Austria is a land of valleys and peaks, high roads and mountain passes, ski slopes and Alpine meadows that fall away eastwards to the Hungarian Plains. The spectacular scenery, friendly people, good food and well-developed resorts have earned it a deservedly high reputation around the world. Where farmers once eked out a living during the short summers, there are well-established hotels and restaurants. A network of lifts and cable cars lace the mountainsides, taking visitors, winter and summer, to the high playgrounds.
Off-piste skiing from Valuga peak in St Anton, Austria.
AWL Images
The Arlberg
In the very west of the country, Arlberg mountain region, straddling the border of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg provinces, is considered the cradle of Alpine skiing in Austria. Hannes Schneider gave the first ski lessons to tourists in 1907 in St Anton am Arlberg 1 [map], a village that has grown into a first-class ski resort.
While the Tyrol is the most famous of Austria’s ski regions, good skiing is by no means limited to that province. The heart of the Vorarlberg is the Montafon Valley, gateway to the Silvretta High Alpine Road, with the 3,312-metre (10,863ft) Piz Buin towering in the background. The Montafon has been the site of many Austrian ski championships, and villages such as Schruns have a special charm.
Innsbruck
The capital of the Tyrol, Innsbruck 2 [map] owes its long history to its position at the foot of the Brenner Pass south to Italy. Of the historic Alpine passes, this is the easiest to cross and so was already an important military and trade link in Roman times, when a bridge was first built across the River Inn (the town’s name simply means “Bridge over the Inn”). It enjoyed a golden age as one of the residences of the House of Habsburg in the 15th and 16th centuries, and reached its prime in the reign of Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519), one of the dynasty’s greatest monarchs, who spent long periods here. Trade and manufacturing flourished, as well as architecture, and many of the city’s landmarks hail from this period.
Skiing in Austria
The Swiss may have invented the Alpine winter resort at St Moritz, but Austrians followed them soon afterwards, and were among the first to adapt the original Scandinavian skiing style to suit their own steep slopes, and to found a system of teaching. Today, Austria has some of the world’s finest winter sports facilities. Ischgl, south of St Anton in the Vorarlberg, has become one of the hippest resorts in the Alps in recent years, with a high-speed nightlife that attracts a celebrity crowd and the “Top of the Mountain” pop concerts each spring to mark the end of the ski season. Star names that have performed there include Beyoncé, Elton John, Rihanna and even Bob Dylan.
In the Tyrol, Innsbruck is not only a major winter sports centre itself, but is surrounded by smaller, often more enjoyable ski resorts, such as Igls and Mutters in the south or Seefeld to the northwest, which is particularly popular for cross-country skiing. The Kitzbühel area offers perhaps the greatest range of possibilities, with over 168km (105 miles) of slopes to choose from, covering every range of difficulty from beginner’s slopes to the most adventurous. Nearby St Johann has a more laidback atmosphere than Kitzbúhel itself.
Innsbruck’s Altstadt or Old Town constitutes a precious assembly of medieval architecture. It is bordered by the River Inn and the streets of Marktgraben, Burggraben and Herrengasse. Almost every street offers a view of high mountain peaks nearby. The narrow lanes have been pedestrianised, allowing visitors to stroll without hindrance past the pergolas, oriel windows, painted facades and stucco ornaments. Another way of viewing these architectural treasures is by hiring one of the horse-drawn carriages that wait on Rennweg, in front of the Tiroler Ländestheater (Tyrolean Provincial Theatre).
Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse leads into the heart of the Old Town to the Goldenes Dachl or Golden Roof, the most striking part of the Neuer Hof (New Palace), a magnificent late Gothic mansion built as a royal residence in the early 15th century. In 1500, Maximilian I had an extraordinary balcony added in commemoration of his betrothal to Bianca Maria Sforza, daughter of the Duke of Milan. The decorative balcony, adorned with elaborate reliefs and over 2,600 gilded copper shingles, served as a box for spectators watching tournaments and plays in the square below, and is Innsbruck’s best-known landmark.
Cathedral of St James and mountain backdrop, near Innsbruck.
