Austria

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Quick Facts

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Local name

Oesterreich

Capital

Vienna

Government

Federal Republic

Nationality

Austrian

Population

8,188,000

Languages

German

Religions

Christianity (Catholic, Protestant), Islam

Currency

Euro (EUR) €

Calling Code

+43

Time Zone

CET (UTC+1)

Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

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Introduction

parliament

© All Rights Reserved M'siankiwi

Though Austria's political power has diminished over the 20th century, the legacy of its once mighty Habsburg empire remains intact, most notably at Vienna. The city, once the undisputed cultural centre of Europe, still bears the signs of its glory days: majestic architecture, a haven of Western musical tradition (from waltzes, to classical music, to operatic creations) and museums dedicated to its artistic heritage. But while Vienna's past glory makes it an must-see destination, Salzburg is the nation's most popular destination, both for Austrians and tourists; like Vienna, it boasts a rich cultural heritage.

Away from the cities, Austria's countryside beauty is as majestic as the Habsburg empire was. Whether it's the graceful Danube stretching across the north, the Eisriesenwelt ice caves (the largest accessible ice caves in the world), or the magnificent snow-capped peaks of the Alps, visitors will find it impossible to deny Austria's great beauty.

Brief History

Geography

Austria is a landlocked mountainous country located in Central Europe, bordering Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and the Czech Republic. It occupies a total area of 83 871 km².

The country can roughly be divided into three geographic areas; the majority of the country in the west is occupied by the Austrian Alps. These give way to foothills and low lying regions, including the valley around the river Danube. North of the river Danube is the Bohemian Forest (Böhmerwald), a low mountain range occupying about 10% of the country.

Provinces

Austria is divided into nine provinces:

• Burgenland
• Carinthia (Kärnten)
• Lower Austria (Niederösterreich)
• Salzburg
• Styria (Steiermark)
• Tyrol
• Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)
• Vienna
• Vorarlberg

Cities

• Vienna
• Salzburg
• Graz
• Innsbruck
• Bregenz
• Linz

Sights and Activities

Inner city of Vienna

The inner city of Vienna is a collection of old and new buildings, including the Hofburg, the Stephansdom, and a great collection of huge buildings build at the end of the 19th century on the Ringstrasse. But don't forget to wander the small streets.

Schönbrunn Palace

Schonbrunn Palace view in Vienna

© All Rights Reserved Petra M

Schönbrunn Palace (Schloss Schönbrunn) in Vienna, was once the summer residence of the Habsburg family. The grounds include Europe's largest greenhouse, the Gloriette, Wagenburg as well as the world's oldest zoo, Tiergarten Schönbrunn.

Salzburg's Old City

Salzburg's Old City (Altstadt) is world famous for its baroque architecture and a tourist hot spot. Above the old city, lies the fortress Hohen Salzburg. In the old city of Salzburg you can also visit the birthplace of Mozart, or take of the Sound of Musik tours.

Skiing

Austria has a very high concentration of ski resorts and is one of the major winter sports destinations in Europe. The Tyrol is the main area for skiiers, but there also resorts in Vorarlberg and in Salzburg. Kaprun is one of the places where one can ski all year round, and also is the place where the national skiing team of Austria has their training in summer.

Hohe Tauern

With 1,800 km² National park Hohe Tauern is Austria's largest National park. The park is seperated in three zones. There is a no-go zone in two already difficult to get areas, a core zone in which no construction is allowed, and a outer zone in which there is room for some tourism. The mountains in this area are some of the among the highest mountains in Austria, including the Grossglockner and the Grossvenediger. Because of the restrictions this area is for a large part free of mass tourism, making it a hiking (and mountainbiking) paradise.

Eisriesenwelt

In the mountains above Werfen lies the ice caves of Eisriesenwelt The caves are open for the public between May and early October. From the parkinglot in Gries/Werfen there are busservices going up the mountain that take you to a parking lot near a cablecar that takes you even further up hill, and after that it's a short 15 minute walk to the caves. Drivers who have experience in driving in the mountains, can drive up the mountain for the first piece on themselves. When you visit please remember that these are ice caves, so bring appropriate clothing.

