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Cairo to Austria: Vienna, Salzburg and Hallstatt

Cairo → Vienna → Salzburg → Hallstatt

Vienna
"Schoenbrunn_philharmoniker_2012.jpg" by Superbass, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence
Salzburg (48489551981) (Salzburg)
Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Austrian music & lakes Best season (general guide): May–Sep, late Nov–Dec (markets)

Austria's great music city, Mozart's birthplace and the most famous lakeside village in the Alps are linked by train, making this an easy and very scenic route. From Cairo there are direct flights to Vienna. The route ends in Hallstatt, and a train or transfer takes you to Salzburg for the flight home. The itinerary spends three nights in Vienna, two nights in Salzburg and one night in Hallstatt.

How to pace it: Spend days one to three in Vienna: day one, Ringstrasse; day two, Schönbrunn; day three, museums, then evening concert. Then spend days four and five in Salzburg: day four, train to Salzburg, then old town; day five, fortress and Mirabell. Then spend day six in Hallstatt: travel to Hallstatt, then salt mine.

Vienna offers Schönbrunn Palace and its gardens, the Hofburg, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Belvedere's Klimt paintings, with evenings at a concert or the opera. Coffee and cake at a traditional café is part of the experience. The train west to Salzburg brings you to a compact baroque old town below the fortress, with Mozart's birthplace and the gardens of Mirabell Palace. Hallstatt, in the Salzkammergut lake district, is a short trip further. Stay overnight to enjoy the village after the day visitors leave. You can visit the salt mine above the village or take the Five Fingers viewing platform on the Dachstein.

From May to September, lakes and mountain lifts are at their best. In winter, Vienna and Salzburg's Christmas markets open from about mid- to late November, giving the route a completely different atmosphere.

Hallstatt is very small and gets crowded; respect residents' privacy and stay overnight to see it quietly. Book opera and concert tickets well ahead.

The rail journey between the stops is part of the pleasure. The line from Vienna to Salzburg runs through the rolling Alpine foothills, and from Salzburg, bus 150 to Bad Ischl and a regional train reach the shore opposite Hallstatt, where a small ferry crosses to the village. In summer, the boat trips on the Hallstätter See and the lakes nearby make a peaceful afternoon.

Suggested outline

  1. Cairo

    Start

  2. Vienna

    By air · 3 nights suggested

    Imperial palaces such as Schönbrunn and the Hofburg, world-class museums and the city's coffee houses.

  3. Salzburg

    Overland · 2 nights suggested

    Reached by train from Vienna. Mozart's birthplace, a baroque old town and the Hohensalzburg fortress.

    Salzburg
    "Salzburg_(48489551981).jpg" by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence

  4. Hallstatt

    Overland · 1 night suggested

    A lakeside village in the Salzkammergut, reached by train, ferry or road. Its salt mine has been worked for thousands of years.

    Hallstatt
    "Hallstatt_-_Zentrum_.JPG" by C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence

Day by day

  1. Day 1 · Vienna — Arrive; Ringstrasse· Cairo → Vienna (by air)
  2. Day 2 · Vienna — Schönbrunn
  3. Day 3 · Vienna — Museums; evening concert
  4. Day 4 · Salzburg — Train to Salzburg; old town· Vienna → Salzburg (overland)
  5. Day 5 · Salzburg — Fortress and Mirabell
  6. Day 6 · Hallstatt — To Hallstatt; salt mine· Salzburg → Hallstatt (overland)
  7. Day 7 · Hallstatt — Travel home from Hallstatt· Hallstatt → Salzburg (overland), then Salzburg → Cairo (by air)

A suggested pace only; expedition days are set by the operator.

Flights, leg by leg

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Vienna

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Salzburg

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Hallstatt

Nearest airport: Salzburg

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