Austria in 7 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Austria in 7 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Seven days is the realistic whole-country loop: Vienna for two days, a Wachau Valley day trip, a Salzburg overnight with a Hallstatt day added, then on to Innsbruck and the Alps, all connected by ÖBB Railjet with no domestic flight needed. Budget roughly EUR 55-65 a day once you count rail fares and one paid sight, hotel not included. Skip driving this route entirely: the Railjet covers every leg, so you avoid Austria’s motorway vignette (from EUR 12.80 for 10 days) and the Grossglockner road’s separate EUR 46.50 toll, neither of which this route needs. Want a shorter version? See the 2 day or 4 day itinerary.
Book these before you go:
- Hotel in central Vienna on Booking.com
- Hotel in Salzburg’s Altstadt on Booking.com
- Hotel in Innsbruck on Booking.com
- Hallstatt day trip from Salzburg on Viator
| Day | Focus | ÖBB rail | Est. spend (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Free historic core + Belvedere | None, Vienna only | 45-50 |
| Day 2 | Schonbrunn + Kaffeehaus | None, Vienna only | 60-68 |
| Day 3 | Wachau Valley + Melk Abbey | ~1hr each way from Wien Westbahnhof | 45-59 |
| Day 4 | Railjet to Salzburg + Hohensalzburg | ~2h22-2h25 Vienna-Salzburg | 55-65 |
| Day 5 | Hallstatt day trip | ~2h12-2h30 each way via Attnang-Puchheim | 55-70 |
| Day 6 | Railjet to Innsbruck + Nordkette | ~2h20-2h40 Salzburg-Innsbruck | 44-90 |
| Day 7 | Innsbruck Altstadt, departure | None | 20-30 |
Day 1: Vienna’s free historic core, plus the Kiss
Start at Stephansdom; the nave is free to enter, and the south tower climb is a cheap EUR 6 if you want the view. Walk Graben and Kohlmarkt toward the Hofburg, whose exterior and Michaelerplatz cost nothing to admire, then cut through the Volksgarten. A Wiener Linien 24-hour ticket runs about EUR 8 and covers every tram, U-Bahn and bus ride for the rest of your stay.
Lunch is a Wurstelstand Kasekrainer, EUR 4-6. In the afternoon, cross to the Upper Belvedere (around EUR 19.50 booked online, EUR 21 walk-up) for Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss,” which hangs here, not in the Albertina. Dinner at a Beisl-style tavern, a pork schnitzel with a side salad, runs EUR 14-18.
Day 1 spend: roughly EUR 45-50, hotel not included.
Day 2: Schonbrunn on a budget, then a Kaffeehaus stop
Book the Schonbrunn Palace State Apartments ticket ahead for EUR 30 adult; the Grand Tour adds more rooms for EUR 42, and the gardens are free whether or not you buy a ticket. The U-Bahn gets you there in about 20 minutes from the center.
Spend the afternoon at a real Kaffeehaus, Sacher or Demel, for a Melange and a slice of Sachertorte, about EUR 10-12 for both. Browse the Naschmarkt on the way back for a cheap early dinner, EUR 8-12, or sit down at a Beisl for EUR 18-22.
Day 2 spend: roughly EUR 60-68, hotel not included.
Day 3: the Wachau Valley and Melk Abbey
Take the direct train from Wien Westbahnhof to Melk, about an hour each way. The ÖBB Wachau-Ticket bundles the outbound train, Melk Abbey admission and a Krems-Melk river boat leg into one ticket for around EUR 59 adult, worth it if you want the boat. Skip the bundle and pay Stift Melk’s own admission instead (EUR 16 self-guided, EUR 20 with a guided-tour supplement) plus a regional train fare, roughly EUR 45-55 total, if the boat doesn’t matter to you.
Stift Melk itself is a working Benedictine abbey with a Baroque library worth the ticket alone. Lunch in Durnstein or Melk, a glass of the valley’s own Gruner Veltliner with a simple plate, runs EUR 15-20. Return to Vienna by early evening on the same ticket.
Day 3 spend: roughly EUR 45-55 piecemeal, or about EUR 59 with the boat bundle.
