#TravelTips | Austria DIY Walking Tour

While preparing for my Balkan trip last year, I bumped into this amazing blog which I thought I should share, and I wish the owner would expend *hint hint*. You see, there are a few ways to reduce cost on your trip, especially the one that will cost a bomb ie traveling in Europe (for Asian especially, due to the exchange rate *bluek*).

What I normally do, aside from sourcing for cheaper flight and accommodation (this can be achieved either via couch-surfing or AirBnB, or even hijack friends/family home, muahhahahah *evil laugh*), I will source for cheap and convenient tours. The thing about me is, I like and still prefers a guide narrating to me of the places, history, culture and etc, in other words - visual impact is very important to me. Despite that we read all the stories and histories of a place, there is no way we can remember every single detail, right?! So, now, what I did was to do or take :

Free Walking Tour (where we only award via tips) or
DIY Walking Tour (self discover)

The first option will always be my priority as it is also a way for us to meet new friends and share some tips or ideas, or share some light bitch session. Keh keh keh....

As I was researching a.k.a googling, I found this site http://www.bigboytravel.com/ , I immediate fell in love with it. Below are walking tour guide from this site, how cool it that!

Big Boy Travel
Salzburg Free Walking Tour:  

(Printable Tour Map | Use Map On Phone)

Location: Old Town Salzburg (Altstadt)
Cost: Free, Self-Guided (Museum and funicular/lift costs below)
Style: Do-It-Yourself Walking Tour (Self Guided)
Start: Mirabell Palace Gardens
End: Bräustübl Beer Hall
Distance: 3.4 Miles
Time: 2.5 Hours of Walking (with attractions 5-6 hours)
Fun Scale: 10 out of 10

Salzburg's Old Town, known as Altstadt, has a beautiful Alpine setting which has not only been home to Mozart but also the setting for the Sound of Music.  The city center has retained it graceful Baroque architecture by avoiding the conflict of The 30 Years War and by suffer only minor damage during WW2.  Because it still holds much of its old world charm, Salzburg's Old Town is one of only 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Austria. 

We like to start this walk early in the morning, sometimes even right at 8am when the Mirabell Palace Gardens are opening.  Starting early is a great way to avoid feeling rushed throughout the day and will give you you plenty of extra time to explorer sights longer or even to shop on Getreidegasse.

How not to like this site right?

How I wish Big Boy Travel covers more city in their Walking Tour guide, I would certainly benefit from it *major hint*.

The options for Vienna was good too :


Top Things To Do In Vienna

• Schönbrunn Palace
• Ringstrasse Tram Tour
• City Center Free Walking Tour
• Other Vienna Attractions

Big Boy Travel
Vienna Old Town Walking Tour: 
(Printable Tour Map | Use Map on Phone)

Location: Vienna's Historic City Center
Cost: Free, Self-Guided (Museum and sight costs below)
Style: Do-It-Yourself Walking Tour (Self Guided)
Start: State Opera House (Karlsplatz Metro stop)
End: Museum Quarter (Volkstheater Metro stop)
Walking Distance: 1.6 miles
Time: 60 minutes for walk (with sights 4-5 hours) 
Fun Scale: 9.5 out of 10

The heart and soul of Vienna (Wien) pumps from its historic city center which is a mix of Medieval and Renaissance elements.  The area of Old Town Vienna is compact and best seen on foot.  We hope you enjoy our free do-it-yourself free walking tour as it has all the best stops and tips. 

And the best thing is, it also provide a map for us! Fantastic! Do check-out this site for DIY Walking tour http://www.bigboytravel.com/



Happy traveling!

Time Out Hostel/Hotel in Vienna, Austria

I have bucket load of negativity when I book this place.
Not sure why though.
But when I arrive, it was the perfect location.
Except for one thing. 

We took the train from Salzburg (I think) and we figure out that we can walk from the train station to our hostel, as usual the European (locals) says it is just a 15 mins walk which normally translated to 30-45 mins walk for us Asian. Ahaks. Perhaps that we feast our eyes and got distracted a couple of times while searching for the hostel.

Once you locate the hostel, you'll realised it is very easy and convenient but looking for it the first time was hell, kid you not! I threw tantrum which is very rare when I travel. So I thought perhaps I can share some tips on how to get to this place.

#TravelTips 1 : As you arrive Wien Westbahnhof (Vienna West station), you have 2 choice, either you walk which takes 30 mins at max (depending on speed) or take the metro which is about 2 stops only.

If you choose to walk...
You proceed to Mariahilfer Straße or Mariahilfer Strasse (Street) until you see Neubaugasse Metro Station exit U3 (mind you that there are many exit point for Neubaugasse Station). Proceed to walk further down till you see United Colors of Benetton (UCB) on your right and McDonald on your left. Turn right at the UCB junction, the Time Out City Hotel is at the first corner.

