Austria: Vienna, Salzburg and the Alps — Where to Go and What to Try

Vienna: palaces, music and coffee houses

Vienna is the former capital of a vast empire, and you can feel it on every street. Here are the Schönbrunn and Hofburg palaces, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Vienna State Opera and world-class museums. Vienna's coffee houses are a tradition all their own: people linger over coffee and cake, read the papers and can easily stay for half a day.

Salzburg and the lake country

Salzburg is Mozart's city, with a Baroque old town and the Hohensalzburg Fortress above the Salzach river. Nearby begins the Salzkammergut, a land of lakes and mountains that is home to picturesque Hallstatt, with its houses right at the water's edge. People come here for walks, boat trips and views that look familiar from postcards.

Tyrol and the Alps

Tyrol is Austria's mountain heart. Innsbruck is surrounded by peaks you can ride up by cable car straight from the city. In winter people ski at well-known resorts here, and in summer they hike mountain trails, spend the night in Alpine huts and swim in cool mountain lakes.

The Wachau Valley on the Danube

The Wachau Valley means vineyards, apricot orchards and Melk Abbey on a rock above the Danube. It's easy to explore by bike or by riverboat, stopping off in small wine-making towns.

What to try

Austrian cuisine is hearty, and its desserts are a source of national pride.

• Wiener Schnitzel — a thin veal escalope in a golden breadcrumb coating.
• Tafelspitz — boiled beef with horseradish and apple sauce.
• Sachertorte — the famous chocolate cake with apricot jam.
• Apple strudel with vanilla sauce.
• Kaiserschmarrn — a shredded sweet pancake with raisins and berry sauce.
• Young wine at the Heuriger wine taverns around Vienna.

Good to know before you go

Austria is a calm country that's easy for travellers to get around, and a few simple tips will help you feel at ease.

• Most shops are closed on Sundays.
• In the mountains the weather changes quickly: bring warm clothes and a rain jacket, even in summer.
• Tap water here is clean and tastes good — it's safe to drink.
• In cafés and restaurants it's customary to round up the bill a little for the waiter.
• In season, lift passes and tickets to popular sights are best bought in advance.

Staying connected

In Austria you need the internet from the very first minutes: to open a map, check train and lift timetables, find a café, or show your hotel booking. You can install your eSIM at home over Wi-Fi, so after landing you won't have to hunt for a SIM card at the airport or stand in queues. When a plan's validity begins is shown on the checkout page before you pay: for some plans it starts at the first connection in the destination country, for others on installation or right after purchase. Your main number stays in your phone, and calls and messages to it keep arriving as usual, under your carrier's terms.