Question We are traveling from Wien to salzburg, in late Sept. and early October. Need help on how long(time wise) to travel and which is best to travel: train, or bus. to see country side and if there is anything country side to see. We have never been to Europe. In short clueless,
Thanks for your help, John
Answer John,
I am not sure what you mean when you say how long to travel. Do you mean the length of the trip all together? Or the trip from Vienna to Salzburg?
I suggest that you take the train to Salzburg, but once there you can take shorter bus tours of the surrounding areas. The Sound of Music tour is particularly good even if you are not a fan of the movie. On the tour you'll get to ride up into the mountains and see small towns you would otherwise have missed. Your driver will probably be willing to stop and let you out whenever you would like to look around. Of course, the tour does take you to the filming locations for the movie, but the more valuable part is the opportunity to see the landscape and people up in the Alps.
I also recommend that you spend a few days just walking around Vienna. It is a smaller city and you can see much of it on foot. They also have wonderful public transportation so you can really just go wherever you want to. (Transportation is not free. You'll need to buy a pass, either daily or weekly.) Schonnbrun palace is particularly beautiful, but the city as a whole is fantastic.
Since you will be there in October, you may want to brave Octoberfest in Munich. It would not be much out of your way and it is quite something to see. Just a thought!
Since it is your first time, you may want to consider buying a travel guide book. Rick Steve's Europe guides can really be very helpful when negotiating a foreign city. They'll give you information on where to stay, where to eat, what tours are going on and much more.
If you have any other questions, please just let me know. I would love to help!