If you choose to take the train...
Take the train from Wien Westbahnhof (Vienna West station) and stop at Neubaugasse Metro Station exit U3 and walk further down till you see UCB on your right and McDonald on your left. Turn right at the UCB junction, the Time Out City Hotel is at the first corner.

#TravelTips 2 : The walk from Neubaugasse Metro Station exit U3 at takes approximately 5 mins or 100m or so. Once you see the above UCB on your right, you are on the right track.

#TravelTips 3 : There are many restaurants, shops, supermarket, boutiques along this street, superbly convenient.

You is how the building looks like from outside. Very safe surrounding (but we did hear a Friday night drunkard at mid night from our room, hehheheheeee...).

 The registration counter is very small and simple.

The room we got doesn't have an attach bathroom as those with was already full (sob sob). Other than that, everything was great and most importantly - clean.

A 5-7 mins walk from the hostel will take you to MuseumsQuartier and from there you can practically walk almost everywhere. Give yourself 1 full day to walk around town, you can definitely cover the old city on foot.

#TravelTips 4 : It is really cost effective to stay here or around this area as you can walk almost everywhere and grocery/supermarket/restaurants is 2 mins away.

#TravelTips5 : If you plan to cover only the city, allocate 3 days for a leisure stroll with some museum hunting session and perhaps some souvenir shopping. Else, 2 full days would be enough.

Remember earlier on I said that there is one thing bad about this place? They were doing some road construction on the whole main street and some of the smaller lane, I bet by now everything should be A-OK *smile*.

Have a fun in Vienna!

Haus Am Moos Guesthouse in Salzburg

I want to stay in a guesthouse.
I am particular liddat.

Out of the 4 countries we visited, I was adamant to stay in a guesthouse and particularly the one in Austria; Salzburg. Not only must it be in Salzburg, but it must be an Austrian traditional home, outskirt, farm if possible, with its scenic snow cap mountains as the background; nothing lesser. Kid you not, am particular liddat. Ahaks…. 

And we stayed in one. The best one I must say *smile*.

After hours and days of searching, reviewing, running through Salzburg map, comparing cost, we finally narrowed down THE guesthouse; Am Moos, located at Fam. Strasser, Moosstraße 186a, A-5020 Salzburg.

Day in, day out I stared at the website, googling reviews and images to make sure the decision we made was the best choice possible. Being slightly far from town, we were a bit worried, hence we figure getting there for first timer like us would be easier via cab (well, taking a bus is easy too after asking the owner, nampak tak kemalasan menebal masa tuh?! Hehhehheee….). Truthfully, the journey was around 10 mins or so to the town… no worries.

During spring and summer, you can lounge by the pool or take a dip, definitely makes me wanna experience it all over again. Keh keh keh…

Oh yah! They have a friendly dog.

Haus Am Moos serves breakfast as well with a nominal fee of course and the spread is quite good delicious, we had bread, egg, cereal and cheese… sodap! And you can use their kitchen in the morning but at night you'll get an electric kettle at your disposal, so pandai-pandai lah yea. Other than that, the owner is superbly friendly, you can purchase Salzburg card from him, get the free map or ask him for tips and directions around the city, he will be able to help you.

I will share the details of the house at the end of this blog entry *wink*.

This is one of the reason why I choose this place, having the spectacular Mt. Untersberg behind your home is simple a gawking moment every morning. I mean, wouldn’t you?

I have blog about Mt. Untersberg earlier (click HERE for more story). 

As promised, below is Haus Am Moos detail.

Haus Am Moos

Fam. Strasser

Moosstraße 186a

A-5020 Salzburg

Austria

URL : http://www.ammoos.at/en-home.htm

Have a pleasant stay!

2 Must Do Activities in Salzburg Old Town, Austria.

If you ask me, what were my favourite activities in Salzburg Old Town area, my answer will be taking the funicular train up the Hohensalzburg Castle and the Salzach River cruise.

What else I wish to experience?
Cycling and lazing by the Salzach River *smile*.

Hohensalzburg Castle

The queue! One thing about me is that I am not very patient with being idle and queuing is idle, if you are anything like me then my advise is to get the Salzburg Card to avoid queuing (Click HERE for more benefits). Despite being fussy on this, I really want to visit Hohensalzburg Castle as the view from the top is to die for, so die die lah I have to go up kan, queue or not queue, keh keh keh.... plus the fact that I get to ride on the funicular train excites me *wink*.

Got the picture I wanted but I bet it'll look great at sunset, so those going do check on whether they open till late in evening. The whole castle is rather huge, like a small township or a village, wondering around here probably takes 2-3 hours as it consist of courtyards, museums, chambers, shops and if you plan really well, you can either have lunch here or probably tea while waiting for sunset. Plan your visit well.

