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Opulent palaces, scenic alpine towns, and breathtaking landscape – the tiny country of Austria rewards visitors in spades.
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It’s a central European location nestled between eight nations (including Germany, Switzerland, and Italy). You may start the day in the Alps and end it waltzing in a Viennese castle if you properly play your cards (and your rail tickets).
If a rich imperial history, picture-perfect alpine vistas, and a diversified culinary scene seem like your sort of European holiday, we’ve got you covered. From Vienna to Salzburg to Arlberg, here are some suggestions for your first – or future – a trip to Austria.
Vienna is the Cultural Capital.
For more than 600 years, Vienna served as the imperial house for Austria’s Habsburg dynasty, and the capital city’s palaces and landmarks allow views into part of that illustrious past. The 1,440-room Schönbrunn Palace, the Habsburgs’ historic summer palace on the city’s outskirts, is one of the most outstanding examples.
But Vienna is much more than the golden past on display today. The city has a thriving cultural scene, superb shopping, one of the best coffeehouse cultures in Europe, exceptional hotels (including seven Virtuoso properties), and plenty of open space. In reality, parks, woods, and vineyards cover more than half of the city of Vienna.
Most of Vienna’s exploration begins in the First District, the city centre, home to the Hofburg palace complex, the Vienna State Opera, Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, and a maze of twisting streets that lead to shops and antique stores cafés, and hotels. Restaurants, 100-plus museums (including the Albertina, Belvedere, and Kunsthistorisches), galleries, concert halls, and stores beckon beyond the Ringstrasse, the road that encircles Old Town.
Don’t leave without eating a slice (or three) of Vienna’s famed Sacher torte, a rich chocolate cake with layers of apricot jam. The original was made in 1832 at the Hotel Sacher Wien, although tourists may find it almost anywhere.
The World’s Stage: Salzburg
Salzburg, surrounded by the Alps and near the German border, is a three-hour train trip from Vienna, making it one of the most popular and environmentally friendly routes to travel between the two cities.
SALZBURG’S Old Town’s UNESCO World Heritage site is a superbly preserved nook of baroque buildings, high spires, cobblestoned lanes, compact townhomes, and wrought-iron shop signs. (Hint: It’s best to view it all from the top of Hohensalzburg Castle, Europe’s oldest undamaged castle.) Salzburg was considered holy by the prince-archbishops who created it in the seventh century, and it was formerly the world’s only other city-church state outside of Vatican City.
Mozart’s Geburtshaus, the town house-turned-museum where Mozart was born in 1756, is a must-see. Yes, The Sound of Music, which was filmed in Salzburg in 1964, is still very much alive in the hills of Salzburg. If you know every word to “Do-Re-Mi”, you can appreciate Mirabell Palace and Gardens, as well as the Leopoldskron Palace, which appears in the film.
The Salzburg Festival, a week-long extravaganza of opera, concert, and theatrical performances is the apex of the city’s robust musical culture. The festival, which began in 1920, is widely regarded as the most renowned type globally.
Every winter, serious skiers flock to Arlberg, a grouping of five villages in western Austria’s Alps home to the country’s largest ski resort and one of Europe’s most famous, with 124 miles of groomed slopes and challenging slopes off-piste terrain. Arlberg has a long skiing history; it is regarded as the origin of alpine skiing. The Austrians were first sceptical: in the 1880s, a Norwegian engineer arrived at the Arlberg to build the Arlberg tunnel, carrying two strange boards that he glided over the snow to work with him. However, this initial mistrust had given way to sheer excitement by the early twentieth century, and a local kid, Hannes Schneider, appeared on the scene and pioneered his Arlberg style.
Saint Anton is the largest and most popular village (and has the most vibrant après-ski culture), but each has its unique attraction, and they’re all well connected by the region’s cableway and ski-lift network. There’s lovely shopping in Lech (and the chic 16-room Kristiania Lech), the original Ski-Club Arlberg (founded in 1901) in Saint Christoph, miles of cross-country trails in Zürs (with the 38-room Thurnhers Alpenhof), and pure alpine beauty in Stuben, a tiny hamlet with only 80 year-round residents.
By summer, the runoff has blanketed the slopes in wildflowers, and tourists have swapped skiing for hiking, mountain biking, or alpine yoga (the Saint Anton’s Mountain Yoga Festival in September attracts health seekers from all over the world). One highlight is the five-mile hike to Formarinsee Lake, an emerald-hued beauty formerly considered the country’s most beautiful place. The Freiburger Hut by the lake serves festive post-hike food in typical Austrian fashion.
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