Day 4: Railjet to Salzburg, then Hohensalzburg
Book the ÖBB Railjet to Salzburg ahead on oebb.at; a Sparschiene advance fare starts around EUR 19.90, against a flexible walk-up fare up to EUR 65, so the lead time genuinely pays off. The fastest run takes about 2h22-2h25.
Drop your bag and walk the Altstadt for free, then buy a Hohensalzburg Fortress ticket with funicular for EUR 15.50 basic (EUR 19.20 all-inclusive) for the view over the old town. Dinner in the Altstadt, a simple Austrian plate, runs EUR 18-22.
Day 4 spend: roughly EUR 55-65, including the train fare above, hotel not included.
Day 5: Hallstatt, done early to dodge the crowds
An early train from Salzburg to Hallstatt runs via a change at Attnang-Puchheim plus a short lake ferry, roughly 2h12-2h30 each way; Sparschiene advance fares start around EUR 10-19.90 one way, walk-up fares run as high as EUR 43, so book ahead once your date is fixed. Take the first realistic departure: Hallstatt is a genuinely tiny village, around 760 residents, absorbing more than a million visitors a year and up to 10,000 on a single peak summer day, and there is still no enforced daily visitor cap in 2026, only a coach-bus time-slot system that manages tour buses, not individual arrivals by train or car.
Walking the lakefront and village streets costs nothing. A lakeside lunch runs EUR 15-20, pricier than the same plate back in Salzburg given the crowds. Return to Salzburg by early evening; see the Hallstatt page for more on what the village itself offers.
Day 5 spend: roughly EUR 55-70, including the round-trip train fare.
Day 6: Railjet to Innsbruck, then the Nordkette
The Railjet from Salzburg to Innsbruck takes roughly 2h20-2h40, with Sparschiene advance fares starting around EUR 9.90; check the current timetable at oebb.at, since this leg runs the same western corridor as the rest of the trip. In Innsbruck, the Hungerburgbahn funicular plus the Nordkettenbahnen cable cars reach the Hafelekar viewing platform at 2,256 meters in well under 30 minutes total; the full round trip runs about EUR 56, the one genuine splurge of this week.
Tighter budget? Ride the Hungerburgbahn funicular alone, EUR 14 round trip, for its own city-overlook terrace at Hungerburg without the two cable car legs above it. Dinner in the Altstadt runs EUR 18-22. See the Innsbruck guide for more on the city beyond this one afternoon.
Day 6 spend: roughly EUR 44 with just the funicular, up to about EUR 90 with the full Nordkette run, including the train fare and dinner.
Day 7: Innsbruck’s Altstadt, then departure
Spend the morning walking Innsbruck’s Altstadt for free: the Golden Roof, the narrow arcaded streets, and views up to the Alps ringing the city on every side, a reminder that Austria is landlocked and roughly 62% mountain, obvious the moment you step outside the station here in a way it never quite is in Vienna. A last coffee and pastry runs EUR 6-8 before you head to the airport or the train station.
Graz didn’t make this loop; it’s a legitimate stop for a longer trip with its own UNESCO old town, not a rushed add-on to a week already covering four cities.
Day 7 spend: roughly EUR 20-30, no major paid attraction, hotel not included.
Is Hallstatt worth the day trip on a budget?
Yes, with an early start, and it’s a poor use of the fare without one. A first-train arrival buys photos before the tour coaches show up, at roughly the same round-trip cost either way; a midday July or August arrival buys a crowded, tour-bus-choked hour or two for that same money.
Do you need a car for the whole Austria loop?
No. The Railjet connects Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck end to end on one corridor, so a car only earns its cost, plus the vignette and any Alpine section tolls, if you’re detouring to the Grossglockner High Alpine Road specifically, which this route skips entirely.
Should you buy the Klimaticket for a week in Austria?
No. It’s a resident annual pass, EUR 1,400 in 2026 for the Classic tier, built for daily commuters covering the whole national network year-round, not a one-week visitor riding three point-to-point Railjet legs. Sparschiene fares on this exact route cost a fraction of that.
Book every Railjet leg’s Sparschiene fare the moment your dates are fixed. Vienna-Salzburg, Salzburg-Hallstatt and Salzburg-Innsbruck all get pricier the closer you book to departure, unlike the vignette or any museum ticket, which stay flat.