Flying South to Austria in October - the way to go

Journeys End in Austria - Autumn Leaves
Over the last few years we've used budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet countless times. The reason we usually fly ‘budget’ is purely price – low price. Of course it’s not just the airline fare - there are all the other travel costs that need to be considered when choosing who to fly with. You could argue that that the recent low fares have been subsidising all the other services like, for example long term parking at Stansted, and has also been compensating us for the inconvenient flight times. Parking for 3 weeks will cost over £100 even if you book in advance. Flying at 6:30am means getting up at 3 in the morning and writing off the day. 

The price gap to Flag Carriers has now narrowed

Today, because of punitive taxes and budget airline fare increases, the price differential between budget airlines and the so-called flag carriers has reduced markedly. It can be now more cost-effective to fly BA or Lufthansa to Austria. Well, North Austria anyway. We have to fly to Munich and catch the southbound train but it still can be cheaper and more pleasant.

For us, Heathrow is easily the closest Airport and we can get a lift or a bus so that cuts out the fuel costs and the parking. If you book in advance the ‘Flag’ Airline Fares are pretty similar to Budget Airlines. A return to Munich on Lufthansa need not cost much over £100. Then it’s just the Train fare to find, between £40 and £80 pounds return from Munich to Bad Hofgastein. Of course the other bonus is that hold baggage is free. Instead of being limited to 10Kg of ‘carry on’ we have a relatively massive 23Kg each. £60 return for a 15 Kg bag on Ryanair is a heavy price to pay to use the hold. Naturally TW takes most of both our allowances but, on this trip, she did kindly leave room for my necessities in Austria. The necessities being two packs of porridge, a large box of Jelly Babies and a combination bicycle lock.

Taking Off

Having grown accustomed to the ways of budget airlines the flag flying experience does feel much more relaxed. Already checked in and with seats allocated, we simply dropped off our bags and headed off for a coffee. Then, off to the gate, no waiting for the priority boarding queue to empty first, no measuring of the hand baggage. We were soon on board via a gangway! No need to walk down the steps and across the tarmac and then climb up the airliner steps, no scrum for the best seats. Just sit back and enjoy the complimentary coffee and the free Sunday paper. We were given a breakfast sandwich and could understand the announcements. Nobody tried to sell us anything.

Back on land

The train links from Munich Airport are pretty good, it’s just a short undercover walk to the station. We then had to take the S-bahn to Munich Ost where we could pick up a direct train to Bad Hofgastein. The S-bahn was like a commuter train and the 30 minute ride was pretty uneventful, apart from a certain little dog. TW said “that dog is dribbling”, I said “it’s probably hungry” TW said “wrong end”! Aaah! I moved the bags. Funny the things you remember when travelling.

Snow on the mountains in October
but  the Geraniums are blooming
Bit a of wait at Munich Ost but that gave us time to buy sandwiches. Our train arrived five minutes late and we found a couple of seats for the three hour ride. Seat reservations on trains can be a bit of a minefield, not sure if we are unlucky but most times when we reserve seats the actual train layout is totally different and we have to take pot-luck. In this case we were force to sit in a First Class carriage? Anyway the conductor didn’t mind and was happy with our tickets. By the way, if you print your own ticket at home they want to see the credit card you used for the booking. Lovely countryside as we drifted, in a leisurely fashion, through Bavaria and into Austria. Not a particularly fast train, nothing like the TGV’s in France but comfortable enough and time to absorb the ever changing scenery.

Have to say our migration south this time was very pleasant and, for once, I’m not dreading the journey home. Hope we don’t meet the incontinent dog again though!
Location: Bad Hofgastein, Austria

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Italy - A postcard from Tuscany

Image
 An Italian Escape With Covid in abeyance and another health issue resolved it was time to head South for a week in Italy. Bologna 17th May 2022 We chose the noble City of Bologna as our starting point and BA from LHR our carrier of choice. We had a shedload of BA credits from all our cancelled flights over the Winter so we even took checked luggage! Really great to be landing in Italy and even better that they did not make us line-up in the 'Other Passport' queue, we were straight through the e-gates onto the Marconi shuttle into the City. Bologna Station is a bit of a maze and we struggled to find our way out. Eventually we found a long overpass that took us to the front of the building and a Taxi to our digs for the first two nights. Coincidentally this was in Via Marconi. I thought the comms pioneer was an adopted Englishman but clearly he is very well remembered over here. Our La Dolla Apartment was really nice and modern, a bit of a contrast to the lobby and stairs but th...
Read more

Bordeaux to Nimes on a bicycle Day 4 to Castelsarrasin

Image
25th  September Day 4 Feugarolles to Castelsarrasin 84km Hunting for snails Crossing the massive viaduct over the Garonne Really enjoying the cycling along the canal. The prevailing wind is from the NorthWest and our heading was South East. Couple that with a smooth surface and only a slight incline and you have a cycling idyll. There are also plenty of towns and villages en route so, really, it would be possible to do the trip several times and get variety by stopping at different places. So anyway, down for Breakfast on another cool day. Six cyclists now, the lead peleton had been joined by les Frères Eccossais, the Scottish brothers. After a jolly meal we headed off. I joined up with the Scots as the pursuivants, the Three Musketeers, in Tour de France terms. The yellow jersey had already left and we did not catch him. This wasn’t grape country. The fields alongside the canal were planted with a myriad of different crops including tobacco, kiwi fruits (what a...
Read more

