Are there any good day trips from Vienna? We are going in May and are looking for some smaller towns to visit.

Yes there are quite a few. There is Baden, which is to the south of Vienna by about 20 km, where there are spas with curative hot springs dating back to Roman times. Baden (meaning baths) was a very popular place to visit for the Imperial Court of Vienna. There are many elegant Beidermeir style villas, and the beautiful garden of Kurpark.

There is a pretty medieval village called Gumpoldskirchen about 15 km away. It is famous for its wine festivals - held twice a year in June and August. As you can guess, it is surrounded by vineyards and you can take some wonderful walks amongst them.

Then there is Mayerling and the Vienna Woods just to the southwest. Where the lower slopes of the Alps meet the Danube river and Vienna Woods you will find the famous Mayerling hunting lodge, now a chapel. A few miles north is the medieval Cistercian abbey of Heiligenkreuz. You will find fine Baraque features throughout.

In Eisenstadt, southeast of Vienna, you can drive to Burgenland about 45 km where you will see the impressive palace Schloss Esterhazy. It was built in 1663 for Prince Paul Esterhazy and contains Haydnsaal (Haydn's hall), decorated with lavish frescoes, it was where Joseph Haydn conducted the prince's orchestra. He lived nearby and today his house is a museum - Haydn Museum.

If you are really feeling rather ambitious, you can take a river trip from Krems to Melk. Some 80 km west of Vienna is one of the most beautiful stretches of river scenery in the world. You will see castles on the hill tops, churches, vineyards, and villages along the river edges, etc. There are some good tours to take, especially with Cityrama. Starting points for the river tour: Krems, Durnstein, Melk (by train) or any other river boarding point if you have a car.

Have a great trip and I hope the weather is good.

Cheers,

Petra M, Vancouver

One of the more rewarding trips is to the Wachau, a stretch of the Danube Valley between Melk and Krems, a landscape of high visual quality. Depending on your mode of transport, you can go there by boat, directly from Vienna, or by car or train.

I actually recommend the latter: A fantastic opportunity exists with a combination train trip to Melk, a visit to Melk Abbey (1000 years old beautiful Benedictine Abbey), a trip down the Danube from Melk to Krems, a visit to Krems, finally talking back the train to Vienna. No need to reserve, just go to the Vienna Westbahnhof early one morning, buy your ticket (about 40 EUR) at the ticket office and you are on your way.

I completely agree with the person above.....however If you can I would check out the Melk Abby and also stop by the small town of D眉rnstein Austria....it's along the danube and is where Richard the Lionheart was held captive. it is a very nice quaint town that is small but beautiful. you can also hike up to the castle ruin's......but it was so spectacular to be standing in a historical spot like that.

Note it is on the way to Melk!

The link below is fairly well to map it out

hi,
maybe these links are also useful:
http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at/english/h...

wouldn't it be a nice idea to visit also the city of salzburg?
trains operate nearly every 30 minutes - it will take about 2hrs40 to be there - see http://www.oebb.at/vip8/oebb/en/index.js... for more information

here you can also find a lot of useful links:
http://vienna.tiscover.at/

have a nice stay!

Did you give Hungary a thought ?