FUN-travel: Salzburg to Hallstatt to Vienna, Austria
September 29, 2013 by Susan Clarke
Day 10 – Wednesday, September 25 – Salzburg to Hallstatt to Vienna, Austria – sunny & 60’s
What I LIKE
- 7:45 wake up
View Across Lake in Hallstatt
- another good night sleep
- hot coffee on patio
- ready to go early (I’m feeling some more points coming on)
- *check out
- 9:25 – take off for Hallstatt
- muscles still sore – clearly ones not used that much!
- **have gps & map
- beautiful drive thru forested mountains & alpine meadows
- the hills are alive w/the sound of music!
- leaves starting to change color
- ***11:00 – arrive Hallstatt – story book village on lake filled w/swans
- stop @ grocery store (free parking) for snacks
- +11:50 – attempt to program Garmin for Vienna hotel – put in city center & head out using shortest route from map
- river flowing next to road
- 12:30 – another big lakeside drive
- able to program car drop off address
Hallstatt
- 3:00 – enter Vienna proper
- 3:30 – arrive city center
- WATCH (what are the chances) – our hotel is 3 blocks from car drop! Ritz Carlton right next door
Vienna
- would never spend that much on a room
- drop luggage @ The Ring Hotel first then car
- location, location, location!
- 4:00 – get settled in our big, beautiful, quiet room w/10 ft ceilings & king size bed
- 4:05 – head to happy hour for 2 pints @ Café Schwartzenberg
- GI – (great idea) – should download travel books into iPad instead of carrying – will look into that @ home
- no high rise bldgs in old town
- 5:00 – hungry & Friday’s is across the street – fajitas! jalapenos! salsa! YUMMY!
- 7:00 – Spar grocery store stop for the usual stuff
- they have Unplugged wine for only $15 Euro
What I DON’T LIKE
- *feeling ripped off – breakfast was $11 Euro pp extra and we opted out – told the charge for our 4 coffees per day totaled $22.40 Euros
- **miss correct onramp @ roundabout – takes us 20 mins to recover – morning traffic thru little towns – gps is not perfect
- ***no place to park
- +won’t take address we have & wants to take us on longer route
FUN-fact – Salzburg is one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps and become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Not so FF – At check in, when we said all we wanted was coffee, we were told, “That’s not a problem.” There was never any indication of a charge, or if there was, how much it would be. Had we known, we would have gladly paid $44 Euros. They missed getting another $22 Euro and we walked away saying… NA = Never Again! And feeling “shame on us for not asking.” Between that & the hop on bus experience Salzburg didn’t make the list for a most pleasant stay and should have.
Rathaus, Vienna