There are couple shuttle companies that offer ride from CK to Vienna and varies cities. You could find them on the internet or ask the hotel in CK for shuttle reference. We have narrowed down to two options as their price are more reasonable and have fewer stops. Opt 1 is 30mins late (CK hostel owner told us that they are always late) and drive very very safe=slow! It takes us more than 3.5 hours to Vienna...middle-age man with a 10-ppl van with GPS on. Opt 2 may provide you a faster on-time service to Vienna. This young man came to pick up another couple by a sedan.
Vienna > Danube River: Train - Euro28 (price varies by combo package)
OBB offers couple packages to Danube River, but it's better to check it online and print out the package information ahead as the train station staffs may not familiar with those offered package. There are train+musuem package, train+boat package, train+wine tasting package. We opted for the regular train disocunt package(Einfach-Raus-Ticket) coz we want to take a boat ride and visit the villages slowing by riding bicycles.
From hotel to Krems, we took metro Line"U6" from "Burgg-stadthalle" station to "Floridsdorf" station, then took train from "Wien Floridsdorf" to "Krems Donau" station.
For the boat ride, there are two options: Brandner or DDSG. Their boat schedules and prices are similar. Since DDSG partners with OBB, they offers a combo ticket and many other packages.
For bike rental, you would rent it from the tourism office(their bikes are really high) or bike shop on the right of train station(about 10 mins walking distant, Zweiaao Sport Telefon 02732/82876) at Euro15/day. For folks who could ride fast, you would rent a bike in Kerms to ride to Spitz, take a bus to Melk, then ride the boat back to Kerms. If you are not fast rider, it will be quite difficult to catch up the tain and boat schedule.
The bus between Melk, Spitz, and Krems are in hourly basis, so get the latest schedule from the train office if you plan to take a bus. Btw, when you read the schedule, remember to read the time carefully between the bus time session and the train time session. You may be able to find the next train connection that stated in an earlier time slot. Their time schedule is tricky to read.
Vienna > Hallstatt: Train & Ferry
We took the morning train from Wien Westbahnof to Hallstatt (€40). From Hallstatt train station, we took a ferry (€2.2) to the Hallstatt market. Since the only purpose of the ferry is to transfer people to town, the ferry schedule matches the train schedule. Once we dropped off our bags at the guesthouse, we took a side trip to Gosausee via Post Bus.
Hallstatt > Gosausee: Postbus
To take the Postbus(€7 round trip), you could go either end of the village. Most people goes to the Hallstatt Lahn main station (turn left once you take off from the boat) that near a supermaket, coz the Hallstatt Parkterrasse station (up the hilly slope on the right hand side before the tunnel) is just a bus stop thus most shops, restaurants and the tourism office is on the left side.
Lugguage issue? No problem, the boat guy could store our luggages in his small Boat Info Office (shed). For other staying over-night, check-in your hotel first and store your bags in your room as the hotel office may close early.
The Postbus#2570 reqire a change of bus at Gosaumuhle. Don't worry, just tell the bus driver that you want to go to Gosausee and he will sell you the tickets. You just get off the bus and hop on another bus that has been waiting at the "transfer station". Trust me, you won't be confused and get lost.
Hallstatt(Bus#2570)>>Gosaumuhle>>Gosausee
Hallstatt(Bus#2570)>>Gosaumuhle>> Bad Ischl(Bus#150)>>Salzburg
Hallstatt > St Wolfgang: Train - €6.5
From Hallstatt to St Wolfgang orSalzburg, you would take the train/bus combo or buses (as above). I forgot the bus number to St Wolfgang, so I just put the Salzburg bus number up there. The Bad Ischl bus staion is 10 stops away from the train station, and there are many modernized bus schdeule display panels. It is super easy to find the bus information.
- For bus route, Hallstatt via#2572>Gosaumuhle via#2570> Bad Ischl via #2560>St Wolfgang.
- For train route, boat to train station>Hallstatt>Bad Ischl, then take bus to St Wolfgang.
St Wolfgang Mountain Train & Boat
Once you get off the bus station for the Schabergbahnhof, the boat station and mountain train station are right there for you. Keep an eye on your watch when you are at the mountain top, you don't want to miss the train as they are in hourly schedule.
Steam-Engine Train: From St. Wolfgang to the Mountain Top round-trip(€27.8)
Boat: From St Wolfgang to St Gilgen(€6.30)
Bus: From St Gilgen to Salzburg(€5.6)
St Gilgen> Salzburg: PostBus ~Euro6
The bus station at St Gilgen is quite far away from the pier. It takes about 10-13mins walk pass the village and up a slope where the cable car located. Since there's not many/no shops or restaurants nearby, get your shopping and ice-cream near the pier before you hike up to the bus station.
Salzburg: Local Bus ~Euro 2-3
The PostBus will take you to the main bus station in Salzburg where the train station is across the street. In Salzburg, you will mainly travel by foot. If you live far away from the town center, there are many buses to take. Again, drop down the To and Form time schedules from nearby bus station of you stay.
HOW TO~
Buy Train Tickets:
You can check out the timetable from IDOS site, select "English" at the bottom right, enter "To" and "From" locations, input the "Time" and set the time as your expected arrival time or departure time. Best practice is to select couple more bus options around your prefer travel time for back up. You can buy the ticket from the ticket machine in English version or go to the office (less people at night) for an open-ticket to your destination. Tell them the ticket name if you are buying a combo ticket or any discount ticket, they may not know the offer.
Group ticket for train for 2-5 people €28
Find Bus Schedule
You can check out the timetable from OBB site
Buy Metro ticket:
It's honor system, meaning no one will check your ticket, no system to force you to validate your ticket, and there is no revolving bars at the entry points. €1.7 for one way, €5.7 for 24-hr unlimited travel ticket.
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