Reaching out: Day-Trips from Vienna – Part II

Best enjoyed with your own Car

The following destinations are all near Vienna, but often in a range of locations or in areas, where the use of public means of transport would be time-consuming. I recommend them to those who have their own cars or do not mind longer stays on busses or trains.

1.) Marchfeld: The fertile grounds of the Marchfeld plain is packed with chateaux and countryside retreats. Touring these palaces between Vienna, Marchegg and Hainburg can be rewarding.

2.) Seewinkel: One of my favourite areas of Austria, the Seewinkel looks a lot more like the Hungarian plains than anything you would typically associate with an Alpine country. Very rural, very charming, very good wine.

3.) Rust: The most picturesque town of the Burgenland also makes a good starting point for trips to Lake Neusiedl. It might be worth combining it with a trip to the Seewinkel.

4.) National Park Donauauen: Starting within Vienna’s city limits, the interesting parts of the park are further down-stream the Danube. Especially if you want to get to more remote parts or see some of the castles along the river, a car will make your life much easier.

5.) Enns & Mauthausen: The pretty Upper Austrian town of Enns has loads of sights to offer, ranging from Roman ruins, medieval courts and Baroque towers to state-of-the art museums. It is easy to get to by train – however, if you want to combine it with the nearby former concentration camp of Mauthausen in a single day, a car will help a great deal.

I think this is pretty much it when it comes to day-trips that leave you enough time to see the place properly. There are plenty of travel agencies that offer “See the Salzkammergut, Salzburg and the Alps in a single day” type of packages. However, I discourage you from doing such an organised tour. Less is more and the trips recommended above will at least allow you to enjoy your stay at your own pace.

As I have said in my articles of suggested itineraries, something like a 1-week stay in Austria would probably be spent best with Vienna and Salzburg as “bases”, from where you can do three or four day-trips to the surroundings. That being said, I would recommend a vacation of at least two weeks to get a sense for the country’s diversity.

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Sightseeing in other Provinces

Bregenz and Vorarlberg - Innsbruck and Tyrol - Salzburg - Linz & Upper Austria - Salzkammergut - Graz and Styria - Klagenfurt and Carinthia - Wachau and Lower Austria - Vienna - Burgenland

Further Reading

Links to be added soon