Austria punishes the day-tripper and rewards the rail pass. Everything famous here is genuinely close together — you can breakfast under a Viennese chandelier and eat dinner beside an alpine lake — and the ÖBB network is so punctual it becomes part of the scenery. Here is the week-long line we would ride again.
Vienna, three nights
Vienna works best if you treat the big-ticket palaces as optional and the coffeehouses as compulsory. A melange and a slice of cake at a wood-panelled café (EUR 10–12, no rush, waiter in a bow tie) buys you a table for the afternoon. Do walk the Ringstrasse and the free sections of the Hofburg, but our two paid picks are the Kunsthistorisches Museum (EUR 21) and standing-room tickets at the State Opera — still around EUR 15–18 in 2026, released shortly before curtain, for the same performance others paid EUR 200 to sit through. Hostels run EUR 28–38 a dorm bed; the sausage stands (ask for a Käsekrainer, accept your fate) keep dinner under EUR 6.
The Wachau detour
An hour west by train (EUR 20, or free with regional day passes), Melk's absurdly gilded Benedictine abbey crowns the entrance to the Wachau, a UNESCO-listed stretch of the Danube lined with terraced vineyards and apricot orchards. The move: rent a bike in Melk (EUR 15–20 a day), ride the flat 35 km riverside path to Krems through villages like Spitz and Dürnstein — where Richard the Lionheart was held for ransom — stopping at heuriger wine taverns along the way, then take the train back. In April the apricot blossom turns the whole valley pink and white.
Salzburg
Two and a half hours on the railjet (from EUR 25 booked ahead) brings you to Salzburg, compact and baroque under its clifftop fortress. Skip the Sound of Music bus unless that is your religion; instead walk up to the Hohensalzburg ramparts (EUR 14 with the funicular, less on foot), wander the Mirabell gardens, and cross the river into the Steingasse's medieval lane at dusk when the tour groups evaporate. Mozart's birthplace is skippable; the free view from the Kapuzinerberg path is not. Augustiner Bräu, a monastery brewery, pours litre mugs straight from wooden barrels in a beer garden of chestnut trees — around EUR 6 and the best-value evening in Austria.
Hallstatt, but overnight
Everyone goes to Hallstatt; almost everyone leaves by 5 p.m. That is the loophole. Take the direct bus from Salzburg (about 2.5 hours with a change in Bad Ischl, EUR 12–15), and sleep in the village or across the lake in Obertraun (noticeably cheaper, EUR 60–80 a double vs Hallstatt's inflated rates). At 7 a.m. the swans, the mist and the pastel lakefront houses are yours, and the classic viewpoint north of the village is empty. The salt mine that named the town — miners worked here 3,500 years ago — is a fun half day (EUR 40 with the funicular), or ride up to the Five Fingers viewing platform jutting over the void. Day two, the Echerntal valley walk to the glacier garden costs nothing and outclasses most paid attractions.
Innsbruck to finish
Train on to Innsbruck (about 3 hours via Attnang-Puchheim, from EUR 30). The Tyrolean capital puts 2,300-metre mountains at the end of its shopping streets: the Nordkette cable car climbs from the old town to the Hafelekar ridge in under half an hour (EUR 45 return — steep, but the Top of Innsbruck view swallows the Inn valley whole). Budget alternative: hike or bus to the Höttinger Alm for a farmhouse lunch. Innsbruck's hostel scene is small, so book ahead in winter. From here Munich is two hours, Verona under four — Austria makes a very good corridor, and an even better destination.
Costs and timing
May, June and September are the sweet spots. Budget EUR 70–90 a day including transport; book train tickets a week or two out for Sparschiene fares at half the walk-up price.
