_______________________

Ancora, N.J.: We are planning 10-12 days by motorcycle next summer. Can you tell me how many days we should plan to stay in Vienna (our starting and ending point), Salzburg, and Graz and any other points of interest we should see on the way? Thanks

Robert Fisher: Great itinerary! You'll get to see the big-city lights and some of the most romantic countryside around. Speaking of romantic, Vienna is, well, not. It's a big, neon-blasted, heaving modern metropolis, and you have to pick your "charming reality" very carefully. I would spend two days to begin with in Vienna, to catch your breath. Do the glitter--the Hofburg palace, the Kunsthistoriches Museum, the Spanish Riding School, the Belvedere palace (sorry--you're not allowed to kiss in front of Klimt's famous painting, The Kiss) , and chill out in one of the little historic Viennese nabes, like the Spittelberg quarter. Try to get to the heavenly gemutlichkeit "operetta" wine villages just outside the town border, like Nussdorf and Grinzing. Then blast off for Salzburg, following the Danube River valley and hitting some of the fairytale Wachau villages like Durnstein, Melk, and St. Florian (all with great Baroque sights). You'll be zooming east to west through the Salzkammergut region to get to Salzburg, so it's pin-the-tail on the donkey time--there are so many beautiful spots to see and overnight here, you'll have to do research. If it's a God's view of nature, hit Gosau; a storybook village, Hallstatt, and my favorite, St. Gilgen, in great Alpine splendor with some indulge-me-now hotels to enjoy. Salzburg is big on museums and churches, so if you don't like.... As for Graz, it's wonderful--especially the Old Town (centered around the supercharming Hauptlatz square). There are tons of adorable streets, rock-candy windows and turrets, a dancing glockenspiel clock, and a staggering Schlossberg (Palace Mountain), where you take a Indiana Jones elevator right through the mountain up to the peak and find a gorgeous park, with great vistas and an elegant restaurant. Thirty miles west of Graz is Piber, home to the Lippizzaner Stud Farm, set on an hyperelegant estate and in the middle of gorgeous countryside. It's great to see the famous white horses here on "vacation" from their jobs in Vienna. Best of all is a ride through the Schilcher Wine Road region, in southern Styria--immensely idyllic, with vineyard inns that offers you "feasts on a plank" and sweet little villages that linger forever in the memory.

_______________________

Kansas City, Mo.: Where is the good homestyle/native food in Vienna for less than $20 usa?

Robert Fisher: Austria, right now, is having a fascinating moment. This grande dame of a county is acting like it's been given a whole bottle of pep pills, and its kicking up its heels with an array of avant-garde art museums and a panoply of restarurants that are serving up nouvelle novelties--click your heels three times for Tirolian eagle garnished with three caviars. That noted, we all know that as new-fangled as the food may be getting in Vienna, nothing beats a homecooked blow-out at one of the city's beisl-bistros, where dishes dated back to the "wurst" traditions of the imperial past and nap-inducing meals can leave you stuck to your seat like a suction pad. Top restaurants that offer this old style Wiener Kuche include Gasthaus Puerstner (ever want to set in an enormous wine barrel for dinner?); the great Gulasch at Alt Wien; the comfort food on tap at Brezl Gwolb, a medieval cellar right out of the Phantom of the Opera; the four-century-old Gosser Bierklinik; the known-to-the-locals only Reinthaler; and best of all, the great istoric wine tavern Weinkeller, often built below ground in old monasteries; such as the Esterhazykeller, the Augustinerkeller, and the Melker Stifskeller. The Gulaschs and the sausages are dee-scrumptious. But the best taste treat of all? Vienna's sausage stands are famous so I had to enjoy the best of the wursts--a Käsekrainer at the Oper stand, located behind the state opera house. This bratwurst--succulently studded with melted cheese bits, grilled to perfection, and served with a mountain of mustard and a mug of beer--was so delicious, I "went native" the next morning and had it for my breakfast!! Do not miss!!

_______________________

Kansas City, Mo.: What is the best Burg to stay at near Munich or Vienna? Two adults are traveling April 2008

Robert Fisher: Sad to say, there are not many options handy to Vienna for the full Sleeping Beauty, turrets-in-air, Rapunzel experience. Many of the castles that dot the countryside are full-scale museums, and only a few allow you to enjoy people to satisfy their "Queen for a Stay" fantasies (there are more options around Salzburg and other districts). But if you travel south a good 80 miles from Vienna, you'll discover one of Austria's most famous Castle districts--Burgenland. The reward is the Schlosserstrasse (Castle Road), an itinerary that leads from the Vienna A2 authobahn down to the Hartberg exit and about 15 historic castles open to the public. The first is the Schloss Hartberg, a 13th century showplace. Highway 54 leads south to Kaibing and the Schloss Herbenstein and Schloss Stubenberg. Then the Allhau exit off the A2 goes north to Hartberg and Highway 50 and Bernstein. This is the home of Burg Bernstein, the famous castle owned by Count Almasy, the character played by Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient, and now a wonderful castle hotel. Indoor plumbing is the only concession to modern life, and the Count's room is just as he left it. The hilltop location gives a bird's-eye view of the peaceful Tauchen Valley. Décor is very mid-1800s, with grand receptions rooms and meals, prepared by Countess Berger-Almasy herself, are served in a baronial hall in 18th-century style. To get the full scoop, log on to burgbernstein.at.

_______________________

Lafayette, La.: A girlfriend and I are planning to visit Germany with a quick 3-day visit to Austria in September. If you had one city to visit in Austria for three days, which would it be?

Robert Fisher: Geographically, there is only one magical "Sound of Music" answer: Salzburg, the home town of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, set only 70 miles east of Munich (I trust you are going to Munich, heart of Bavaria, and gateway to Castle Country--Neuschwanstein is a don't-miss and is set just a few miles from a gorgeous and very posh historic town, Fussen). Even in July, Salzburg looks like a Christmas card--its Altstadt is nearly all constructed from gray stone, which looks like snow. Take in a performance at one of Salzburg's modern concert halls (three of which host the famed Salzburg Music Festival every August) but be sure to time-warp back to Wolfie's day at the Mozart Dinner Concert, offered in the candlelit Baroque Hall of St. Peter's Abbey (mozartdinnerconcert.com). The room's decor seemed squeezed out of a whipped-cream tube, the musicians are in brocade and velvet, the food is deli-schloss, and, the cherry on top, the melodies magnificent. Then time-travel through the centuries by heading up to Winkler's Terrace (where Julie and the kids started to warble "Do-Re-Mi" ) to take in the eye-knocking Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Don't forget to grab a bite in the museum restaurant--all psychedelic lavender and deer horns--which now offers cuisine as haute as its lofty aerie. Even better, a three-day trip to Salzburg would allow you a "vacation from your vacation"--a one-day trip into the gorgeous Lake District (see my comments about St. Gilgen, elsewhere in this forum) of the Salzkammergut.