Krimmler Waterfalls

Krimmler Waterfall

© All Rights Reserved S_Deisler

The Krimmler Waterfalls are often refered to as the biggest waterfall in Europe, but that depends on how you look at it. If it is or is not the largest/tallest/biggest waterfall in Europe (or even Austria), is not as important as the beauty of the falls. It still is an amazing sight so see 20,000 m³/h of water see rushing 380 meters downwards. The waterfalls come down in three stages, a first frop of 140 meters, a second one of a 100 meters, and a last step with again a drop of 140 meters. Along the waterfalls is a pathway, for with a 2.00 Euro entrance fee is asked (children between 6-15 pay 0,50 euro). When driving on the Gerlos Hochalpenstrasse you have some great views. On the new road is a panorama platform (and parking), from where you have a good view on the waterfalls

Events and Festivals

Austria hosts some great music festivals, mostly during the summer months. Donau Insel Fest in Vienna, Fm4 Frequency in Salzburg, Nuke in St. Pölten, are some of the largest Festivals.

Weather

Austria's climate is similar to other countries in Central Europe, with distinct seasons. Summers are from June to August, which is the hottest, but also wettest time of year. Temperatures usually are between 22 and 28 degrees C during the day but temperatures of over 35 degrees are not unheard of. In the Alps, conditions can change rapidly, with sunny weather turning into heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms. Higher in the mountain it rarely gets hot.
Winters can get very cold, with regular frost throughout the country. It is also the skiing season, with certain snow in most of the Alps from December to March.
Although spring and autumn's weather is changeable, it is most often the most comfortable in terms of temperatures.

Getting There

By Plane

Vienna International Airport (VIE) is the busiest airport in Austria. It is the main hub of Austrian Airlines and services flights from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Salzburg Airport (SZG) is the second largest airport, servicing flights to and from places in Europe. There are four other airports in Austria at Innsbruck, Linz, Klagenfurt and Graz.

By Train

As Austria is centrally located in Europe, there are numerous connections to neighbouring countries and places further away. Allthough Vienna offers a lot of connections, also the other cities have international connections, for example from Salzburg to Munich, Klagenfurt to Ljubljana and Venice, Linz to Prague, Graz to Budapest, and Innsbruck to Verona and Zurich.

By Car

It is easy to get to Austria from all its neighbouring countries, with excellent highways connecting to Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland. To and from Liechtenstein there is a smaller border crossing near Feldkirch.

By Bus

Eurolines offers buses to and from a number of places in Austria, including Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Linz. Buses go to many Europea destinations, including Prague, London, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam.

By Boat

It is possible to enter Austria by boat from Slovakia. The Twin city liner, connects Bratislava and Vienna. The trip takes about 75 minutes. There are three daily departures from April to October with extra Friday and Saturday evening departures from May onwards.
Also DDSG runs daily hydrofoils to and from Budapest from mid-April to late October, taking around 5,5 hours each way.

Getting Around

By Plane

Austrian Airlines flies between Vienna and Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz and Salzburg. Austrian Arrows operated by Tyrolean Airways has a number of domestic services as well and is based at Innsbruck, from where it flies to the destinations mentioned above.

By Train

If you are travelling between major centres, it is hard to beat the convenience of the Austrian railroads. The trains are clean, efficient and reasonably priced. Some of the train routes are attractions unto themselves, like the world famous Semmering railway line.

ÖBB (Österreiche Bundesbahn) is Austria's national rail system and operates on 5,700 km of tracks. You should be aware of the following special tickets that really make train travel in Austria very cheap.

