TourMyCountry: 2008

Mittwoch, 27. August 2008

Vienna: New and Improved!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

as of August 2008, the Vienna Travel Guide is dramatically improved - I am pretty confident to say that it is now the most extensive (English) Vienna travel guide that is available online. Nevertheless, I will keep working on it!

Here the individual new articles:

Millennium Tower & Millennium City
Urania
Augarten Porzellanmanufaktur - Part I & Part II
Wiental - Part I & Part II
Mariahilferstraße
The Danube in Austria
Donauinsel
Hochstrahlbrunnen Fountain
Soviet Memorial Vienna
Wiener Prater Vienna
Messe Wien Convention Centre
Palais Schönborn
Paulanerkirche Church
St. Joseph Church
Dreifaltigkeitskirche
Music Videos on Vienna
Strudelhofstiege
Wasserturm Favoriten Water Tower
Schloss Hetzendorf
Wiener Stadtbahn Vienna
Maria Theresien Kaserne
Otto Wagner Villa I & Otto Wagner Villa II
Palais Cumberland
Palais Coburg
Palais Epstein
Brunnenmarkt Market
Schloss Neuwaldegg
Geymüller Schlössel
Zacherlhaus, First District
Schloss Rodaun & Bergkirche
Hohe Warte Wien
Museum Aspern-Essling
Westbahnhof Station
WUK
Markets of Vienna

Sonntag, 3. August 2008

Dienstag, 29. Juli 2008

New Articles: Vienna, Vienna and more Vienna

Donnerstag, 10. Juli 2008

In the past two weeks, I have implemented a few changes to the layout and added a search box to every window. You have to have JavaScript enabled to use it, but from what I see, it works very well - thank you, Google!

Otherwise, I have started to write on more articles dealing with "off-the-beaten-track attractions" in Vienna. Unfortunately, there is ways too many topics that I would like to work on - too much to say, too little time. However, I plan to get beyond the 700 article border by the end of July.

Note also the new Vienna webcam directory.

Happy Austria Travel!

Benedikt

Donnerstag, 3. Juli 2008

Layout changes and search function

Ladies and gentlemen,

I has been a bit quiet this last couple of weeks - this is due to obligations with the sister-project visit-salzburg.net, which got a new photo gallery (see post below) and a face-lift.

However, I have not stopped working on TMC - in fact, I did quite a few things, especially with the layout and code. The latter one deals with things that the "ordinary" reader will barely (if at all) note, but I hope that it will help the website to gain some importance with google and other search engines.

Meanwhile, please note the exciting search tool box that I have added on almost every page of the website - with some 650 articles online, it got increasingly difficult to keep an overview; the search box will help you to find your way round. Best,

Benedikt

Freitag, 30. Mai 2008

Letter to the editor...

"After three days of trawling the net looking for information on Austria I finally found your website by chance. The information in it will certainly make my planning a lot easier, I am going to Soll in the Tirol for a week in early june and trying to work out if its worth hiring a car or stick to the bus and train. Anyway, thanks for putting the site together, it's very good and parts of it (crappiest bit of Austria) have made me laugh. Still a lot to go through. Once again many thanks. XXX, Exeter, Devon."

Letter to the editor...

After three days of trawling the net looking for information on Austria I finally found your website by chance. The information in it will certainly make my planning a lot easier, I am going to Soll in the Tirol for a week in early june and trying to work out if its worth hiring a car or stick to the bus and train. Anyway, thanks for putting the site together, it's very good and parts of it (crappiest bit of Austria) have made me laugh. Still a lot to go through. Once again many thanks. Keith Thomas. Exeter. Devon.

Donnerstag, 15. Mai 2008

Re-Launch of Partner Website on Salzburg

As some regular readers (yes, they do exist, as I know from e-mails...) know, TourMyCountry has branched off an older project that dealt with my hometown Salzburg. This website was re-launched recently and is now equipped with a new Salzburg photo gallery. The url is and remains: www.visit-salzburg.net.

Enjoy!

Dienstag, 6. Mai 2008

An error on TourMyCountry.com - spotted by a reader

Hi!

