Reaching out: Day-Trips from Vienna - Part II

Best enjoyed with your own Car

The following destinations are all near Vienna, but often in a range of locations or in areas, where the use of public means of transport would be time-consuming. I recommend them to those who have their own cars or do not mind longer stays on busses or trains.

1.) Marchfeld: The fertile grounds of the Marchfeld plain is packed with chateaux and countryside retreats. Touring these palaces between Vienna, Marchegg and Hainburg can be rewarding.

2.) Seewinkel: One of my favourite areas of Austria, the Seewinkel looks a lot more like the Hungarian plains than anything you would typically associate with an Alpine country. Very rural, very charming, very good wine.

3.) Rust: The most picturesque town of the Burgenland also makes a good starting point for trips to Lake Neusiedl. It might be worth combining it with a trip to the Seewinkel.

4.) National Park Donauauen: Starting within Vienna′s city limits, the interesting parts of the park are further down-stream the Danube. Especially if you want to get to more remote parts or see some of the castles along the river, a car will make your life much easier.

5.) Enns & Mauthausen: The pretty Upper Austrian town of Enns has loads of sights to offer, ranging from Roman ruins, medieval courts and Baroque towers to state-of-the art museums. It is easy to get to by train - however, if you want to combine it with the nearby former concentration camp of Mauthausen in a single day, a car will help a great deal.

I think this is pretty much it when it comes to day-trips that leave you enough time to see the place properly. There are plenty of travel agencies that offer "See the Salzkammergut, Salzburg and the Alps in a single day" type of packages. However, I discourage you from doing such an organised tour. Less is more and the trips recommended above will at least allow you to enjoy your stay at your own pace.

As I have said in my articles of suggested itineraries, something like a 1-week stay in Austria would probably be spent best with Vienna and Salzburg as "bases", from where you can do three or four day-trips to the surroundings. That being said, I would recommend a vacation of at least two weeks to get a sense for the country′s diversity.

Return to "Day-Trips from Vienna - Part I"

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Vienna by District

District Overview - 1st (Innere Stadt) - 2nd (Leopoldstadt) - 3rd (Landstraße) - 4th (Wieden) - 5th (Margareten)- 6th (Mariahilf) - 7th (Neubau) - 8th (Josefstadt) - 9th (Alsergrund) - 10th (Favoriten) - 11th (Simmering) - 12th (Meidling) - 13th (Hietzing) - 14th (Penzing) - 15th (Fünfhaus) - 16th (Ottakring) - 17th (Hernals) - 18th (Währing) - 19th (Döbling) - 20th (Brigittenau) - 21st (Floridsdorf) - 22nd (Donaustadt) - 23rd (Liesing) -  Ringstraße - Surroundings

Further Reading

Wikitravel on Vienna - includes Day-Trips

Europe for Visitors on Day-Trips from Vienna