1

A logical order is Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest - have a look on a map.

2

Hi - and welcome to Thorn Tree.
Is there any reason why you want to spend 8 days in Vienna?

3

Hi - flying into Vienna but would like to see the other cities. Also flying out of Vienna. So thinking arrive in Vienna. Spend 1st night there. Travel to Salzburg next day. Overnight there. Travel to Budapest. 2 nights. Travel to Bratislava. 1 night. To Vienna. 2 nights. Depart. Thoughts?

4

I would skip Salzburg it is completley the wrong direction compared to the other places. Give youself more time in Budapes it is a wonderful city. And your 2 nights will include the first day of 6/7 hours travel from Salzburg. If you are not on a tight budget you should at least do Vienna-Bratislava or vice versa on a boat along the Danube

5

Billy time to get calculator out the whole trip is only 7 nights

6

Sorry. I read it as they were spending 8 days in Vienna, then departing to move on somewhere else.
Easy enough mistake, as it's written.
I'd depart Vienna within minutes of landing and quickly move on.
Salzburg is lovely, as is Innsbruck.
A couple of days in either Prague, Bratislava or Budapest maybe, even a little excursion into Romania.
I've done Vienna to Oradea in well under half a day by rail, even though the trains are quite slow.
Austria I really like.... Vienna - I do not.
Hope you have a great trip

7

Thanks for the feedback. Is it advisable to hire a car and drive to Salzburg?

8

Car hire is generally expensive. The train from Vienna to Salzburg takes less than three hours, leave on average once every half hour.
ÖBB: Get your ticket in a machine before boarding (ca euro 5o each way) ,
Westbahn train (a private company, fares much lower, leave every hour or so, buy ticket on train; Euro 25 each way (but not clear about where they stop in Salzburg, but the staff will help you.).
Salzburg Budapest - there are ÖBB direct trains every two hours. Cost not clear (you can't order international tickest on the net), journey time 5 3/4 hrs
Bratislava: From Vienna about an hour by train, a little longer by bus. There are two stations in Bratislava, one at teh grotty end of town, one more central; you want Bratislava hl st and not Petrzalka. Budpest Bratislava is very slow (and usually involves lots of changes).
Salzburg is pretty but snooty, Vienna a great city (get out to the vineyards for a glass or three of wine on tram No. 38, for instance), Budapest is worth a couple of days, Bratislava about a day.

Hope that helps.

9

Like *8 says.... Car hire is quite expensive in Austria.
I suppose it really depends on what you want to see and do.
You'll achieve much more sightseeing by rent-a-car, but is a train more preferable to you?
Personally I'd hire a car for a bit and do trains for the rest of the trip.

Budpest Bratislava is very slow (and usually involves lots of changes)

There are several daily direct trains from Budapest Keleti to Bratislava, taking under 3 hours.

10

Thanks for the excellent info. This really helps me. was looking at car hire for the Vienna to Salzburg trip as I want to stop over at the lake district and then use the train from there on.