Britta Jaschinski/Apa Publications
Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse is known for a string of medieval houses among which Trautsonhaus, built during the transition from Gothic to the Renaissance, and Katzunghaus, with unique balcony reliefs from 1530, stand out. Another landmark is the 56-metre (180ft) Stadtturm (City Tower), built in 1360 as a watchtower against fire. From its gallery there is a magnificent view of the town and the mountains. Sights one can see include the Ottoburg, a residential tower built in 1495, and the Burgriesenhaus in Hofgasse, which Duke Siegmund built in 1490 for his court favourite, Niklas Haidl, a 2.4-metre (7ft 10ins) giant.
In the opposite direction through Pfarrgasse is Domplatz, at the rear of the Golden Roof, with the Domkirche zu Jakob (Parish Cathedral of St James) a splendid example of Baroque architecture with twin towers. A copy of Mariahilf (Our Lady of Succour) by Lukas Cranach the Elder adorns the high altar.
Nowhere else in Austria conveys such a vivid impression of the 16th-century as the eastern part of the Old Town. The 15th-century Hofburg (Imperial Palace; daily) was rebuilt from 1754 to 1773 in late Rococo style. One highlight of the guided tours is the Riesensaal (Giant’s Hall), with Rococo stucco-work. The Hofkirche (Imperial Church) houses the Mausoleum of Maximilian I, although he was actually buried in Wiener Neustadt near Vienna. Twenty-eight of his forebears and contemporaries – all cast as larger-than-life bronze statues – stand guard around the grave.
To the east of the Hofkirche, in an old Franciscan monastery, is the Tiroler Volkskunst-Museum (Tyrol Folk Art Musuem; daily), which contains rustic interiors, traditional costumes and art illustrating the creativity of the Tyrolean people.
Decorative balcony of the Golden Roof, one of Innsbruck’s finest medieval buildings.
Britta Jaschinski/Apa Publications
Outside the Old Town
Leading south from Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse is Innsbruck’s principal thoroughfare, Maria Theresien Strasse, where the Anna Säule (St Anne’s Column) commemorates 26 July 1703, St Anne’s Day, when Bavarian troops forced the inhabitants out of Innsbruck. Leopoldstrasse, a continuation of the street, leads both to Stiftskirche Wilten (Wilten Abbey Church), founded in 1138 by the Premonstratensians, and to the Basilika Wilten (Wilten Basilica), built in 1755 on the foundations of a previous building. The present abbey church was completed in 1670 and is one of the loveliest early Baroque churches in Austria, while the Basilica is an outstanding example of exuberant Rococo.
The residence of Archduke Ferdinand II, who governed the Tyrol in the late 16th century, Schloss Ambras (Ambras Castle), lies on the southeast edge of the city. Today it is a museum housing a collection of rare 16th-century art and armour, royal portraits and Ferdinand’s “Chamber of Art and Curiosities”, a unique collection of oddities including portraits of people with strange disabilities, mechanical toys, oriental armour and other things amassed by the archduke.
Innsbruck has hosted the Winter Olympics twice, in 1964 and 1976, the Winter Paralympics in 1984 and 1988, and many international winter sports competitions. An imposing legacy of these events is the stadium on the Bergiselschanze, a hill south of the city, seating 28,000 spectators and with a modern Olympic-standard ski jump designed by architect Zaha Hadid, with a tower that provides great views. Another reminder of the Olympics is the bobsleigh run at Igls, a popular resort a short distance further south from Innsbruck. You can experience flying down the run with a professional driver from December to March. Southwards, roads run up to the Brenner Pass and Italy.
The Eastern Tyrol
The reputation of Kitzbühel 3 [map] as a chic winter sports centre dates from the triple Olympic victory in 1956 of local boy Toni Sailer – the “Kitz Comet”. The famous Hahnenkamm mountain to the west of the resort – with famously steep slopes that host one of the annual Alpine Ski World Cup events – and the Kitzbüheler Horn to the east, ensure that the Kitzbühel skiing area attracts top enthusiasts from all over the world. Kitzbühel is also an all-year sports destination, as in summer it hosts the Austrian Open tennis tournament in July, while the relatively tame Kitzbühel Alps afford an extensive range of mountain walks; for those who prefer it rockier and more challenging, there are the vast limestone peaks of the Wilder Kaiser. The best starting point for a mountain walk is St Johann, the resort town in the valley to the north between the Kitzbüheler Horn and the Wilder Kaiser.
