I mean Innsbruck is a good start, it's nice city and mostly done with the whole thing in a day.
Goldenes Dachl, the old town and if you take the J line to the hungerburg you have a great view over the City (and you don't have to pay for the Hungerburgbahn).
But as the others say, Salzburg is probably a great for 1 night, Linz is also nice.
Have fun :)
Did you draw the route by yourself or did you check with ÖBB? Asking because like another user mentioned the main connection between Innsbruck and Vienna runs through Salzburg. Your route might still be doable with local / regional trains, definitely if you include buses.
What are your main interests? Historic places, urban environments, nature, sports, spa experiences, something else? What's your budget? Free experiences only, some fees OK, money does not matter?
Ahh sorry, I had a Mandela effect about the eurail trip planner showing a train route in this path. Well I prefer to remain around the train path so I might skip these local towns.
My interest are generally historic places, little bit of nature, some urban environments and authentic local food that represents the culture and history of said city/country. I visit to absorb the country's culture and not for leisure since that can be done in any country.
I might stop at Vienna, since my first visited city would be Salzburg.
No worries. I checked the rail network and there definitely is a route: https://infrastruktur.oebb.at/de/geschaeftspartner/schienennetz/dokumente-und-daten/netzkarten/dokument?datei=Karte+VzG+Streckenklassen+%28SNNB+2025%29
It's just not the main express route and more local. IMO it's mostly nature / sports / wellness along the route.
This page has a graphic that shows the main rail routes: https://www.mappingeurope.com/austria/austria-rail-map.html
If you have a night to spare Bad Ischl is out of your way, but awesome to take in some of the flair during emperors times. It's very close to Hallstatt (overly touristic but if you've never been there worth visiting, also has great surrounding mountains and cable cars up there with great views). The Salzkammergut region where Bad Ischl is located is our favorite weekend destination. Many great lakes, mountains, small villages. Just had to get it out there, but - to be fair - it's much easier to go by car than by train & bus.
I think Austria has a great public transport system and you can reach any village by train and bus, but if you want to optimize your experiences and not waste much time sticking to the main cities might be better:
Pretty sure you're already aware of the main attractions in Salzburg. But one restaurant recommendation. Although a bit pricey https://www.zumzirkelwirt.at/en has great authentic food and the athmosphere is phantastic. The venue has a really rustic feel to it.
Agree with @PoisonedPrisonPanda@discuss.tchncs.de that you don't need to stay a night in Linz. Totally feasible to go there in the morning and leave for Vienna in the evening.
Linz does have it's historic places and sights. If it's your first time in Austria it's just that Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna have so much more to offer that Linz just doesn't cut it for most visitors. You can look up some Linz attractions and see for yourself if it would be worth it for you. Some pointers:
Best time to visit would be mid July - the "Pflasterspektakel" is an annual international street performer festival that is fun to visit. With street performers all over the city (mostly along the Landstraße) https://pflasterspektakel.at/en/
Maybe you can also look into "Wachau". Its a region along the Danube river and a bit off your route between Salzburg/Linz and Vienna. Famous for it's wineries and fruit farms (i.e. grapes & apricots). Great local food from local farmers and producers (you can google "Heuriger" - you'll also find great Heurige in Vienna). Wachau has some nice ruins to visit. But not sure if it's really convenient just by train. For some sights you would definitely need to go by bus.
Your comprehensive descriptions are amazing! Lemmy shows time and time again that we have a good community here.
It seems you might have visited Salzburg some times coming from your restaurant recommendation. Have you tried out other foodie places, like other restaurants or bakeries perhaps, that might worth to spend some cash on? Also do you have favorite restaurants used by locals in Vienna?
We go to Salzburg several times a year but don't have any more personal recommendations. When we travel we usually go by Google Maps reviews. Overall rating + reading some recent comments usually leads to decent results.
For Austria in general I have one additional "hack" maybe. There are two national restaurant guides that many people trust.
Sadly the web versions seem to be German only. But Falstaff seems to have an app - "Falstaff Guide" app (available on Android + iOS). Just installed it and content was in English there at least. Pretty sure you can find decent recommendations there.
In Vienna there is the Schweizerhaus https://www.schweizerhaus.at/en/ right in the middle of Prater Amusement park. Maybe a bit touristy and expensive, but still delicious if you are into meat.
We once had a magical experience in the Piaristenkeller https://piaristenkeller.com/en/index.php?i=7 It was the kitchen of the monastery next door but is now a restaurant including a historical hat museum and wine cellar. We had a full tour and wine tasting. The host was great.
The Piaristenkeller has "K.u.K." in it's name. If you see that it means "Kaiserlich und Königlich" (= imperial and royal) and only services that catered directly to the emperor were allowed to use this designation. Typically they are still of high quality (maybe a bit more pricey than regular restaurants), but you can expect them to deliver traditional food unchanged since emperors time. You'll find many bakeries and restaurants, especially in larger cities like Vienna or Salzburg, but also in other places all over Austria.
In Vienna you can also look for "Heuriger" as I said. They are not that common so you'll have to really research them. You'll get locally produced meats, cheeses, bread, wine. They are run by the family and are only allowed to open certain times of the year. Make sure to check out their calendar if you find one.
Completely different style... this one seems to receive high praises, but it's not really my scene: https://www.steirereck.at/ They in itself have three different venues with different flairs I think.
"Naschmarkt" is the market in Vienna. They have a ton of food stalls. Might be fun to visit, but it can really be hit & miss with food quality. There is a very small Sushi bar close by though. I think Kojiro... does not look like much and just a nook in the wall really, but very authentic Japanese Sushi.
Figlmüller https://www.figlmueller.at/en/ for traditional Schnitzel. But pretty sure there are many other options that might be cheaper. They are close by St. Stephans Cathedral in the city center. They have big ads all over the Vienna airport - which personally makes me think it might just be a lot of marketing which you have to pay as customer. But I guess they are quite old and should be solid.
Somewhat in the proximity of "Naschmarkt" there is also Vollpension https://www.vollpension.wien/ - My wife loved the athmosphere in that Cafe. It's completely run by grandmas and grandpas. They cook their traditional recipes. TBH the bread I had was quite stale and not really a "foodie" place for me. But the atmosphere and decoration is phantastic.
You'll find many good Cafe and Bakery options in Vienna. If you use one of the guides and do some Google Maps research I'm sure you'll find everything that you wish for.
Edit: Some more honorable mentions:
Disclaimer: I'm no foody at all. Just wrote down stuff that we like to do and that I remembered. You'll definitely find more "hip" and fancy stuff using online guides.
Since all trains commute via Salzburg - this is probably the most classic city to visit.
Lots of culture. Probably lots of tourists too. It is a beautiful town - with many options to enjoy a beautiful day. probably enough places to enjoy also during bad weather.
If you like it quiet Linz is also an option. but to be honest Linz is probably worth a day trip without the need to stay overnight - except you want to visit nightlife.
Nevertheless given your preferences to not divert from the main train line - Salzburg is the way to go.
Thanks for the comprehensive infos? And what are your thoughts about Linz more deeply, since Reddit's mainly are against visiting Linz apparently due to it's industrial hub layout