• The Einfach-Raus-Ticket (ERT) costs 28,- EUR and provides a full day travel for groups of 2-5 people. You can travel anywhere you like within the country between 9am and 12pm Mon-Fri and all weekend.
• The VorteilsCard will allow half price travel within Austria for a year and a further 25% discount on many cross-border train trips in Europe. If you are under 26, the ticket costs 19,90 EUR. If you are 26 or over, the deal isn't quite as good, costing 99,90 EUR. There are also VorteilsCards for Families, Senior citizens and people with limited mobility. ^[1]

By Bus

In the areas where there are no rail connections, a Postbus (a division of ÖBB) is generally available. Buses are usually reliable. The VorteilsCard, which is also valid on trains, can provide up to 50% discount on bus fares as well.

By Car

Austria has an excellent and well maintained road network and renting a car is possible from many international and local companies at airports and major cities and towns and railway stations. Most roads require you to be toll and you can get passes for 10 days up to a year at border crossings, post offices, tourist offices and petrol stations.
Traffic drives on the right and you are obliged to use lights 24 hours a day! A national driver's licence wil do. When bringing your own car be sure to have proof of ownership and the required insurance (green card).
Note that driving in Tirol can be a nervous experience, because of the steep and winding mountain roads. Although most are paved, a little experience of driving in the mountains can be of some help.

By Boat

There are passenger services by boat from mid-May to mid-September along the Danube and on Austria's lakes. The DDSG Blue Danube Schiffahrt runs steamer services along the Danube. There are also trips on Lake Constanz from Bregenz.

By Bicycle

Cycling is a popular way to experience Austria and cyclists are generally well looked after. There are often separate bike tracks provided in cities and throughout the countryside as well. If you want to do some serious kilometres on the bike, the Danube Bike Trail, one of Europe's most popular cycling routes, is a good option.

Red Tape

If you are a European Union (EU) citizen, you may enter without any restriction as per your EU citizenship rights. If you are not an EU citizen and Austria is the first stop on your visit, you will need to obtain a Schengen Visa. This visa is valid for any country in the Schengen zone.

Money

See also: Money Matters

Austria has adopted the Euro (ISO code: EUR, symbol: €) as its official currency. One Euro is divided into 100 cents, which is sometimes referred to as eurocents, especially when distinguishing them with the US cents.

Euro banknotes come in denominations of €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, €500. The highest three denominations are rarely used in everyday transactions. All Euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides throughout the Eurozone.

The Euro coins are 1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, €1 and €2. Some countries in the Eurozone have law which requires cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest 5 cents. All Euro coins have a common design on the denomination (value) side, while the opposite side may have a different image from one country to another. Although the image side may be different, all Euro coins remain legal tender throughout the Eurozone.

Work

Study

Language

The official language in Austria is German. But it would be fair to say most Austrians speak English. Austrians learn English at school as of age 6.

You can read some basic German travel phrases in the German Phrasebook

Eat

If eating out, a tip of 5% is the standard.

Sleep

In the cities you have the normal choices of places to sleep. From a 5 star hotel room until the 12 bed dorm. Outside the cities it's likely to find a couple of camping lots.

Outside of the cities, in the countryside, places to sleep can be relatively cheap. You can find the normal hotel rooms in almost every town. There are a lot of pensions (often refered to as Pension or Gasthaus), but there are also a lot of private rooms available. These are easily recongnisable by the signs or a shield with the word Zimmer next to the road. Zimmer Frei (or sometimes a picture of a green bed), meaning that there are rooms available, Zimmer belegt (or a red bed) means that the rooms are taken. You can also come across a red/white flag, with the word Zimmer Frei written over it.

If you want to stay in the countryside, it might be a nice option to stay at a farm. When travelling with children this might be a good option, as they have more freedom for playing games, than in a normal hotel or pension. Camping sites are also very common in Austria.

Another final option might be to spent a night in a mountain cabin. Most cabins have a few rooms available, and booking in advance is wise, as it often is a long way to get there, and you don't want to be told 'no' at the door. Some pensions arrange to pick you up in the valley, and drive you to the cabin.

Drink

Health

See also: Travel Health

Safety

See also: Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The country calling code to Austria is: 43
To make an international call from Austria, the code is: 00

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