The East Tyrol and the provinces of Salzburg and Kärnten (Carinthia) converge at the Grossglockner, the highest point in Austria at 3,797 metres (12,460ft). At its foot glistens the Pasterze Glacier. The best view of both mountain and glacier is from Franz-Josef-Höhe, a spur at the end of one branch of Grossglockner High Alpine Road, an extraordinary road, open from May to October only, that is one of the great Alpine highways, beginning at Bruck and ending at the mountaineering town of Heiligenblut in Carinthia.
A street musician gets a young audience.
Britta Jaschinski/Apa Publications
Carinthia
A faster scenic route linking north and south is the Tauern-autobahn (A10), the motorway that travels from Salzburg via two large tunnels to the Carinthian capital, Klagenfurt 4 [map]. This is a region of lakes and rivers, majestic mountains, gently rolling meadows and secluded valleys. Legend tells of a winged dragon that once struck terror into the hearts of local inhabitants. The Dragon Fountain statue, the emblem of Klagenfurt, is in the middle of the Neuer Platz, where most of the lovely houses date from the 17th century.
The town has a number of important historical buildings; Zur Goldene Gans (The Golden Goose), listed in records of 1489, was planned as an imperial residence; the Landhaus (Palace of the Estates, now the Carinthian State Assembly), dating from the 16th century, displays 665 coats of arms, while the Palais Porcia (now a hotel) and town hall also date from the 16th century. There are also no fewer than 22 castles within a radius of a few miles. At Magdalensberg north of the city is the site of the largest archaeological excavations in Austria: a Celtic-Roman town, with an open-air museum (May–mid-Oct daily).
Wörthersee (Lake Wörther), beside Klagenfurt, is a gorgeous Alpine lake popular for summer bathing, sailing, and beach volleyball and other sports. In spite of its depth of 85 metres (275ft) in places, the water temperature can reach 28°C (83°F). Numerous resorts adorn the lakeshore, including Krumpendorf, Pörtschach, Velden and Maria Wörth. A further attraction beside the lake is Minimundus (Apr–Oct daily), a miniature world on a grand scale, with more than 140 replicas of famous buildings, a miniature railway and a harbour with model ships. Carinthia has over 1,200 lakes, providing excellent beaches, sports facilities and amenities in idyllic surroundings to suit all tastes.
North of Klagenfurt is the pilgrimage town of Gurk 5 [map]. Its 12th-century cathedral is the finest example of Romanesque architecture in Austria, built between 1140 and 1200, although the two huge towers were added much later, in the 17th century. Inside, the medieval interior is virtually unchanged, decorated with 13th-century frescoes and with a crypt with 100 columns sheltering the shrine of St Hemma, who founded the abbey of Gurk in 1043.
Villach 6 [map], a chic and historic town, lies at the centre of the Carinthian Lake District. The Romans built a bridge over the Drava here during the 1st century AD. The Renaissance physician Paracelsus spent his youth here and described the healing powers of the springs, and even today the warm waters offer relaxation and healing to guests from all over the world.
Altausee, a beautiful setting for a popular Styrian ski resort.
Jon Spall/Apa Publications
Styria
Further east is Graz 7 [map], the capital of the province of Steiermark or Styria, the second-largest Austrian city, with a population of 250,000, and the hometown of Arnold Schwarzenegger. This distinction aside, the Italian influence on the city’s architecture is unmistakable, notably the Rathaus (Town Hall), the late Gothic Franciscan Church (1520) and the magnificent Renaissance-style Landhaus, now the state assembly. On the south side of the Landhaus is the Landeszeughaus (Styrian Armoury; Apr–Oct Wed–Mon; Nov–Mar with guided tour by reservation), the largest intact 17th-century armoury in the world, with suits of armour, two-handed swords, shields, muskets, guns and rifles all on view. Other architectural jewels include the 15th-century Gothic Dom (Cathedral), the Burg or Castle complex built for Emperor Frederick III in the 1440s and now the Styrian state government offices, and Renaissance and Baroque mansions including the spectacular Gemaltes Haus (Painted House) in Herrengasse, with a facade covered in frescoes from the 1740s.