I enjoyed your site on travelling in austria very much. As a native viennese, I must really congratulate to your critical view on Vienna. Although I personally think that Vienna isn't as bad as you described it, I understand that at least for tourists it can be frustrating. Especially if one is a more open-minded traveller who is interested in stuff far beyond Sisi-Kitsch.Although there are many great places to discover, but tourists don't get to see them, as they are not in a guidebook.

But I found a major error on your site about Burgenland. The name "Burgenland" does not derive from the huge amount of fortresses in that area. It was provisionally indeed called "Vier-Burgen-Land" (four caste land), but that derives from the names of the four (later three) administral counties of Hungary, from which the Burgenland was split:Pozsony, Moson, Sopron and Vas counties, or their respective german names: Pressburg, Wieselburg, Ödenburg and Eisenburg. Four -burgs, giving it the name "Burgenland". (Later on during negotiations, nothing from Pressburg (Bratislava) was ceded to Austria.)

Although children even learn in school the fairytale of the beautiful castels in Burgenland, it is simply not true that they gave the name to the province.

Greetings,

XXX

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Thanks to this reader for the correction; if you are interested in the castles of the Burgenland, see the article on the Schlösserstraße or "Road of Castles".

Dienstag, 29. April 2008

The Baby is out: Austria Sightseeing Map!

A new era begins for TMC: I have added a sightseeing and travel map for Austria, which is based on a google web application. It is meant to assist you with planning your trip and for getting an overview on where things are with respect to each other and in which region of my country.

You find the Map here:

Austria Sightseeing & Travel Map

Enjoy! I hope it is useful.

Benedikt

Montag, 14. April 2008

Current Projects: Benedikt's To-Do List 4 TMC

As TourMyCountry.com has grown to a beast with over 600 articles (with another 50 being written, but now online yet), I have recently decided to define some to-dos for myself:

1.) Slight adaptation of the navigation bar
2.) Implementation of the new articles
3.) Implementation of a seriously cool new feature, which will be announced here shortly

Especially the latter one will kick TMC into a new era, I promise.

Montag, 7. April 2008

Short Updates on TourMyCountry.com

Two minor changes have happened on TourMyCountry.com.

Firstly, I have re-arranged the sitemap to make it more comprehensible: http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/sitemap.htm

Secondly, the blog (this one) is now availalbe through the subdomain http://www.blog.tourmycountry.com/

Best wishes,

Benedikt

Mittwoch, 26. März 2008

A friendly e-Mail for TourMyCountry.com

Dear Benedikt,

I would like to thank you for your excellent online guide to Vienna. I recently inherited a sum of money and plan to use it to purchase a flat in Vienna, so your guide to all the districts is particularly useful, before I go to Vienna (probably in April) to check out the city for myself.

Your site is the sort of information tourist needs. You can learn about museums and cathedrals from anyone and anywhere, but yours is the only guide I have found that "tells it as it is."

Vielen Dank!

XXX

Dienstag, 4. März 2008

Question & Answer, again

A rather amusing conversation I recently had with somebody asking for Mozartkugeln:

---

QUESTION:

Dear Salzburg information center,
We would like to ask you for kindly help in follow case. We looking for a contact to ORIGINAL Mozartkugeln company, which makes your very delicate and luxury kugeln of Mozart.

Could you be so kind and send us contat to manufactory, which makes this products? Any person in charge, e-mail and phone no. of them?

Thank you very much
Best regards,

XXX

MY ANSWER:

Hi there,

My website is not the official tourist information centre, but I can help you - the original Mozartkugel was invented by the confectionier Fürst and sold in various Cafes of Fürst in Salzburg: http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/

The term "Original Salzburger Mozartkugel" is also used by Mirabell Mozartkugel - they are cheaper, also locally made, but not the originals.

Best wishes,

Benedikt

QUESTION 2:

Dear Benedikt,

I´m so sorry, regarding mistake about your web page :(. Hope you´ll accept me appologize. About your informations, i know about mirabell mozart, but as you wrote it isn´t original mozart kugeln, that´s why i want to conctat furst original mozartkugeln manufactory – do you have any contact to them?

