Help me travel in Slovenia and Austria

March 30, 2007 6:59 PM

My family and I are travelling to Slovenia and Austria at the end of June, and I could use some help planning the trip.

My family (husband, daughter, and parents) will be in Bled, Slovenia the last week in June for a conference (well, only my husband and I will be at the conference). We'd like to spend another week in Austria after the conference. I could use some advice about some arrangements.

1. Where might a good base of operations in Austria be? We were thinking about either Vienna or Salzburg.

2. Supposing we were to fly into Vienna (from Philadelphia), what's the easiest way to get to Bled? (Our other option is to fly to Ljubljana; would that be better? Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a huge price difference.

3. Suggestions for good ways to find accommodations for the Austria part of the trip? We would need the equivalent of two bedrooms (one for us and one for my parents). Agencies to suggest? Especially ones you like?

4. Things we shouldn't miss, sightseeing-wise?

5. Other advice?

Thanks--

posted by leahwrenn to Travel & Transportation around Slovenia (6 answers total)

I've found booking.com to be helpful in booking rooms, although you can sometimes get a better rate by booking directly with the hotel.

If you want to save money while visiting Vienna, you could rent a hotel room in Bratislava, Slovakia instead. It's about an hour and a half by train and the differences in costs are astounding (Vienna is probably the most expensive city I've ever visited - and I've traveled a lot).

Also, the Austrian railway says that Wien Westbanhof to Bled is a 10 hour long journey, so you may want to fly rather than take the train.
posted by cmonkey at 9:17 PM on March 30, 2007

We were thinking about either Vienna or Salzburg.
Well, it depends on what you want to do while you're in Austria. Vienna is a big city & it's filled with all sorts of cool stuff. It's got an underground that's very easy to use. Salzburg is a very wonderful place but it's not a cheap place. I'd definitely go there but if it was me I'd probably use Vienna as a base. As I said, this depends on what else you want to see in Austria though.

Suggestions for good ways to find accommodations for the Austria part of the trip? We would need the equivalent of two bedrooms (one for us and one for my parents).
This entirely depends on how long you're going to be staying. Are you looking to find a hotel or pension to stay in or do you want to sublet an apartment? When you travel to other areas, are you looking to keep the room in Vienna?

Things we shouldn't miss, sightseeing-wise?
See this post.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:30 PM on March 30, 2007

5. I'd say it would be better to fly to Ljubljana and go to Bled from there. After all, Bled is a popular tourist destination in Slovenia, so getting there from another place in Slovenia will probably be much easier than trying to arrange a trip to another country from Austria.

I can't help you with your other questions, but I'd be glad to answer any further questions about Slovenia (it's where I live, after all :)).
posted by gakiko at 5:26 AM on March 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

Slovenia-Austria: A 10 hour train ride is long, but have you or your family traveled much? Taking an overnight train in Europe is an awesome experience, and worth doing at least once in your life. If it fits your schedule, do it!

Vienna lodgings: I don't know Salzburg, but about Vienna. Your budget matters a lot. I stayed in the Le Meridien in Vienna, it was fantastic!! This was through a special deal with nwa.com where it was about $120 a night (this is a bargain). I'd think though, given the longish time frame, and the number of people, you should not forget the possibility of a short-term apartment rental instead of hotels.

Can't personally recommend anyone for that in Vienna, but the travel books should have listings, and when I did this in another city, I just went to Craigslist...
posted by whatzit at 10:12 AM on March 31, 2007

I agree with gakiko about #2. There are regular (hourly) bus connections between Ljubljana and Bled. It takes about an hour because the highway up north isn't finished yet. Getting there from Vienna will be much more of a hassle.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any other questions.
posted by Ljubljana at 8:04 AM on April 1, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks---I did more poking and realized that there isn't that much difference in price if we use an open-jaw flight than flying in and out of the same place. So we're definitely going to fly into Ljubljana.
posted by leahwrenn at 2:09 PM on April 1, 2007