Modern Graz is also a lively cultural centre, with many museums, all of which have a common website (www.museum-joanneum.at). Standing out among them are the Neue Galerie (New Gallery; Tue–Sun) in the centre, with an impressive art collection from the 19th century to the present day, and the city’s outstanding modern landmark, the Kunsthaus Graz (Graz Art House; Tue–Sun), beside the River Mur. Appearing to some like a giant spaceship that has somehow landed in Old Graz, this was built for the city’s spell as European Capital of Culture in 2003, and is an exceptional multi-purpose space for contemporary art of all kinds. At night the outer skin forms a giant screen of changing colours, and though some residents still have reservations, others are proud that Graz has something so at variance with the typical Old World feel of Austrian towns.
One can return to the past by climbing the Schlossberg, the massive crag 470 metres (1,550ft) high in the middle of the city, which can be ascended by funicular, a glass lift or on foot. Once topped by a castle demolished by Napoleon, it is now a park, crowned by the Uhrturm (Clock Tower), which has become a city landmark and is visible for miles around. Amid lovely gardens on the west side of Graz is Schloss Eggenberg (Eggenberg Castle; Apr–Dec Wed–Sun), built for the family of the same name, which has also been beautifully restored and houses three museums, the Alte Galerie (Old Gallery) with art from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era, an Archaeology Museum and the “Coin Cabinet”, a huge historic coin collection. Just as interesting is the palace itself, designed in the 1620s for Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, a polymath specially interested in astronomy, with an intricate layout reflecting Renaissance ideas of the cosmos.
Austrians regard Styria as the “Green Province” of Austria. Its scenery includes Alpine landscapes – perpetual ice and deeply cut ravines – as well as extensive forests which slowly give way to rolling ranges of hills.
Eisenerz 8 [map] lies in a wild, romantic basin at the mouth of the Krumpentala and Trofeng valleys. The centre of an ore-mining region, it also has a well-developed infrastructure for tourists: campsites, climbing school, fitness circuit, footpaths and a lake for swimming. The Erzberg (1,465 metres/4,806ft) rises high above the valley floor and is still in use as an opencast iron ore mine.
Salzburg, seen from Mönchsberg.
Britta Jaschinski/Apa Publications
Many towns in Austria are blessed with splendid churches, squares and ornamental fountains, but none benefit from such an atmosphere and setting as Salzburg 9 [map]. The birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91), this is one of the most visited towns in Austria, especially during the annual Mozart Week festival at the end of January. The annual summer Salzburg Festival (www.salzburgerfestspiele.at) also bears Mozart’s indelible stamp. His birthplace, the Mozarts Geburtshaus (daily), in the lovely old street of Getreidegasse, is now a museum, with many mementoes of his life, including his violin, and his later home, the Mozart-Wohnhaus in Makartplatz, can also be visited.
Tip
Visitors to Salzburg can make use of the Salzburg Card, which gives unlimited entry to all the city’s museums, funiculars to the Hohensalzburg, and unlimited use of public transport for 1, 2 or 3 days. Prices began at €25 per day for adults. The cards are available from city tourist offices, or through www.salzburg.info.
The Mönchsberg and the Burgberg – the two mountains within the city boundaries – still stand sentinel over the narrow alleys of the Old Town, with their tall, narrow merchants’ houses, arcaded courtyards, Baroque-domed churches, palaces and spacious squares of the prince-bishops’ quarter. The entire Old Town is a World Heritage site, but among its most distinguished buildings are the Baroque Salzburger Dom (Cathedral), built by Italian architects in the 1620s, and the Alte Residenz, the former Bishops’ Palace, which now houses the Residenzgalerie (Tue–Sun), a gallery with many works by 16th- and 17th-century masters. Clinging to the side of Mönchsberg, and dominating the Old Town, is the majestic Hohensalzburg fortress (daily). Archbishop Gebhard began its construction in 1077, and the castle was continuously expanded until the 17th century. It includes staterooms, a torture chamber and an observation tower.