I try to wrote to e-mail addresse, what i found at http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/
But it´s only any shop, not manufactory :(

XXX

MY ANSWER 2:

Hi XXX

No worries! Fürst is the original one - they have their traditional Cafe at Alter Markt Square in Salzburg and a few selling spots in various locations of Salzburg. You can order or contact the Cafe online through their website: http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/

The website is available in English. Best wishes,

Benedikt

QUESTION 3:

Dear Benedikt,

Thank you for your kindly help. I wrote e-mail to that Cafe Mozart. So now i´ll wait for any answer.
If everythink will go good, this month i´ll go to Salzburg. Could you give me some feed back about any cheaper hotels where i can sleep? :)

Talk to you soon,

XXX

MY ANSWER 3:

Try Hotel Amadeus or Hotel Goldene Ente - they are both very central and reasonably priced.

Best,

Benedikt

Montag, 25. Februar 2008

Austria Travel Link Directory: The Baby is out!

Alright, took longer than I had expected (I had hired somebody for the php programming a year ago, but he quite after a while), but here it is: The glorious link directory of TourMyCountry.com, up and running and ready to accept contributions!

Mittwoch, 20. Februar 2008

Districts of Vienna: A Guide for each "Bezirk" of Austria's Capital

Ladies and Gentlemen,

News are about to be released...the link directory of TourMyCountry.com is almost finished and there are only a few bugs left that need to be fixed.

Meanwhile, I would like to draw your attention to a new section on the website: A guide for each individual district of Vienna.

Districts of Vienna Guide

District Overview - 1st (Innere Stadt) - 2nd (Leopoldstadt) - 3rd (Landstraße) - 4th (Wieden) - 5th (Margarethen)- 6th (Mariahilf) - 7th (Neubau) - 8th (Josefstadt) - 9th (Alsergrund) - 10th (Favoriten) - 11th (Simmering) - 12th (Meidling) - 13th (Hietzing) - 14th (Penzing) - 15th (Fünfhaus) - 16th (Ottakring) - 17th (Hernals) - 18th (Währing) - 19th (Döbling) - 20th (Brigittenau) - 21st (Floridsdorf) - 22nd (Donaustadt) - 23rd (Liesing)

I hope the guides provide some useful information and will be gratful for every advice on how to improve them! Best,

Benedikt

Mittwoch, 6. Februar 2008

Austria Travel Link Directory: Soon 2 b up & running!

The promised link directory is starting to look functional - it is still buggish and somewhat crude, but I am really excited about it. It is not linked to yet from anywhere else, so this is something like a preview to share my excitement:

TourMyCountry - Austria Travel Link Directory

I hope to finish it soon with decent categories and everything. Until then,

Benedikt

Dienstag, 5. Februar 2008

Q&A: Trains Salzburg-Bischofshofen for Ski Jumping

It is anther round of "Question & Answer" - here we go:

QUESTION

Hi there! I am planning to come to Austria next January for the Ski Jumping 4Hills event at Bischofshofen, but am struggling to find accommodation inthe town. So I have decided to try Salzburg, is this a good base forgetting to Bischofshofen? I plan to come on 03/01/2009 the Saturday, spend a couple of dayssightseeing in Salzburg then go to the Ski Jumping on the Monday andTuesday. Are the trains cheap and frequent from Salzburg to go toBischofshofen and back each day? Sorry for so many questions but I am quite excited about coming toAustria and would appreciate any help or advice.

Your website by the way is a great read, keep up the good work.
My best regards, XXX, Penzance, England

ANSWER:

Hi XXX, Thank you for your message. I think Salzburg will make a good base for your stay, both for Bischofshofen and because the city itself offers plenty of things to see and do. Trains run frequently, and there might be a bus service in addition to them (trains are faster, though). The tourist information centre will know details, there is one at the main station (you will get there if you take a city bus from the airport). I am sure there are several trains a day - the Austrian National Railway's website, by the way, is: www.oebb.at Have fun in Salzburg / Bischofshofen! Benedikt

Montag, 28. Januar 2008

Question & Answer - Part 2: More on Salzburg

Now here is an interesting one:

QUESTION:

Hi. I'm XXX from the Philippines. I've been collecting caricatures from all the places I've been to and I will be going to Salzburg this coming April. I just wanted to ask if you would know where I could find the caricature artists on the street. if so, where should I be looking for them. Thank you very much. Sincerely, XXX

ANSWER:

Hello XXX, There are caricature artists around the cathedral in the city centre - mostly on the Domplatz and under the arches between Domplatz and the surrounding squares. I think they are there all year round, although I have to admit that I have never paid much attention to them. I hope you have a good time in Salzburg and get a great caricature! Best wishes, Benedikt