You can take the whole Salzburg Old Town area from here, make sure you wear a good walking to tawaf the whole castle and do take note that the castle have few floors of chambers and museums, in other words, alot of walking around this area. Bertabahlah yea...

History
Hohensalzburg castle was refurbished from the late 19th century onwards and became a major tourist attraction with the Festungsbahn cable car, opened in 1892, leading up from the town to the Hasengrabenbastei. It stands today as one of the best preserved castles in Europe. During the early 20th century it was used as a prison, holding Italian prisoners of war during World War I and Nazi activists (before the Anschluss with Germany) in the 1930s.

From Wikipedia.

This device is kinda cool and independent, all you need to do is insert coin to continue #eh, select the language and listen to the location narration, Cool kan! We should have this at some of our attractions.

Lepak area.

Salzach River Cruise

The cruise was just like any other typical cruise ride, nothing great seriously but the thing is, I do enjoy leisure rides like this and able to see the cities from the river at sunset adds to the thrill. My travel tips here is to take an evening cruise instead of sunset cruise, reason being after seeing my guesthouse mates night time pictures, night scene is definitely more beautiful than sunset. Sungguh tak tipu, of course, depending on season and month jugak lah.

If you hate queues and you think the queue at Festungsbahn funicular train was bad, the one for the cruise is even worst. Hahahhahahaa... Because it goes by hour and you need to purchase a ticket at the one hour you wish to take, and some get filled up pretty fast mind you. Being kiasu sangat-sangat saya encouragekan di sini. Perhaps you purchase the ticket before wandering around the old town.

This is the Salzburg Old Town area and the castle on top is the Hohensalzburg Castle that I mentioned earlier. Don't worry, the captain will point to you all the prominent buildings and the history behind it. OK, sungai ni takde river dolphin, jangan tanya soalan pelik-pelik, hahhahahhahah...

No. You can't stand outside the boat (in case you guys were wondering).

Lepak-lepak macam ni lah yang I nak buat, sambil picnic *cheeky smile*.

At end of teh ride, before docking, the captain will 'dance' the boat? Apa tuh? Kalau nak tau, naik ler... keh keh keh..... jahat dak?!?

Oh yah! There is tips box at the front if you wish to  tip the captain and crew, I think I gave EU1 kot, memang kedukut kan. Bluek.

Key take-away?
Get the Salzburg Card if you plan to stay 2 nights at least and start your day early to maximise the card usage.

Mt. Untersberg in Salzburg, Austria (Sound of Music site)

I insisted.
If in Austria, mountain we must go.
So go we did.
Regret we did not.
*smile*

This was tricky, I wasn't that excited about The Sound of Music sites ie the mansion, abbey, castle or pavilion when I was in Salzburg. You know what I mean right, this is what Salzburg is famous of and yet my excitement level was just so-so, at the scale of 1-10 (10 being the best), mine was between 5 to 6. What is wrong with me?

So, you must be wondering... If I am not interested with The Sound of Music and stuff, what is there for me to look forward to? Well, there is this 3 things I was excited about (of which I kinda regretted it, a repeat trip need to be plan as usual huh) :

• My accommodation at the foot of Mt. Untersberg
• Mt. Untersberg itself
• Stepping foot in Salzburg - UNESCO site.

I'll share my accommodation with you later, you'll love it! But now, we shall talk about the mountain itself - Mt. Untersberg. The journey from the city to the cable car station takes approximately half an hour or so, hence plan your day well as you need to coincide with the bus service there.

#TravelTips 1 : You can only visit the mountain on a non cloudy day. The cable car close if it is too cloudy, you can't see much anyway kan.

#TravelTips 2 : Operating hours changes according to month/season. You can check HERE on the operating time.

The ride up takes around 10 mins or so and... as as everyone would have known, Austria is a beautiful country. Very beautiful.

Don't you just wish you live here.

#TravelTip 3 : Cable car fee changes according to season, check HERE for more detail.

#TravelTips 4 : If you wishes to follow The Sound of Music trail, click HERE for the list and whereabout.

As we ascent. 

I have to admit, abit gayat by this time lah. 

This mountain is not so popular hence you hardly get any crowd, you don't have to be kiasu nor need you rush to go up/down. Just walk and take your own sweet time.

There is also a cafe up at the mountain station, you can always have your lunch here or sip your hot coffee/tea while enjoying the magnificent view. Bottom line, don't rush and pace your self.

Alternatively, you can also hike here on good weather. Perhaps I should try this one day as the view is superb I heard.

#TravelTips 5 : Nature lover, you can also hike here. Found this blog on the route etc, hope this helps.

I wouldn't dare to stand at the end like this.

The most I do/dare. 

I climbed higher actually till this point HERE, but surprising and as usual lah I didn't take any picture. Hahhahahhah....

I will share with you on where I stayed while in Salzburg in my next entry. Very quaint local house *I loike*. Till then, good night.