Salzburg is a city of palaces, and there are even more outside the Old Town, such as Hellbrunn (daily), a Baroque villa built amid exquisite gardens around 1615 for one of the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg purely for day trips, so that it does not have any bedrooms, or, just north of the Old Town, Mirabell (daily), built for another prince-archbishop as a home for his mistress and their 15 children, with more fabulous gardens with delightful fountains. Apart from Mozart, Salzburg’s other great claim to modern fame is as the location of the Sound of Music, which continues to draw crowds despite the film being over 40 years old. Among the favourite locations from the film are the Mirabell fountains, the Residenz, the Leopoldskron palace and the Nonnberg Abbey.
The Salzkammergut
East of Salzburg is another of Austria’s regions of extraordinary natural beauty, with a series of glacial lakes ringed by mountains and charming villages of traditional architecture. More of a summer than a winter destination, the lake country is equally popular for hiking, cycling, swimming in the lakes or just relaxing in the famously invigorating air. The spa town of Bad Ischl is the area’s most historic centre, since the Habsburg emperors came here for their health from the 1800s onwards, and its Kaiservilla (Imperial Villa) was the favourite home of Emperor Franz Joseph. This is the only imperial estate still owned by the Habsburg family, and is only partially open (Apr–Oct daily, Dec Sat–Sun, Jan–Mar Wed only).
The Traunsee is one of the busiest lakes, with a well-developed resort at Gmunden. Most beautiful of all, though, is the village of Hallstatt on the Hallstättersee, 12km (7 miles) south of Bad Ischl. The lake is surrounded on all sides by dramatic mountain scenery, and its clear, deep waters make it ideal for swimming and scuba-diving. With time visitors can also explore more remote lakes, such as the Toplitzsee east of Hallstatt, in a dramatic cleft accessible only on foot.
The Old Cathedral in Linz main square.
Britta Jaschinski/Apa Publications
The Wachau
Apricot blossoms, the waves of the Danube, castles, fish and wine are all aspects of this charming river region, the Wachau. The Danube flows through Linz ) [map], which is a modern industrial port city, but pretty in spite of that, especially around the Hauptplatz (main square). A white marble Trinity Column stands in the centre, and among the buildings surrounding the square are the Ignatiuskirche (Old Cathedral) with its twin spires. Entirely different is the Lentos Kunstmuseum (Lentos Art Museum; Tue–Sun), an adventurous glass-walled modern art museum opened in 2003. The Brucknerhaus is the location of the annual festival dedicated to Anton Bruckner (1824–96), who was born nearby.
Tip
Cruises on the Danube are some of the most popular ways of seeing eastern Austria. A wide range of routes are available: from day or evening cruises just around the Danube Canal in Vienna, to longer cruises around the city, and longer all-day trips such as from Vienna to Durnstein and back, or through the Wachau as far as Melk, a particularly lovely route in spring. DDSG (www.ddsg-blue-danube.at) offers a full range of routes, including theme tours, from April to October.
The Danube meanders across the north of Austria, past woods and fields, and in the shadow of churches and abbeys. The spectacular Benedictine Stift Melk ! [map] (Melk Abbey; daily, Nov–Mar guided tours only), its side facade 340 metres (1,115ft) long, is poised in all its Baroque splendour on a promontory above the river. One of the summits of Austrian religious Baroque, the abbey is vast, and still contains a monastic community.
Overlooking the Danube, in a gorgeous setting, Dürnstein @ [map] is probably the region’s most visited village: in the 1190s, Richard the Lionheart, King of England, was taken prisoner by the Duke of Austria on his return from crusading and languished in the dungeons of Dürnstein Castle. According to legend, Blondel, his faithful minstrel, found him by singing Richard’s favourite song beneath the castle walls. Soon afterwards, on payment of a huge ransom by the English, Richard was released.
A few kilometres downstream is Krems an der Donau £ [map], nestling among terraced vineyards on the bank of the Danube. Every visitor to the Wachau should taste the region’s wines and, in particular, its apricot brandy. The valley is filled with apricot trees, whose springtime blossom turns the countryside into a spectacle of great beauty. The river continues past the Vienna Woods, where the Vienna High Road affords a magnificent view of the capital.