AND THE GRATEFUL REPLY:

Hello Benedikt! Thank you very much for your honest and detailed reply. I will surely enjoy my trip. Thanks a lot! XXX

Donnerstag, 17. Januar 2008

Q&A: A Question about "The Sound of Music" Tours

I decided to start posting questions that were sent to me by e-mail at the blog, in the hope that my answers will help other people, too. Here we go with one regarding "The Sound of Music" Tours in Salzburg:

QUESTION:

"Hi, I am going on holiday with my husband and 3 children to a hotel outside Salzburg in February (the Neubichleralm in Piding, near Bad Reichenstall) and we will spend at least one day in the city. I was last in Salzburg in 1982 (!) and hope to revisit the places I enjoyed then.

However, my children are avid fans of THAT film and so we are considering a Sound of Music tour as well as Mozrtsgeburtshaus/ pferdwasche etc... Is there one company that is better than others or are they all fairly similar? I know its kitsch and unrepresentative of Austria and we will make this clear to our children: I spent a few summers in Scheibbs, NO and have great memories of the Wachau, Krems, Heuriger etc so we can make sure that they get the message! Any advice welcome!"

MY ANSWER:

Hi XXX, I've never done a Sound of Music Tour myself, but I assume they are all rather similar - Panoramatours is the very big one, Bob's Tours is a small local company that might be more personal; otherwise, especially since you are several people, renting a car and touring the lakes yourself will be the best deal and grant you with the freedom to spend time wherever you want.

Essentially, 80 percent of all Sound of Music locations are *within* Salzburg and very accessible; then they go to Anif, where you can't get into the castle, because it is private property; and then they take you to Mondsee, which is nice, but not worth the 35 Euros that I think they charge - since you can get their by public busses or with your own car. I hope this helps! Have a great stay in Salzburg! Links to our website are always appreciated! Best wishes, Benedikt

Montag, 14. Januar 2008

New Layout is delayed - current issues with TourMyCountry

You might have noticed that the new layout that I have promised just before Christmas has not happened yet - this is due to difficulties with my general time-budget. Nonetheless, I think about three major innovations for the next couple of months:

- The new layout with features like info-boxes
- A link directory instead of the rather useless current "link list for Austria"
- Increased number of photographs, especially for articles that are purley texed based (for an example, see the new one on Mayrhofen in the Zillertal Valley).

I hope I will make good progress with all three points.

Best,

Benedikt

Freitag, 4. Januar 2008

Skiing, skiing & more skiing!

As winter proceedes, the skiing industry is nearing its peak - according to current press reports, it is hard to find any room in the top skiing towns of Salzburg and Tyrol for most of January.

If you havn't booked your skiing holiday yet, it is about time!

Here some useful links:

http://www.skiaustria.com/
http://www.skiingaustria.co.uk/
http://www.ski-austria.com/

For an outline of the skiing areas of austria by province, I wrote the following article:

http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/skiingareas.htm

And a general introduction to skiing in Austria:

http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/skiing-austria.htm

Finally, note the new articles on skiing resorts such as Obertauern, Ischgl, St. Anton, Lech, Zürs and Kitzbühel.

Happy Skiing!

Benedikt

Dienstag, 1. Januar 2008

Prosit Neujahr - Happy New Year!

Oh well, the new layout that I had promised to be implemented by Christmas hasn't happened yet; however, I did spend some time on TourMyCountry.com and created a directory of districts of Austria - there you can browse the provinces, districts and all muncipalities of the country altogether with maps of each area. For example, to find a list of all communities of the Flachgau or "Bezirk Salzburg Umgebung". This is not overly useful for the ordinary tourist, but provides me with a "red line" through the country and the sightseeing articles I have done and will do in the future.

Speaking of the future: A very happy new year! As for resolutions, I plan to play with the layout of the website and want to "return" to the Vienna section to add more content there. Specifically, I would like to do a district-by-district guide to sightseeing. Furthermore, Styria and Carinthia could use some more attention. We'll see how the traffic picks up this year.

Finally, a current piece of information: There is an apparently very nice show on Alice motives in fine arts for children currently shown in the MMK in Salzburg.

Benedikt