Austria
10
 DAYS IN 
Austria

This was the second part of my Austria-Hungary trip. I knew Austria was excellent, but did I know how amazing it was? No.

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I had 10 full days for this trip - I took the train on the day before day 1 and then flew out after day 10 - I enjoyed every moment! It was a culturally and historically rich country, and it complemented my experience in Hungary, learning about the influence of the Habsburgs. The country was filled with beautiful architecture and the arts, and a picturesque landscape was the cherry on top.

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Indeed, many other cities in Austria were worth visiting, like Melk or Linz, but since it was my first trip, I decided to stick to the main spots. Since I was leaving Austria via Vienna, I decided to start from the left end and move eastwards to Vienna. It worked well for me as I wanted to spend Christmas in a bigger city in case of closures. If you’re spending Christmas in Vienna, don’t worry, most places are open except a couple with reduced hours.

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Usually, I don’t get eSIMs from Airalo as they have consistently been more expensive than all the other providers. But this time, Airalo was cheaper by a stretch. If you see them selling 20GB for $12, they are more affordable than everyone else. The only thing I didn’t account for was my day trip from Vienna to Bratislava. I hoped the data would still work given the proximity, but unfortunately, it didn’t. I had to get a separate Slovakia eSIM, and getting one with Europe coverage from the start would’ve been more convenient.

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TRANSPORT | For Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Vienna, a comprehensive tram/train network was quickly accessible and convenient. But most of the time, walking between city locations was easy, which was great. There were two train options between cities: the OBB and the Westbahn. The OBB has a better reputation and tends to be more expensive, but I didn’t feel any significant difference that warranted the higher prices.

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Getting to Hallstatt from Salzburg was a little more complicated, as it needed a bus, a train, and a boat across the lake.

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DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY | As much as I enjoyed Austria, I wasn’t a fan of Salzburg. It was big on Mozart, but I didn’t see the appeal outside of that. I still enjoyed my trip there as it was my home base for Hallstatt, and I visited a couple of interesting places like the Stiegl Brewery, but I would have probably skipped it on a shorter itinerary.

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HIGHLIGHTS | Innsbruck, Vienna, Wiener Symphoniker 

Day 3-5: Salzburg (& Hallstatt Day Trip) 

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Day 3

Walking Tour

Mirabell Gardens

Getreidegasse

Mozartplatz

DomQuartier Salzburg (admission includes Salzburg Cathedral)

Mozart's Birthplace

Mozart Residence

Augustiner Bräu Mülln

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Day 4 - Hallstatt

​​Panoramic Viewpoint - Hallstatt

Marktplatz Hallstatt

Salzwelten Hallstatt & Skywalk

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Day 5

Fortress Hohensalzburg (via Festungsbahn)

Stiegl-Brauwelt (Guided Tour)

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For Salzburg, I started with breakfast at the esteemed Café Bazar. It was also the starting point for my walking tour hosted by Leo, who has lived in Salzburg for a long time and was an excellent guide. Perhaps the weather wasn’t great, nor was the contrast of the picturesque Innsbruck, but  I didn’t share the same awe for Salzburg as I did for the other cities.

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Salzburg Card

I got a Salzburg Card - I’m not sure if I saved money with this one, but it was convenient since it included free travel on public transport. It gave me “free” access to Mozart’s Birthplace and Mozart Residence, which is not worth the value of a standalone ticket (I spent around 20 minutes on each, and I wouldn’t spend €13,50 on either).

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Breweries/Beer Halls

Salzburg is also known for its breweries/beer halls - the notable ones I visited were Augustiner Bräu Mülln and Die Weisse. In addition, I also went to Stiegl Brewery, which has been a family-owned brewery since the 15th century, and did the tour. It was pretty cool to learn how the beer is made and, better still, try the different types of beer they made. I don’t drink beer, but I drank a lot.

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I skipped the Hellbrunn Palace for Salzburg because it was unfortunately closed in winter.

