This 15-day loop suits travelers who want the full spread of Austria: imperial Vienna, the vineyards of the Danube, a university city in the south, proper Alpine hiking and the lakes of the Salzkammergut. The pace is relaxed, with two to four nights per base and no back-to-back long travel days. Everything runs on public transport: ÖBB intercity and regional trains, a historic mountain railway, Postbus lines into the valleys, a lake ferry at Hallstatt and a seasonal bus up the Grossglockner road.
Days 1-4: Vienna and a Wachau day
Four nights in
Vienna let you pace the museums instead of sprinting them. Give one morning to
Schönbrunn Palace, arriving at opening to beat the tour groups, then spend the afternoon in the gardens climbing to the Gloriette for the view back over the city. The
Kunsthistorisches Museum needs a full half day for the Bruegel room alone, and the
Albertina Museum across the Ring covers Monet to Picasso in a few compact hours. Evenings sort themselves out: lounge on the …
read more 👉This 15-day loop suits travelers who want the full spread of Austria: imperial Vienna, the vineyards of the Danube, a university city in the south, proper Alpine hiking and the lakes of the Salzkammergut. The pace is relaxed, with two to four nights per base and no back-to-back long travel days. Everything runs on public transport: ÖBB intercity and regional trains, a historic mountain railway, Postbus lines into the valleys, a lake ferry at Hallstatt and a seasonal bus up the Grossglockner road.
Days 1-4: Vienna and a Wachau day
Four nights in Vienna let you pace the museums instead of sprinting them. Give one morning to Schönbrunn Palace, arriving at opening to beat the tour groups, then spend the afternoon in the gardens climbing to the Gloriette for the view back over the city. The Kunsthistorisches Museum needs a full half day for the Bruegel room alone, and the Albertina Museum across the Ring covers Monet to Picasso in a few compact hours. Evenings sort themselves out: lounge on the plastic loungers in the courtyard of the Museum Quartier Vienna, then queue for standing-room tickets at the Vienna State Opera, which cost under €20 and put you inside one of Europe’s grand opera houses for the price of a schnitzel.
Use day 4 for the Danube. Trains from Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof reach Krems an der Donau in about an hour, and from there it is a flat 7-kilometer bike ride or a short bus hop through terraced vineyards to Dürnstein, where the castle ruin that once held Richard the Lionheart sits above a blue-and-white baroque abbey tower. Order a glass of Grüner Veltliner at a Heuriger before the train back.
Days 5-6: Semmering Railway and Graz
Heading south, take the route over the Semmering Railway, the 19th-century mountain line of viaducts and tunnels that is a UNESCO site in its own right. Railjets cross it, but hopping on a regional train between Payerbach-Reichenau and Mürzzuschlag gives you slower views and window seats. Total travel to Graz is roughly 2.5 to 3 hours. Austria’s second city feels younger and cheaper than Vienna, thanks to its student population: climb the Schlossberg to the clock tower, cross the Murinsel floating platform, and eat your way through the Kaiser-Josef-Platz farmers market. Pumpkin seed oil goes on everything here, including vanilla ice cream.
Days 7-8: Schladming and the high trails
From Graz, a train ride of about 2.5 to 3 hours brings you into the Enns valley and Schladming. This is your proper hiking stop. Many guesthouses include the summer card, which covers mountain lifts and local buses, so a cable car up the Planai costs you nothing. Walk a day section of the Schladminger Tauern High Trail, a hut-to-hut route past dark tarns and granite ridges, or take the bus into the Untertal for the Wilde Wasser gorge path up to Riesachsee. Two nights means one full day on the mountain and a buffer if the weather turns.
Days 9-10: Hallstatt and Gosau
A short train ride via Stainach-Irdning, about 1.5 to 2 hours, drops you at Hallstatt station on the far shore, where a small ferry carries you across to Hallstatt. Staying overnight is the move: day-trippers leave by late afternoon and the lakefront goes quiet. Ride the funicular up to the salt mine and the Skywalk viewing platform, then on day 10 catch the bus to Gosau, where a flat walk around the Vorderer Gosausee puts the Dachstein glacier straight in front of you, reflected in the water on a calm morning.
Days 11-12: Salzburg
Buses and trains get you to Salzburg in around 2.5 hours. Two nights cover the old town at a comfortable speed. Visit Mozart’s Birthplace on Getreidegasse first thing before the queues build, walk the Mirabell Gardens, and climb the Kapuzinerberg in the evening for a view of the domes without the crowds. The Augustiner Bräustübl beer hall, where you rinse your own stone mug and have it filled straight from the wooden barrel, is the cheapest good night out in town.
Days 13-15: Zell am See and the Grossglockner
The final stretch is pure Alps. Trains reach Zell am See in about 1.5 hours, and the town sits on a lake with the Schmittenhöhe cable car rising behind it. In summer, a Postbus runs from Zell am See up the high alpine road to the Grossglockner viewpoint at Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, roughly 2 hours each way, where you look across the Pasterze glacier to Austria’s highest peak at 3,798 meters. Leave a full day for it, and keep day 15 for the 1.5-hour train to Salzburg or Innsbruck airport, or a longer run back to Vienna.
From Zell am See I would send a friend on the local train to the Krimml Waterfalls, the highest in Austria at 380 meters; go early in the morning and bring a rain jacket, because the spray on the lower path soaks you within minutes.v2.webp){kind=logo}
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