Austria - Bad Hofgastein - Langlauf - Cross-country skiing and the village in Winter 2012

Image
A Day in Winter - 13th December 2012 All quiet at the Advent Market - Daytime in Bad Hofgastein Winter in Bad Hofgastein Bad Hofgastein Kur Park with the Stubnerkogel in the background Bad Hofgastein Kur Park - across the frozen lake Ducks to water The current High Pressure system has brought low temperatures and clear blue skies. TW had the day off and took a few pictures as she walked into town through the Kur Park. In the evening the Advent Market is full of people enjoying a Gluwein or Hot Chestnuts and horse driven sleighs criss-cross the Park. During the day, all is quiet with just a few shoppers and some very hardy Mallard Ducks in the Kur Park. Open Loop - 14th December 2012 On the tracks We can see the Langlauf Loipe (cross-country loops) from our window and we noticed that they had put in some classic tracks. Had to give them a go. Slide and Glide, Slide and Glide. Looking North in Gasteinertal Looking South No downhill today ...
Read more

USA Road Trip - Las Vegas to Zion National Park

Image
Day 12, 13 From Glitzy to Glorius A remote Ussie - Tourists at the Checkerboard Mesa A big day today as we saddled up the Hyundai to head across the desert to the Zion National Park. The roads were busy in Las Vegas but the traffic petered out as we headed Eastwards into Utah via Arizona. Not a lot to see en route other than wide vistas, big skies and very occasionally a desert town. We made a stop on the way in Mesquite at another McDonalds. Mesquite looked to be a retirement community on the Nevada/Arizona border with big Casinos and a number of Golf Courses. Amazed that there is enough water? The Virgin River, a tributary of the Colorado, flows through the City but its not very big. The name has nothing to do with Mr Branson, it was named a couple of hundred years ago after a Pioneer. A Ranch on the way We were due for only a brief incursion into Arizona but they decided to do some big road works to keep us there for a while longer. Anyway, no complaints, it was a good dr...
Read more

Wales - A Postcard from Stackpole Pembrokeshire in July 2020

Image
Heading West on a Staycation Broadhaven South Beach TW found a last minute cancellation to this 2000 Acre National Trust property.  Our cottage usually takes six so it is not a cheap deal for just two people. In normal times, of course, we would have headed east for Austria but these are not normal times.  The need for an expensive Covid test before we entered Austria made it inconvenient and impractical.  Private Covid tests cost between £150 and £200 and there is no guarantee on how quickly you get results.  To enter Austria you need the test to be carried out within the last 4 days.  So the staycation made a lot of sense.  Spending our money in the UK to help protect jobs was also a strong persuader. So with the car laden with our bikes and provisions we headed west on the 240 mile journey to Stackpole.  Crossing the Border on the Severn Bridge No Covid test was required but the Welsh did make us go through a sheep dip ...
Read more

London to Salzburg on a bike - Stage 9 - Marckolsheim to Laufenburg via Basle - 142km - Rhine Cycle

Image
French Leave - 14th September 2013 Good Morning ride down the Old Rhine Canal Into the Forest - and out of the wind Crossing the border - walking bridge at Huningue over the Rhine Another good breakfast, another shower of rain and a return to the Old Rhine Canal. Got a bit adventurous after a while and turned off to take a look at some local villages. Am afraid I went a bit around the houses in the flat farming country. Found my way back on track near Volgelsheim. The place names around here do not exactly trip off the tongue. A fierce headwind from the south made cycling very difficult so had to get my head down. I needed my Patisserie stop!  A diversion through a massive forest added distance but gave respite from the wind for a while. My downloaded Eurovelo 5 course headed for Mulhouse but I did not need to go there. I headed off to Basel. I think I was paying the penalty for not researching this area sufficiently. I could see the big Rhine Canal through the tree...
Read more

USA Road Trip 2016 - The Prologue

Image
California here we come - plus a little bit of Nevada, Arizona and Utah On a little cable car heading  the stars Day one – on the Siven, Siven, Siven – NZ1 to LA. We chose Air New Zealand flights for our trip. Two good reasons -  The price was keen and w e like them Bit odd getting on the plane knowing we were getting off half-way. NZ1 was on its way to Auckland. We were, of course, down in steerage but we were able to look at Premium Economy so that was a consolation. Not sure what we would do with all that space if we had it, would only lose stuff. Our little seats were still a giant step from Southall. The drive from Poole towards Heathrow was fine but we had a bit of a conflict with the Sat Nav lady. TW nearly threw her out of the window. For some reason she did not want to take us to our destination, she refused to navigate us to a disused gas works in Southall, does she know something we don’t? Will our little car be OK at Purple Parking? We managed to ...
Read more

Salzburg in the Rain

Image
The Sound of Raindrops on Roses Salzburg still looks pretty good in bad weather and a few raindrops on the roses didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for a wander around the narrow streets and gardens of the old town. The streets were empty as the tourists were forced inside.   We joined them eventually and had a nice delayed birthday meal at St Peters Stiftskeller. This claims to be the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, it’s been serving since 803 AD.   The toilets are much more recent. The cheap end of the menu is pretty reasonable. That’s one of many good things about Austrian restaurants.   The first glance at the menu might cause a sharp intake of breath but they normally have a few simple, standard, dishes that locals can afford.
Read more