Vienna Austria 6 Day Itinerary (Day Trips)

Six days from Vienna adds Hallstatt to the Wachau Valley, Bratislava, Salzburg, and Graz, but Hallstatt in a single day means 7-plus hours in transit for an afternoon at the lake. Only got 5 days? Drop it and see the 5-day version . Got a seventh day? The 7-day plan turns Hallstatt into a proper overnight instead.

Book these before you go

Day 1: Land and settle into Vienna as your base

Vienna International Airport (VIE) sits about 18km southeast of the center. Skip the City Airport Train unless you’re checking bags at Wien Mitte or traveling at a brutal peak hour: it charges close to three times the S7 suburban rail fare to save under 10 minutes. The S7 covers the same route in about 25 minutes for around EUR 5.40. Check in near Hauptbahnhof, then spend the evening walking the Innere Stadt. Save the deep sightseeing for our full Vienna city guide .

Day 2: The Wachau Valley and Melk Abbey

Direct trains from Wien Westbahnhof reach Melk in about an hour. The ÖBB Wachau-Ticket bundles that train, Melk Abbey admission, and a Krems-Melk river boat leg into one ticket, roughly EUR 59 and valid 36 hours. The boat, run by DDSG Blue Danube , skips some weekdays in spring and autumn 2026, so confirm the sailing calendar first, or use the Wachaubahn local train instead. Tour the abbey, walk into Dürnstein, and return by early evening.

Day 3: Bratislava, a second country in under an hour

The Bratislava-Ticket covers the round trip; the fastest trains take about 56 minutes since 2025 electrification work finished, with one-way fares from roughly EUR 6-7 booked ahead to about EUR 15 walk-up. Walk the old town, climb to the castle for the river view, and head back before a late dinner.

Day 4: Salzburg, the long day

The Railjet covers the roughly 300km to Salzburg in 2h15 to 2h32, twice hourly, mostly from Wien Hauptbahnhof; the rival Westbahn operator runs the same route from Westbahnhof, so confirm which station is printed on your ticket. ÖBB’s own timetable and Salzburg’s own arrival advice spell out the current schedule. Catch an early train out.

Day 5: Graz and the Semmering railway

Vienna to Graz runs about 2h40 from Wien Hauptbahnhof, with up to 30 departures a day. Mid-route, the Semmering railway , a UNESCO-listed mountain line opened in 1854, runs a roughly 40-minute scenic stretch between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag. Ride the full route into Graz and use Graz’s tourism site to plan the old town.

Day 6: Hallstatt, the long way, in a single day

Be honest with yourself before committing to this one: it’s 3.5 to 4 hours each way, Railjet to Attnang-Puchheim, a regional connection, then a short ferry, since the train station sits across the lake from the village. Advance Sparschiene fares start around EUR 19.90; walk-up fares can run close to EUR 60. A same-day round trip eats 7-plus hours in transit alone, leaving only a few hours actually at the lake. Check the Hallstatt tourist office site for current opening times before you commit to a viewpoint or the salt mine tour on top of that schedule.

Is Hallstatt worth doing as a single day?

Only if it’s genuinely your only option. The lake and the village are worth seeing, but the 7-plus hour round-trip transit tax is real, not exaggerated, and it leaves you with a short, rushed window at the destination. If you can shift one more day into this trip, the 7-day itinerary turns the same visit into a relaxed overnight instead.

Can you combine two day trips into one day?

Not sensibly. Bratislava is east, the Wachau is west, Salzburg and Graz run in different directions again, and Hallstatt alone eats most of a day in transit. Combining any two means an early alarm, a long connecting drive or train change, and half the time at each place; six separate mornings, each starting fresh from Vienna, beats one exhausting double-header.

The day trips, in numbers

Day trip Distance from Vienna Train time One-way cost
Wachau Valley + Melk Abbey roughly 90km west about 1h direct EUR 15-20 by rail, or roughly EUR 59 for the Wachau-Ticket bundle
Bratislava, Slovakia roughly 55km east 56min to 1h EUR 6-15
Salzburg roughly 300km west 2h15 to 2h32 from EUR 19.90 in advance
Graz + the Semmering railway roughly 200km southwest about 2h40 varies by fare class
Hallstatt far southwest, indirect route 3.5 to 4h plus a ferry EUR 19.90 advance to roughly EUR 59.60 walk-up

Build in a genuinely lazy morning somewhere in the middle of this week. Six mornings of early trains back to back is a schedule for completing a checklist, not for enjoying any one of these places.