Vienna-->Salzburg-->Zurich

I am planning on spending a few nights in each Vienna, Salzburg, and Zurich as part of our honeymoon in late June. Our plan is to rent a car, starting in Vienna ending in Zurich, so we can see the beautiful scenery on the way. My questions are:

1. Is it safe to make this drive?

2. What stops can we make on the way, or what day trips can we make from Vienna and Salzburg where one stop could be a picnic in a green valley surrounded by mountains?

3. I watched a special on Austria, and there were beautiful scenes of bright greenery and lakes, etc. Is this the right itinerary to see these sights?

Thanks for any and all info you can provide!

EZGT

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Not quite sure what you mean by safe. Do you mean safe as in accident-free or safe as in no bandits!?

The answer would be yes, it%26#39;s safe, in either case.

Between Vienna and Salzburg you could visit the beautiful Wachau region on the banks of the Danube river:

www.wachau.at/donau/WN/default.asp?ln=EN

Nearer to Salzburg you could visit the gorgeous local lake district of Salzkammergut:

http://www.salzkammergut.at/en

Between Salzburg and Zurich others can probably advise better than me, but you%26#39;ve picked a great route!

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What are your plans for disposing your rental car? If you pick up a car in Austria and drop it off in Switzerland, you will incur a substantial drop-off charge. You can avoid this, if you plan to drop off your car in Austria. The closest place along your possible route is Bregenz at Lake Constance (Bodensee).

A nice route would be: Vienna, Krems, along the north bank of the Danube as far as Neustadt an der Donau, with a short detour across the Danube at Emmersdorf to visit Melk. This trip takes you through the Wachau, as recommended by Norman.

At Neustadt, cross the Danube and take the Autobahn A-1 (be sure you have a vignette to use it), west toward Salzburg. Get off at the Attersee and poke along this lake, the Mondsee and the Wolfgangsee. Then enter Salzburg on Route 158. This takes you through some of the Lake District (Salzkammergut). Nice day trips from Salzburg are Hallstatt (scenic village on a lake), Berchtesgaden, with a visit to the Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus, Koenigsee lake). You then can go various ways to Bregenz, some through Germany, some through Austria. Let me know your prefernce, and I%26#39;ll %26quot;guide%26quot; you.

From Bregenz take the train to Zuerich. If you want to see more of Switzerland, either get another rental car, or take the trains to Berner Oberland (Jungfraujoch, etc.) and/or Luzern.

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Norman and Treplow, Thank you for all the great info and links from both of you. The area%26#39;s you mention look amazing.

There seem to be a lot of great options around Salzburg to choose from.

Treplow, you mention a great route from Vienna to Salzburg. Can all this be done in one day, or were you recommending staying in Krems for a night?

You mention the Austria or German route to get to Bregenz to drop off the rental car...which is the shorter route? Can we go through Munich, by chance?

Also, what is meant by needing a vignette to use the Autobahn?

Thanks,

EZGT

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Yes, you can drive from Vinna to Salzburg in one day, but - if you want to do any other sightseeing - you may want to skip Melk. Otherwise, Neustadt might be a good place to break the trip.

Both routes to Bregenz are roughly the same. Yes, you can go via Munich. In that case, you could go Munich, Garmisch- Partenkirchen,Leermoos, Fuessen (if you want to see the Neuschwanstein castle) then, Reutte, Weissenbach, Nesselwaengle, Hindelang, Sonthofen, Immenstadt, Oberstaufen, Lindau. From Lindau to Bregenz be sure you stay off the autobahn (there is a parallell road right along the lake)unless you have an Austrian autobahn toll vignette.

Tell me which you want to use, and I can give more direct instructions, such as Road designations, etc.

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I agree with Treplow, however, I would avoid Munich with a car. Very congested and confusing, and parking is not easy or cheap. If you want to see the %26#39;sights%26#39; of Munich (which I feel your time is better spent in Salzburg or anywhere in Switzerland) get a hotel on the fringe and use the excellent train network to go into Munich...

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Thanks for the updates.

I think I%26#39;ll stay away from Munich and go there during Oktoberfest one year instead. This means, I%26#39;ll probably take the Austrian route, which seems nicer anyway.

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