Austria in the summer, can it be done cheaply?

[lidolemon]

I've always been tempted by Austria. We'd probably drive (with stop overs) but wondered if anyone had recommendations for campsites, either with or without your own tent, or perhaps self catering accommodation. I've done a few searches and ended up with some wonderful looking places but don't need overly fancy, just comfortable. Thanks.

Try looking at the tourist office site of wherever you fancy. Eurocamp have a few sites in the Alps, Interhome may be useful.

When I was there there were lots of little guest houses that do their main business in the ski season. You can often get a card to use all local transport for free.
But that was in the Tirol rather than Vienna

Where in Austria are you thinking of visiting?

Cities - Salzburg and particularly Vienna - are expensive. Mountain resorts less so, and they are becoming more popular in the summer as there has been a huge amount of investment in summer activities such as mountain biking, hiking trails, climbing parks and zip wires. Cable cars and gondolas now run all summer long, whereas previously many had only restricted hours or were closed in summer. Some places such as Saalbach offer free tickets to the local attractions - local buses, outdoor pools, cable cars, museums etc.

As an indication - a self-catering apartment in a mountain resort can cost around €100 a night. A B&B/guest house (called "Pension" in Austria) costs around €50-€70 pp. per night. Whatever accommodation you choose, even the cheapest, will be spotless and comfortable.

Having a car will obviously mean that you can more easily get around for sightseeing, but for anyone reading the thread who would not have a car, public transport is very reliable and inexpensive (and in some cases free).

I've checked the rates for a campsite in the same area as the apartments and B&Bs above. The nightly rates in high season (i.e. July and August) are between €38 for a tent and €43 for a campervan, caravan etc. inclusive of electricity, bathroom facilities, rubbish disposal etc.

I don't really know an area, I think I would like it all! 😀Thanks for the info about Vienna and Salzburg. It was the outdoor life that we'd be attracted to, so a town with easy access to a resort would ideally be our best place. Eurocamp have a couple of places which look good, but I think we'd end up taking our own tent now, since we have the kit as it would be half the price. We do tend to prefer self catering, just because again that makes it much cheaper for us.

It's also good to know about the public transport, I assumed we'd take the car but again, that doesn't have to be the case if there's good links.

UK-Austria is a trip we do regularly. By car for the round trip we reckon about £300 for fuel, plus £100 each way for the ferry (Dover - Dunkirk) and £100 a night for an overnight stop in Germany each way at a budget/Travelodge type of hotel - so in round numbers, the travel element costs about £700. The journey from Dunkirk takes about 12-14 hours but we prefer to split the journey. If you did it in one stretch, then obviously you'd save the cost of the overnight stop.

Public transport in Austria is good, but the campsites tend to be off the main roads and therefore not close to the buses, or on routes that only have an hourly or two-hourly service, which limits how far you can travel in a day and how spontaneous you can be (e.g. if a rainy morning suddenly clears up and you fancy visiting a particular attraction or town).

For the outdoor life, nothing beats the Alps. Look at the area around Zell am See and Saalbach to the west of Salzburg, or the Salzkammergut lake district area east of Salzburg. The Eurocamp site near Zell am See quotes a price of almost €900 for a week in July. The prices I've quoted above are for a budget (but still nice) site not far from there, and at €38 a night would only cost €266 for 7 nights - or less than £250 in your own tent.

Can recommend Natterer See campsite. South of Innsbruck.

Be careful of camping we went to Seefeld in Austria this summer and it rained for 3 to 4 days. It was lovely weather when it wasn't raining. There was still lots to do, we went to Munich, but I wouldn't want to camp in the rain.

As for prices - it's not a cheap place. We were self catering and supermarket prices were about Sainsbury's prices however we used to nip over the border and shop in Germany as the prices there were slightly cheaper.

Saying that we had a great holiday it is ridiculously clean, no litter anywhere, and waking up to stunning scenery every morning was fabulous.

We stayed in self catering accommodation in St Johan this summer family of 5 for 2 weeks. £2500 self catering accommodation £1000 flights £500 car hire. We enjoy walking so lots of free days out. Lots for kids to do on the walks such as mountain parks. It was 30 degrees some days so we paid to go in mountain lakes. Kids enjoyed lakes so much we are going again this year and staying by one - walchsee. So far it is working out slightly cheaper than last year.

We're not too bothered at camping in the rain, we camp most years for 3-5 weeks so expect rain at some point. I agree that too much rain can break a holiday though.
@Havanananana have you got a link to the budget site you mentioned?

I think the cleaness, lakes and mountains sound great, but hear you when you say it's expensive- stocking up in Germany on the way through is something to think about.

The site is Neunbrunnen in Maishofen, which is about 5km from Zell am See.

Camping Neunbrunnen | Am Waldsee (camping-neunbrunnen.at)

The English webpages don't seem to be working, but you can use google to translate. If an "Important Message" pops up on the website, this is just to inform guests that the campsite is currently closed while some renovations take place over the winter. The area is great for cycling - easy cycling around the lakes and countryside, or mountain biking at Saalbach and Hinterglemm - so if you have room for bikes in/on the car, then do bring them.

As for supermarket prices, we don't notice any great difference between Austria and Germany. There are several large supermarkets in Zell am See (at Schuttdorf on the outskirts of the town), including 2 branches of ALDI (which is "Hofer" in Austria) and all of the big Austrian chains such as MPreis, Billa, PennyMarkt and Spar. These are also in Saalfelden, which is 10 km away from the campsite, and in Saalbach.

The things that you must pack from the UK are teabags (very expensive in Europe in general) and OTC medicines - Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Anthisan cream etc. are only available from pharmacies and cost 10x the UK price.