Rick Steves' Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol

I know that some folks have issues with the Rick Steves' method of traveling through Europe, but I find his books so helpful in trip planning. We have found some great ideas from this book and I know that our time in Austria will be better because of his advice. We have booked our hotels in other countries based on his recommendations in the past, always successfully, and our hotel in Salzburg is one of his suggestions. I have no doubt that it will prove to be satisfactory. While he is rather prescriptive in his itineraries, each traveler has the option of following them to the extent that he/she wants. Good day to day information is most helpful. An example....we will be driving into Austria from Italy, and we had no idea that a "vignette" was required for every car in Austria. Having read the section on driving, we found out this important piece of information and have ordered and received the vignette already. We will be prepared when we cross over the border, saving ourselves a fine of several hundred dollars! Thank you Rick!

As always, Rick Steves gives helpful hints on traveling, sights to see, lodging, dining, local notes, prices. It's good to get the book ahead of time and make a list of things you want to do. His tips on pre-trip preparations and local customs was appreciated. In addition, we had some downloaded video and audio tours to help familiarize ourselves with some of the sights.

While I've watched Steves's show for many years and I'm planning my first trip to Europe because of him but I feel that he gives Vienna, and Austria in general, short shrift. In this book he seems to only find about two districts in Vienna worth exploring while he ignores the rest. Well I'm planning a stay in Ottakring. There is nothing in the book about this district but I've found plenty of important, good information for exploring the outer districts like Ottakring from other sources. The book is decent but definitely not what I've come to expect from an RS guidebook. Anyway, I will still find it useful for visiting the inner city but it certainly won't be my only guidebook for Vienna.

My wife joked that she wouldn't do anything without consulting Rick. She travelled all over Austria by herself with the book and had a great time while I was working. The book allows for planning the trip by cost and how interesting the attraction are. Also, I learned the useful German phrases in the book on the way over and found them quite helpful. For instance Austrian's say "Grüß Gott" instead of "Guten Tag" as a greeting, and it included pronunciation. Regardless, English speakers will find Austria one of the easier countries to visit because most speak English. I wanted to try to speak more German while there but almost everyone spoke English to us.

In June 2013 I spent six days in Austria (Vienna and Salzburg). If your time in Austria is as limited as mine was, this book is very useful. It helps readers focus on the best sites and navigate their way around. Thanks to Rick Steves' recommendation, I found my day trip to Hallstatt to be very worthwhile. It is very picturesque. The museum is good but overpriced (as the book says). Hallstatt is an easy trip from Salzburg. A few tips: - The Mozart-Strauss concert at Palais Palfry is not a tourist trap (I get the feeling that some Vienna concerts are just that). - If you can only get standing room for the Lipizzaners, get to the riding school at least 20 minutes early. Find a place at the top level near a radiator. Use the radiator and wall for support. The view is good. I was able to get SRO tickets one day before the show, but try to reserve a seat earlier. They all have good views. Nobody will complain if you take some photos. - Mozart's residence in Salzburg is overrated. Its video is good but most of the rest of the display consists of portraits reputed to be of Mozart with analysis of which ones are genuine. - The best bratwurst I ever ate is available at a beer garden called Cafe-Restaurant. It shares a building with a souvenir shop next to St. Peter's cemetary near the funicular entrance (it isn't mentioned in the book). The pomme frites are excellent, too. To avoid redundancy, Steves only covers what he considers to be the best and most representatives locations. An example is Hallstatt for the Salzkammergut. I wish he would provide capsule summaries of other places like Bad Ischl and the Grossglockner to help readers determine if they are worthwhile. Naturally, Steves has to bring his politics into it. He justfiably expresses concerns about a racist political party. But then he goes on to claim that except for the Nazi occupation, Vienna has been controlled by tolerant "people-oriented" socialists for the past 80 years. Here he displays his ignorance on non-travel topics. Every political party is "people-oriented." They can't win by being vegetable or mineral oriented. The Nazis were socialists themselves, so socialist control has been unbroken since the early 1930s. Finally, most historians believe that Hitler picked up his extreme anti-Semitism while living in Vienna. Ignore that one paragraph and the rest of the book is helpful.

I absolutely love using Rick Steves' while traveling because he is just thorough enough to give me the info I want to and need to know to plan my trip. This particular book on Austria is just as great, but just so you know, the Salzburg chapter and Bavarian region chapter is the same as the one in his book on Germany (in case you are just taking a side trip to Salzburg from Germany).

I am planning a trip to Austria and this book is perfect! I don't like driving, so this book gives you transportation schedule from one city to another. It is for budget traveller that prefers to use the local transportation.

Steve's books are the best. Well worth the investment. They save you so much time and money. I did not find once where I disagreed with his review. I even gave the locals some tips about what to see. They were surprised that I knew so much about their area.

AGAIN A MUST!

Rick Steves is true to his style of guidebook---down to earth, hitting the highlights. The organization of the book is a little clumsy at some points, such as multiple entries for sights so that it is necessary to flip back and forth among entries to find all the info about certain sights.