Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Vienna, Salzburg, and Tirol

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We used this book on our recent trip to the Bavarian Region. It was very good for Salzburg, Innsbruck, the Berchtesgaden region, and the Fussen/Garmich region and it is a great packing size. However, Rick's books focus on traveling by train, so if you are traveling by car they do not include other good options. So you may want to consult other books. I used both Frommer's for good towns to visit and Karen Brown's books for good driving itineraries. Karen provides good info on lots of small towns, beautiful scenery, and pretty lakes to visit. We didn't do all of her itinerary since it would take too much time.

I do wish Rick had included Munich as part of the book, as it is part of Bavarian Germany and would have been perfect for our use (I didn't want to carry around the larger Germany book for just that info).

I do agree with the other reviewer that didn't feel that Hallstatt was worth so much fuss. It is nice, however there are many beautiful lakes and towns in this region and if I did it again, I would not go out of my way just to see Hallstatt.
The hotel we stayed in was not very comfortable and I am not sure there are any really good options.

A couple of general notes on the area. The drive between Innsbruck and Fussen was incredibly scenic through the mountains and not too difficult to drive (it is windy). Also the Alpenstrasse is very nice. The boat ride at Lake Koenigssee near Bertesgaden is nice, but slow. The boat is not gas powered and moves pretty slowly so it takes 35 minutes one way to the church. It doesn't bother you too much on the way there, but the trip back seems slow. They have a good guide giving funny commentary but it was all in German.

Just remember when you go to this area that there will be so many scenic spots that you don't have to focus on just one. Also be aware that it can rain and be fairly cloudy over the mountains.

A couple of years ago I used Rick Steves's guidebooks to Rome and Florence, and they were excellent -- detailed, filled with "insider" tips, and amusing to boot. The Vienna guidebook has all that, but it's disappointing if you're going to Vienna for one of its primary attractions: classical music and its history. For example, while there is a 5-page section on music that is very informative, he mentions the Vienna Philharmonic only in passing, giving no information on the Musikverein or how to get tickets to a Philharmonic concert there. There is also no mention of the Central Cemetery (Zentralfriedhof), where Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and many other famous composers are buried. More irritating are ignorant comments such as this reference to the Vienna Boys' Choir: "They're talented kids, but, for my taste, not worth all the commotion." Or this one: "For me, three hours is a lot of opera." I honestly don't care about Rick Steves's "taste" -- a guidebook should be geared to all tastes. If he's not able to make informed comments about classical music in Vienna, maybe he should get a knowledgeable ghostwriter for that section.

Having followed Rick's recommendations many times in the past, we chose Hallstatt as our number one spot to visit in Austria this June, based on lengthy TV coverage we taped some years ago. This book was not available before we left, but we ordered it as soon as we returned to see what he had to say about Hallstatt now.

Having reserved four days at his highly recommended Gasthof Simony a few days before arriving in Austria, we fortunately canceled it when we received a surprising invitation to spend our entire time in Austria with some Austrian friends who had just rented a place for the summer in Steinback am Attersee, in the heart of the Salzkammergut only a short distance from Hallstatt.

When our friends took us to Hallstatt the day after we arrived in Steinbach, we found the place overrun with tourists despite its being early June -- and wondered what it must be like later in the summer. An hour there was quite sufficient! The view of lake Attersee from our friends' chalet in Steinbach was far superior to what we saw in Hallstatt, with far more amenities on the lake shore and only a scattering of tourists at that time of year.

Even more disappointing was the book's cavalier dismissal of the rest of the Salzkammergut, suggesting that if you've been to Hallstatt, you had seen it all. Quite the contrary, we found any number of places at least as charming, far less crowded, and offering much more by way of history, surrounding attractions, restaurants, lake activities, and other amenities that make Hallstatt seem very third-rate.

Perhaps it's time to take another look, Rick!

Rick Steves Vienna Salzburg and Tirol is one of the books that I will be taking along with me when I travel to Vienna this spring. I have purchased and used Rick Steves before when I traveled to Italy last year and I bought the Prague travel guide book as well to use. The Vienna book is wonderful and is full of all of the important information you need to know before you go. He gives excellent time saving tips, when to go to the sights and what is worth seeing and what is not worth your time. He tells us how much it costs to get into museums and also writes excellent tours of some of the major sights so you know what you are looking at and why it is so important. He really highlights all that is important to know and how to get the most out of your trip. He also provides details for day trips to other places in Austria that is worth seeing and explains how to use the public transportation system. I always take Rick Steves advice because he is usually right and he also provides websites and other books that you can use to find out more information about when you are going. The only problem with this book is probably that he doesn't give as much information on the music and opera scene that he probably should. I found out most of this information from other website. Despite this I would never leave home without having one of his books.

i love to listen to Rick on his adventures around the world ,and he covers all the bases .
if you pay attention to his suggestions and experences you should have a great memoriabe time.
the book on Sazburg,Vienna,Tirol is just my idea of a great place to be and i wouldnt want to come home.

Well written by Rick Steves. Book gives excellent reviews on many aspects of exploring Vienna on your own, including suggested walking tour.

It took a long time to arrive, but it's a great resource for planning my trip, as all the other Rick Steves' guides.

Easy to read, with good tips. Buy, you will like it.

This was an excellent reference book that allowed us to optimize our time during a 5-day stay in Vienna. I enjoyed the historical context provided by the book, which helped give meaning to the many attractions in Vienna.

Rick Steves and his staff have done it again. They have provided practical, useful information to help one decide whether to go or not, how long to stay and what attractions one wants to see out of the many available. This book is practical in estimating how much the vacation will cost which these days, particularly, is a very important consideration. My wife and I were very impressed with the help we had when traveling to Italy using Rick's guide and decided to buy this one on Austria. We are impressed. The book was purchased at a reasonable cost and shipped very quickly. All in all, we could not be more pleased.

Visiting Austria last September we found the book very helpful during the week in Vienna. Leaving Vienna by car to see something of the rest of the country, I would have appreciated finding something about suggested scenic routes en-route to Tirol.