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Hallstatt

Hallstatt was a highlight of the trip. I did hesitate because it wasn’t the easiest to get to - it took 2.5 hours each way and needed a bus, train, and a boat to get from Salzburg to Hallstatt. It was a Bus 150 from the city center to Bad Ischl, a train to Hallstatt train station, and then the boat across the lake to the town. There were a couple of other ways to get there, but this was the way suggested by the tourism center and the one I followed since I didn’t want to risk being stranded anywhere. Ideally, traveling by car would only take an hour, which would be much more convenient. The town is tiny, and it is probably a 10-minute walk between both ends, so a couple of hours is sufficient for the salt mine. I would recommend going early and leaving early to prevent overcapacity on the bus or boat, which is very much possible. I know it’s likely to go to Hallstatt from Vienna, but.. I heard it’s not worth it.

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I STAYED AT numa | Mozart - you can’t go wrong with Numa (at least based on my limited experience). I liked that it was between the train station and the city center and was easily accessible on my trip, by foot or by bus. The only issue Numa tends to face is their lack of customer service since they are 100% digital, but I didn’t need it, so it was good for me. For Numa, booking on their website is always the cheapest.

Day 3-5: Salzburg (& Hallstatt Day Trip) 

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Day 3

Walking Tour

Mirabell Gardens

Getreidegasse

Mozartplatz

DomQuartier Salzburg (admission includes Salzburg Cathedral)

Mozart's Birthplace

Mozart Residence

Augustiner Bräu Mülln

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Day 4 - Hallstatt

​​Panoramic Viewpoint - Hallstatt

Marktplatz Hallstatt

Salzwelten Hallstatt & Skywalk

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Day 5

Fortress Hohensalzburg (via Festungsbahn)

Stiegl-Brauwelt (Guided Tour)

‍

For Salzburg, I started with breakfast at the esteemed Café Bazar. It was also the starting point for my walking tour hosted by Leo, who has lived in Salzburg for a long time and was an excellent guide. Perhaps the weather wasn’t great, nor was the contrast of the picturesque Innsbruck, but  I didn’t share the same awe for Salzburg as I did for the other cities.

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Salzburg Card

I got a Salzburg Card - I’m not sure if I saved money with this one, but it was convenient since it included free travel on public transport. It gave me “free” access to Mozart’s Birthplace and Mozart Residence, which is not worth the value of a standalone ticket (I spent around 20 minutes on each, and I wouldn’t spend €13,50 on either).

‍

Breweries/Beer Halls

Salzburg is also known for its breweries/beer halls - the notable ones I visited were Augustiner Bräu Mülln and Die Weisse. In addition, I also went to Stiegl Brewery, which has been a family-owned brewery since the 15th century, and did the tour. It was pretty cool to learn how the beer is made and, better still, try the different types of beer they made. I don’t drink beer, but I drank a lot.

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I skipped the Hellbrunn Palace for Salzburg because it was unfortunately closed in winter.

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Hallstatt

Hallstatt was a highlight of the trip. I did hesitate because it wasn’t the easiest to get to - it took 2.5 hours each way and needed a bus, train, and a boat to get from Salzburg to Hallstatt. It was a Bus 150 from the city center to Bad Ischl, a train to Hallstatt train station, and then the boat across the lake to the town. There were a couple of other ways to get there, but this was the way suggested by the tourism center and the one I followed since I didn’t want to risk being stranded anywhere. Ideally, traveling by car would only take an hour, which would be much more convenient. The town is tiny, and it is probably a 10-minute walk between both ends, so a couple of hours is sufficient for the salt mine. I would recommend going early and leaving early to prevent overcapacity on the bus or boat, which is very much possible. I know it’s likely to go to Hallstatt from Vienna, but.. I heard it’s not worth it.

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I STAYED AT numa | Mozart - you can’t go wrong with Numa (at least based on my limited experience). I liked that it was between the train station and the city center and was easily accessible on my trip, by foot or by bus. The only issue Numa tends to face is their lack of customer service since they are 100% digital, but I didn’t need it, so it was good for me. For Numa, booking on their website is always the cheapest.

