tram. We picked up some sandwiches, sat on a bench and made our plan for the day. We had a couple of must-do items on our list which we had to fit into our route and the rest depended on our mood and energy levels. As we got to the end of our sandwiches, we had decided to skip the Ring tram and instead do a walking tour. We took the metro to Stephansplatz where we started our walk. Our first stop was the St. Stephan’s Cathedral – a beautiful and imposing Gothic style building with huge pillars inside.
We continued our walk behind the cathedral to Mozarthaus (yes, he had one here as well in addition to the ones in Salzburg and St. Gilgen. We kept walking past the Trinity Column and St. Peter’s church.
The Trinity Column or Plague Column is a very interesting sculpture – made over a period of more than 10 years by various sculptors and indicating the transition to the Baroque era.
The Trinity Column
A narrow street then took us to Michaelerplatz and the famous Hofburg Palace. Built in the 13th century, this palace served as the imperial residence of the Habsburg dynasty. As we walked in, we could see many horse carriages with tourists going around the square. We skipped the Spanish riding school and went to the Imperial Treasury. The place was unlike anything we’d ever seen – dresses of knights, archdukes and kings, gold embroidery, crowns with rubies and diamonds, crown and jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, staffs embedded with jewels and even a cradle which was gifted to Napoleon II.
We then walked to the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) and found out that there was a performance that evening of Swan Lake. We had read on a blog that they usually gave out really cheap standing tickets right before every show – you just had to be at the right place at the right time. We asked around and found the counter – we were told to come back at 7 and we could get tickets.
Our next stop was the Natural History Museum – one of the best in the world!
The Natural History Museum in Vienna – a must-visit!
There are close to 40 halls with exhibits spread across the two floors of the museum. Each one was dedicated to a different aspect of the earth – gems, meteorites, mammals, dinosaurs, mammoths and plenty more. It reminded us of the movie “Night at the Museum” where these artifacts came to life every night (that was the American Museum of Natural History). While we spent over an hour in the museum, it still felt like too little. This is definitely one for next time.
Look out!Walking with dinosaursWhat is the first word that came to your mind – was it Hogwarts?
We were hungry by now and looked for the famous traditional Viennese cafe – Cafe Sperl. It was beautiful inside with warm lighting and we managed to get the cozy seats near the window. Sitting there in that cafe from 1880, we felt like we were transported back in time. We ordered Wiener schnitzel, Viennese cold coffee, a “tall brauner” (double mocha) and a cheesecake while we soaked in the atmosphere.
The cozy interiors of a Viennese cafeCannot visit Vienna without having a wiener schnitzel!
Stomachs full and minds refreshed, we walked to the Naschmarkt – the most popular market in town. You can find all kinds of cuisine here – Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian and of course, Austrian. We even found Indian spice shops there!
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It was almost 7pm and we had to rush back to the Opera to get our tickets. Thanks to the earlier visit, we knew exactly where to go and we managed to get 2 tickets for 6 euros (the normal tickets cost well over 150 euros per person!).
Yaay! We got tickets to the Opera!
As we climbed up to the third floor, we could sense the history of this place. Built in the 1860’s the opera can seat over 1700 people. The marble staircases and portraits on the walls reminded us of Harry Potter.
Some more Hogwarts? This time inside the State Opera House
We also felt out of place looking at the richly dressed people entering the premium seating area – we had worn the best set of clothes we were carrying and we were nowhere close to fitting in. We entered the standing area – we could see the entire hall shaped like a bowl with the stage on one side. The orchestra was seated at the lowest level just below the stage – there were all kinds of instruments – violins, cello, harps, you name it, it was there! The curtains slowly opened and the chattering audience instantly went silent. There were more than 50 performers and they all moved so gracefully in one fluid motion that they felt like one unit. The music transported us back to childhood when we had heard the Swan Lake track in Disney movies. The ballet dancers balanced perfectly on their toes and as they twirled round and round, we had goosebumps. I even noticed some happy tears from Nam and a few others around – it really was moving!
An experience of a lifetime!
The show paused for the interval and we decided to head back to our room. It had been a really long day starting at St. Gilgen and we had been walking all day. While our minds wanted to stay till the end of the show, our bodies needed the rest as we were only halfway into our trip. We took the tram to Schwedenplatz and the metro to Stephansplatz. For dinner, we picked up some hot dogs (the “wurst” kind). We had to take two more metro rides to get close to the Airbnb we had booked. The host had a ton of rules (he seemed a bit crazy about cleanliness) and the apartment was quite basic. Most Airbnbs we’d stayed at so far had been good without much hassle and this was our first weird experience. Thankfully we were dead tired and crashed as soon as we hit the bed.
