4 days itinerary to Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstatt and Vienna)

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We love travelling. With every step, we create new stories of seeing mesmerizing places, tasting mouthwatering cuisines and indulging in local culture. We share our experience through this memoir.

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Austria is a land of many features. From the glories of the Habsburg empire in Vienna to the capital of the Alps in Innsbruck, from the home of Mozart in Salzburg to the UNESCO World Heritage in Hallstatt, Austria has so much to offer. It was the May bank holiday here is London and what could be a better time to visit Austria and so embarked upon a 4 day itinerary.

Our Itinerary: We had booked our flight tickets 5 months ago and had initially planned to start our trip in Vienna. However, during our later research, we figured out that Salzburg will be a better base to explore Austria because we could make day trips from our base in Salzburg to Innsbruck (2 hrs by train), Hallstatt (2.5 hrs) and then another 2.5 hours to Vienna on the day of return flight. 

Day 1: London to Vienna to Salzburg and the Music of Mozart 

So we landed in Vienna and directly took a train to Salzburg. Our hotel was close to Salzburg Hbf train station and was suitable to catch early morning trains. After settling into our room, we stepped out to explore Salzburg and ended up in Salzburg Cathedral where we heard an orchestra playing Mozart and boy we were mesmerized (Check it out below). After the live orchestra, we roamed around the city, had a lovely dinner and called it a day.

Day 2: Innsbruck - The Capital of the Alps

We took at 7 AM train from Salzburg to Innsbruck to give us sufficient time there. We were in Innsbruck at 9.30 and headed straight to take the funicular up to the top of Nordkette that is often described as the Jewel of the Alps. We have taken numerous funiculars all over Europe but it is always fun to take another one. In 15-20 minutes it brings you to the top of the mountain. I must admit that we were very very lucky with the weather. The forecast showed cloudy skies but when we went up there, the sky was as clear as it can be. We were greeted with a perfect sunny sky and the views were every bit worth breathtaking. We did the 10 minute hike to the top of the Nordkette and clicked some of the most romantic and stunning photos we have done in a while.

We spent a good 4 hours up there and still did not want to come down. We were hungry and so had to take the funicular down to the Innsbruck old town. We grabbed our lunch overlooking Goldenes Dachl and then headed straight to Swarovski Kristallwelten as we had heard a lot about it. I have to tell that we were not at all impressed with the place and felt we completely wasted a couple of hours of our only day in Innsbruck. Do not visit the place. Our only solace was our pic we got in the outer gardens. We came back to the city center and headed straight to Ambras Castle. The bus from outside Innsbruck Hbf station drops you right outside and we spent an hour inside. Unfortunately it was closed for visiting inside so we just saw it from outside and strolled around in the gardens. We were back in the city center and it was time to catch our train back to Salzburg.

Day 3 (Morning-Afternoon): Hallstatt - UNESCO World Heritage

Every word that has ever been written to describe the beauty of Hallstatt understates what Hallstatt is. The picturesque Hallstatt is steals your heart. From the Hallstatt station, Stephanie boat takes you to the quintessential village with jaw dropping scenery. We roamed around the village, walked up to the Halstatt skywalk and finally the cherry on the top was the self driven boat tour in Lake Hallstatt. There are 2 types of boats - the slow one and the fast one. The fast one was slow too but just a bit faster than the slow boat. The one hour in Lake Hallstatt has been the best lake experience we both have had. You see Hallstatt and its surroundings in an entirely different perspective. We spent a good 5 hours here and then it was time to head back to Salzburg.

 

Day 3 (Afternoon - Evening): Salzburg Walking Tour

After a tiring morning, we were back in Salzburg. We went to the hotel to get some rest for an hour and then headed straight to old town. We followed this great self guided walking tour of Salzburg which we would highly recommend. The guided tour takes you around all the top sights of Salzburg and with everything within a walkable distance of each other, this was the best way to explore the town. By the end of it, we just wanted to lie down in our bed. We highly recommend taking the short funicular to the top of Hohensalzburg Castle for the best views of the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1JlMESFox1nqCuhyvG4TjFSzLOJY&ll=47.80080420050583%2C13.042187825378392&z=16

 

Day 4: The Glories of the Habsburg Empire - Welcome to Vienna

We took the early morning train to Vienna from Salzburg and had the flight back to London in evening so we just had short of 10 hours to explore Vienna. This was obviously not enough time to explore all its sights properly so we again took a self guided tour around the old town and went to Schonbrunn Palace before calling it a day. We must say that Vienna's sightseeing is among the most impressive we've seen so far. The city is bustling with cafes and restaurants and definitely needs at least 2 full days to explore.

Overall, we are still in awe of Austria and would highly recommend it. Check out our tripadvisor for reviews of hotels and restaurants.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/members/gallivantersd2018

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