Day 6-10: Vienna (& Bratislava Day Trip) 

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Day 6

Schönbrunn Palace

Maria-Theresien-Platz

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Day 7

Vienna Walking Tour

House of Music

Rathausplatz

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Day 8

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

Naschmarkt

Belvedere Palace

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Day 9 - Bratislava

Bratislava Walking Tour

Bratislava Castle

St. Martin's Cathedral

Primacial Palace

The Blue Church - Church of St. Elizabeth

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Day 10

Sisi Museum

St. Stephen's Cathedral

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I think 3 days was sufficient for Vienna, but I spent 4 days because I wasn’t sure what the situation would be like over Christmas, and I thought it would be good to rest and relax after 20 days on the road. Surprisingly, most places were open throughout the Christmas break, but many were full, so please plan carefully. Because of that, I ended up at the House of Music on Christmas Eve, which was interesting, but… it wasn’t at the top of my list of things to do.

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Orchestra!

Technically, I arrived the night before to catch a symphony orchestra. While many were scattered across the city, tourist and non-tourist ones, the main ones were the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Musikverein and the Wiener Symphoniker at the Wiener Konzerthaus. I went with Wiener Symphoniker performing Tchaikovsky because options were limited, but it was such a spectacular experience, and it was all I could wish for! I wished I could watch something at the Vienna State Opera, but everything was sold out during the Christmas break.

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I would usually start the city with a walking tour, but since it was a heavy snow day, I went to do some sightseeing first - in this case, to Schönbrunn Palace since it was farthest from the city center - and had the tour on my next day.

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Vienna was easy to plan - everything was within such close vicinity, so all I did was split up the museums and palaces so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

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The Vienna Cafe Lifestyle

Vienna is known for its traditional cafes, and the holy trinity I’ve learned are - Café Sacher Wien, Café Central, and Demel​​. I didn’t visit any as the queues can be extreme and likely a half-day affair. I went to the smaller but still traditional ones like Café Hawelka and Café Korb. It was not life-changing, but it was generally still a good experience. A bonus one: the Café im Kunsthistorischen Museum Wien in the museum itself, but only for the ambience and not the food.

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Klimt

Suppose you’ve watched the film Woman in Gold or seen Klimt’s Woman in Gold at the Neue Galerie (yes, the same Woman in Gold). In that case, you should know that the Belvedere Palace, specifically the Upper Belvedere, has the most extensive Klimt collection, and it’s the place you’ll find The Kiss!

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Christmas Markets

The primary Christmas market in Vienna was the Christkindlmarkt at Rathauseplatz (the square outside the City Hall), and there were several main ones and several others scattered around, like at the Maria-Theresien-Platz, Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere Palace, and Stephansplatz.

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Vienna Pass/Card

Vienna has the Vienna City Card, the Vienna City Pass, and the Vienna Flexi Pass. It was all a chore trying to evaluate them… so I didn’t. But my consensus was that it wasn’t much of a cost-saving. All I got was a ticket for public transport - don’t be dumb like me getting the 72-hour ticket when the 7-day ticket was the same price!

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Bratislava

I did a Bratislava walking tour, and that was what I did. Many people think it’s worth skipping because it’s such a small city. True enough, there wasn’t much to explore since it was a small town, but it was fascinating to learn its history - its confluence of the Hungarians, the Habsburgs, and the Soviets, which has led Bratislava to become the place it is today. Also, a good thing to know is that the cuisine here is nothing like Austria or Hungary, so it was a new experience! It was also so convenient to get here from Vienna, so it was a no-brainer for me. Some ferries travel between Vienna and Bratislava along the Danube in the summer, and I’m sure that would’ve been a fantastic experience.

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I STAYED AT numa | Wood Rooms & Apartments. I loved it! And it was even better than my stay at Numa | Mozart in Salzburg. It would’ve been great to stay in the city center, but they were a little pricey for me. Numa was a little far out to walk to the city center, but it was so close to Westbanhof that it was convenient to come in from Salzburg and took less than 15 minutes to get there. I would love to stay there again! Also, again, much cheaper to book on their official site than on any other third-party sites I usually use.