Autumn Trip : Germany, Austria and Hungary

Premise: The travelers were students of RWTH Aachen University and started the travel from Aachen, Germany. The planned trip was for 6 days, covering Vienna, Budapest, Hallstatt, Königssee. This was a budget trip and we went around the cities and visited selective landmarks.

Some of the travel tickets were booked at least a month before as dynamic pricing can be an issue, if you cut it close to your travel dates. Get the travel apps of the cities you are visiting as they help in easy understanding of which all transportations you might need to take. Of course, google is also a great help.

The major challenge is to structure your trip in such a way you can visit as much as possible and not waste a day. Hence the trip starting point was chosen as Vienna and end at Salzburg. A major factor to take Vienna as the starting destination was the cheap ticket availability in both Ryanair and Wizzair. Wizzair schedule was more preferable. We travelled from Aachen to Cologne early morning and boarded a flight via WizzAir to Vienna ( 9:30 am to 11:00 am). The flight costed 9 Euro per head !!!. Cheap airline travels are the go to for such travels and always browse through these websites to get awesome offers ( such as WizzAir: wizzair.com and Ryanair: www.ryanair.com ).

Pros: Cheap Travel. Cons: One backpack allowed (cabin baggage, also fixed dimensions which can be seen in their website). For additional check in baggage you have to pay more (approx. 30 Euros). These airlines are best suited for weekend travels.

The return train was from Salzburg to Cologne. ICE/IC trains are very expensive and two ways in which you can reduce the cost is either by booking the tickets as early as possible or the best possible way is to travel in a group of 6 or more. The train journey from Salzburg to Cologne (ICE) costed 9 Euros per person using the group offer. So always utilize this opportunity whenever possible.

The travel from Vienna to Budapest and return( Day 2 & 3 ) were through flixbus and should be booked earlier. The travel is 3 hours and costs 9 Euro/person.

The travel from Vienna to Steeg Gosau ( Hallstatt) was booked via OBB which is the train service in Austria.

The travel from Hallstatt to Salzburg was via Bus and train. Salzburg to Königssee also via Bus.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Vienna

Day 2: Budapest

Day 3: Budapest

Day 4: Vienna

Day 5: Obertraun/Hallstatt

Day 6: Königssee

Note 1: Carry all the necessary travel documents such as Passport, Visa/Residence Permit, Corona Certificate ( Yes, this trip happened during the corona pandemic, Hopefully won't persist in the future). For a backup, you can also carry the travel tickets as printouts ( Hope the phone doesn't get damaged or battery runs out).

Note 2: Most of the entry tickets mentioned are based on student ticket prices. It changes for adults, children etc. More information about the same can be found in the respective websites.

Note 3: While shortlisting the places to visit, always try to check the timings of these places if you do not want to miss out on these places. A lot of renovation activities also occur around the year.

Note 4: Carry relevant clothing. European climate is very unpredictable. An umbrella with you is always a good solution.

Note 5: We found less Open Wifi facilities across Austria. Having some additional Data in your mobile is helpful.

Day1: Vienna

The Vienna Airport is 15 km from the Vienna Central. The main attractions of Vienna is around Innere Stadt. One must take a train from Vienna Airport to Burgring Train Station (approx 4:30 Euro). There are many attractions in Innere Stadt such as Hoffburg, Museum of Natural History, St. Stephens Platz, Rathaus, Opera House, Mozarthaus, Parliament, which all can be covered by foot.

1. Hoffburg

2. Museum of Natural History

This Museum consists of 59 levels with various fields such as geology, anthropology, etc. Its a huge place and require a whole day to cover. You can also be selective about visiting specific sections of the Museum such as Planetarium, Dinosaur levels, Precious stones etc. Student tickets costed around 7 Euros.

3. St. Stephan's Cathedral ( Stephan's Platz)

Stay: A&O Hostel ,Vienna

You can find lot of restaurants nearby for food. The dorm rooms in A&O Hostel costed around 15 Euros/person ( use ISIC student card for 10 percent discount).

Day 2 & 3: Budapest

We took a flixbus from Vienna Central Station to Budapest Kelenföld which took around 3 hours ( 9 Euros/person, ticket booked early). We took the group day ticket ( can travel in trams, metros, buses, local trains in Budapest) from the purple vending machine (mostly found near the metro stations) which costed 11 Euros for 4 people. Hungary has a different currency: Hungarian Forint. So we had to go to an exchange company (approx 100 Euros for 4 people for 2 days, can change according to people's spending). Most shops also accept Euros, but the prices can be expensive compared to the Forint rates. We purchased the day tickets for travel via EC/Debit card.

Budapest consists of two cities on the banks of Danube, Buda and Pest. We spent 2 days in Budapest visiting the major attractions and trying out the various Hungarian cuisines. The city is quite different compared to other European cities. The major attractions includes: Fisherman's Bastian, Buda Castle, Citadella, Szechenyi Chain Bridge, Hungarian Parliament, St. Stephan's Basilica, Hero's Square, City Park, Margaret island, Ruin Pubs, Central Market Hall.

1. Fisherman's Bastian

Walk around Buda Castle and the surroundings

Try some local Hungarian Cuisines which are really delicious. A very famous dish is the Goulash. There are other dishes like Chicken Paprika, Langos etc. The City Market Hall also has a wide range of shops providing souvenirs and Food.

Hero's Square