This is our first time to Europe; anywhere in Europe. We will arrive at around 2:00 p.m. our first night in Salzbug so technically we only have 5 full days there. I currently have us booked the whole trip in Salzburg and then we were planning to take a few day trips. Should we split the time and say try and see some of Germany, etc.? There are so many countries I would like to see including Italy and England which I know are out this trip. Is Austria a good first European country to experience? Salzburg sounds absolutely wonderful. Thank you and sorry for so many questions.
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I think Austria is a great place to start your European travels - it%26#39;s small, safe, clean (and just about nicer than anywhere else, so may as well begin with the best!)
Five days is quite a lot for Salzburg which is very tiny but if you have daytrips as well you%26#39;ll have plenty to do (the transport is excellent so you can see a lot from your Salzburg base).
One thing I%26#39;ve found travelling, especially in an unfamiliar place where everything is a bit more stressful, is that it%26#39;s nice to base yourself in one place and see everything from there. The constant packing and unpacking, the wasting of time journeying between places and locating and settling into your hotels, can make the journey really gruelling. My first Austrian trip I did 2 nights in Salzburg, 2 nights in Vienna, and 2 nights in Innsbruck and it was a real marathon! I spent a lot of time on trains and was too exhausted to do much when I arrived at the next place.
So I would suggest you stick to Salzburg for this trip - but there are masses of great places you can reach for day trips. Some suggestions might be
Berchtesgaden for the Eagle%26#39;s nest
Zell am See
St Gilgen and the Wolfgangsee (you can reach St G by bus from Salzburg and then take the ferry round the lake to explore the various villages)
Hallstatt (quite a long journey - bus to Bad Ischl and then train to Hallstatt but it%26#39;s a beautiful place and worth a visit - some of my pictures of Hallstatt can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/2fjw57 )
Munich (if you really want to see a bit of another country though in some ways I feel you won%26#39;t see much of a big city in a daytrip)
That%26#39;s more than enough - Salzburg will take up at least 2 full days and probably 3 if you visit Hellbrunn and/or Untersberg - so that just leaves time for 2-3 daytrips, depending on how energetic you feel!
Hope that helps
rol
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As Roley suggests 5 days in Salzburg with a few days trips will be fine - if you tried to spend a night elsewhere or cram too much in you would end up wasting time packing/unpacking and so on.
With 2 or 3 days in Salzburg and the immediate area the extra days will allow you to get a little further afield and still have a comfortable %26quot;base%26quot; to come back to. Much better than lumping your case from A-B.
Aside from Roleys suggestions you might also add Hohenwerfen to a list of possibles. Best lnown in your neck of the woods as the famous Castle location in the film %26quot;Where Eagles Dare%26quot; with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton.
http://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Hohenwerfen
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Thank you so much for your replies. After speaking to my mom last night, we%26#39;ve decided to base ourselves in Salzburg and then go from there. I%26#39;ve written down all the suggestions and can%26#39;t wait for the trip. Now to find a cheaper airfare than $1,500.00, would be nice from the east coast..
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By the price you mention I assume that you priced a flight in the middle of summer and to Salzburg.
Look at flights to Munich - example by Lufthansa form numerous east coast cities- then take the train to Salzburg - it should be much cheaaper. Munich- Salzburg by train less than 2 hours.
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Hi,
We always fly to Munich from NY/NJ when visiting Austria. We last used (Oct.%26#39;06) www.travelocity.com from Newark, NJ to Munich and got a very good deal...under $1,150 for 2 r/t. We were flexible within 2 days for departure and return and it was for Oct.
Paul.
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Another possible costcutting option might be to fly to London Gatwick from the US (usually a bit cheaper) and connect at Gatwick to a direct flight to Salzburg on British Airways.
They only fly that route once a day, three days per week, but if you can get the timing right the price isn%26#39;t too bad - I bought a return flight for about 125 British pounds in August which is even more high season than July here (school holidays).
Have a look at the BA website www.ba.com for details of their schedule. As the US flights generally get into London early-mid morning, and the Salzburg flight leaves i think around 2pm, that might be an easy connexion for you.
I believe there are also some low-cost charter flights that go to Salzburg from Gatwick - can anyone provide any information?
The Munich journey is possible but it just adds to the stress with the leaping on and off trains, so sometimes it can be worth paying a bit more to fly straight to the airport (especialy one as conveniently close to town as Salzburg airport!)
rol
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Again, thanks for the replies. I did find a website that offered the airfare $500.00 pp cheaper but read elsewhere that one should wait until the end of Jan or Feb to book as that is the start of Europe%26#39;s slow season. I hate to wait too long especially since I%26#39;m traveling during peak season.
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bump
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I%26#39;m not sure about that booking advice because my experience of Europe is that EVERYONE here books their summer holidays in January/February. It took me by surprise when I first moved here! So if you are going to have an internal European flight as part of your package, the price for that part may go up if you wait. Perhaps other US and Canadian travellers could give their views on the best time to buy flights for summer travel to and within Europe?
rol
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$1500.00 doesn%26#39;t sound too bad for peak season. We are paying almost that much in March for Boston - Salzburg and Prague - Boston on the return. Airline ticket prices are %26quot;up%26quot;.
We always fly Lufthansa to central Europe. They are the best !!!!!
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