If you liked this, do check out our other blogs of our trip in Austria. We’d love to read your comments. Do subscribe to get updates on our latest blogs.
Looking for a country in Europe where you want to experience the beauty of nature? Austria may not be the first name that comes to mind. We are pretty sure it is among the most beautiful places we’ve visited (if not the most beautiful one). Nature is at its full glory with beautiful lakes, rolling green hills and mountains blooming with flowers in the summer and turning into the most amazing ski resorts in winter. It is one of those places where you want to keep going back and is home to some amazing food, culture and sights.
Austria is nestled between 8 countries in Eastern Europe
Austria (or Österreich in German meaning the “eastern realm”) is a dream choice for itinerary makers – it shares its borders with Slovenia and Italy in the south, Hungary and Slovakia in the east, Czechia and Germany in the north and Switzerland (and Liechtenstein) in the west – giving travellers many options to plan short trips to the neighbouring countries.
Best time to visit
June to August is the peak tourist season as is the case in most European countries. If you want to avoid the crowds, plan your trip in April-May, early June or September – the prices will be lower and you will also get good weather. Having said that, Austria is great for all seasons especially because of its ski resorts which come into action in the winter. And of course, you don’t want to miss the Christmas festivities in Vienna while you’re there anyway.
Austria is extremely well connected by rail and bus. You can enter the country at any of the major cities and then use the rail and bus networks to explore the country. We didn’t have to look for cabs or private transport anywhere – just make sure you have the bus and train timetables handy so that you can plan your travel. The buses usually run on time and you don’t want to end up a minute or two late.
Indians can enter Austria with a valid Schengen Visa.
What is the ideal number of days to spend in Austria?
This is an important question to answer as you don’t want to miss out the best places the country has to offer. As always, it also depends on your budget (both in terms of number of days and money) and we have a strict limit on our number of days – so optimization is key. We would recommend that you spend atleast 5 days in Austria to cover Salzburg, Vienna and the Salzkammergut. Here’s our itinerary along with some of the options to help you decide!
Our Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive at Salzburg by train from Prague (with a changeover at Linz). Walk around the town, explore some of the local food.
Day 2: Explore the town – Mirabell Palace, Hohensalzburg Fortress, Mozart’s birthplace and the Cathedral. Everything is within walking distance so you don’t need to worry about transportation. Here is the blog detailing how you can plan your day in Salzburg. Take the bus to St. Gilgen in the evening. Night in St. Gilgen.
The majestic Salzburg fortress on the other side of the river Salzach
Day 3: Take a boat across the Wolfgang Lake to Schafberg and take the cog railway (Austria’s steepest) up to the peak with the spectacular panoramic view of the Salzkammergut – one of the best things you’ll ever see! Explore the town of St. Wolfgang. Boat back to St. Gilgen.
A panoramic view from the top of Schafberg – one of the best you’ll ever see!
Day 4: Morning bus to Bad Ischl. Train to Hallstatt and connecting boat to cross the lake and reach Hallstatt town. Explore the town and go up to the salt mines (the oldest salt mine in the world). Bus to Dachstein to explore the ice caves (yes! Ice in summer!). Bus, boat, train back to Bad Ischl. Explore the town and back to St. Gilgen. Salzkammergut has many gems – read our detailed account and don’t miss out on them
Day 5: Morning bus to Salzburg and train to Vienna. Explore the city, visit the palaces and museums and attend the Opera. Here is our Vienna guide. Night in Vienna.
Read our Vienna blog to find out how you can watch the Opera!
Day 6: Train to Budapest.
Here are some suggested changes based on the type of person you are / group you are travelling with:
Culture and History Buffs: Vienna is the perfect place for this. You should definitely budget 2-3 days in Vienna to explore the museums (especially the Natural History one) and palaces in more detail. There are also a lot of iconic spots around the city and some really good cafes which you shouldn’t miss!
Time is not a Constraint for me: Add Innsbruck to your list of places – it is a short train ride away from Salzburg. You can also spend more time exploring the Salzkammergut.
So this was our itinerary. Check out our other blogs on how to make the most of your Austria trip here. We absolutely loved Austria – especially the smaller towns! If you want to enjoy nature and culture, pick Austria and you will not be disappointed!
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