My strategy in picking hotels: I go to expedia.com and search for hotels, sorting by price. From there, I then check the cheapest hotels in tripadvisor and see how good that hotel is and its location (it has to be central or it has to be close to a metro station or bus stop). Once I have a selection of highly rated but relatively inexpensive hotels, I then search for the hotel online and compare the room rates there to the expedia or the agoda price. I also look for other online packages. It's a bit of a tedious process but I haven't been disappointed with any of the hotels I've stayed in using this process.
The beautiful grounds of Hellbrunn Palace
It is through this process that I must have learned about Pegasus (the welcoming agencies). They had online packages and I decided to take one, which included two nights at Hotel Capri (which I selected because it was rated quite highly in tripadvisor among hotels in Vienna; currently, it is ranked #13), a voucher for a half-day Schönbrunn Tour, a Vienna card that gave me free use of the transportation system for 72 hours, entrance to the Albertina Museum, coffee and cake at Cafe Schwarzenberg, and a book about Vienna that they sent to me via snail mail after my trip. Apart from the book, everything was sent to my hotel and were handed over to me as soon as I checked in. Total package price was 185 euros (I think the hotel room alone cost just as much if not more than the package price).
Kunsthistorisches Museum or the Museum of Art History
This same process allowed me to discover Salzburg.info. I got a package that gave me a 3-night stay in Cordial Theater-Hotel (which seems to have changed its name since then to Goldenes Theater Hotel; its ranking seems to have gone down as well as it is now only #62), a Salzburg card that gave me free admission to all the sights in Salzburg as well as free use of the public transport network, and a ticket to the Sound of Music tour. I got the Salzburg card and the Sound of Music voucher at the reception of my hotel upon my arrival. Total package price was 304 euros (once again, the hotel room cost for three nights would have cost just as much if not more than the package price).
Playing around with a puppet at the Marionette Museum in Salzburg
I did get to see a lot of places in Vienna but because I was really low on funds, I didn't purchase entrance to any of the places there (the Albertina Museum pass was included in my package). While I did a lot of research, I do regret missing a few things to do and see in this city. I already mentioned the Labyrinth in Schönbrunn Palace. I would have also loved to visit the Belvedere Palace and go inside the Vienna State Opera House.
Monument of the Republic in Vienna
While I didn't have this same problem in Salzburg because my Salzburg card gave me free entrance to the attractions there, I would have wanted to see a Mozart concert and dinner. However, it would cost a lot and I didn't have any proper clothes.
Sculpture outside the Museum of Modern Art at the Mönchsberg
A major shock when I got to Austria was the heat. It was a whopping 38 degrees Celsius on average everyday! While everyone else was wearing shorts and flip flops, I was in jeans and shoes. I should have done my weather research a bit better.
Statue of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and politician
I mentioned before that I initially planned and budgeted for a trip to Vienna only but I am glad that I took a trip to Salzburg as well. While this trip happened several years in the past and I am only writing about it now, I am quite happy that I still remember a lot of it in relatively good detail. I hope I can get to revisit Austria and Western Europe again some time in the near future.
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