Our Austria Guide
NOTE: If this page doesn’t look finished that is because THIS PAGE IS A CONSTANT WORK IN PROGRESS.
Austria is like a fairy tale that’s come to life.
Castles in every direction, peaks lining the sky, the greenest hills imaginable and the most perfectly manicured gardens we’ve ever seen. And not to mention the food, kind people and general zest for life that surrounds you…
All these reasons and more are exactly why we chose to pick up and move from Washington DC to Salzburg, Austria in July of 2015. An entirely new world to explore together. Since
Austria will be our home for the next few years,
we ‘ll be learning new destinations, local spots and travel tips constantly! And with every new discovery, we’ll update Our Austria Guide here.
From the main tourist attractions of Salzburg to exploring Austria’s lakes, mountains, biggest cities and smallest towns, we plan to see and do everything. Especially off-beat activities that only locals would know about!
Austria (Österreich) Information & Facts
Language: German
Currency: Euro
Population: 8.5 million
Capital: Vienna
Largest Cities:
- Vienna
- Graz
- Styria
- Linz
- Salzburg
Location
Schengen Area; Bordered by:
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Italy
- Liechtenstein
Dialing Code: +43
General Emergency: 112
Fire Emergency: 122
Police: 133
Mountain Rescue: 140
Ambulance: 144
Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
Austrian Holidays
New Year’s Day – Jan 1st
Epiphany – Jan 6th
Palm Sunday – Late March
March Equinox – March 20th
Good Friday – Late March, Early April
Easter Day – Late March, Early April
Easter Monday – Late March, Early April
Labor Day/May Day – May 1st
Ascension Day – Early to Mid May
Whit Sunday – Mid to Late May
Whit Monday – Mid to Late May
Corpus Christi – Late May to Mid June
June Solstice – Mid June
Assumption of Mary – Aug 15th
September Equinox – Mid September
National Day – Oct 26th
All Saints’ Day – Nov 1st
All Souls’ Day – Early November
First Sunday Advent – Late November
Immaculate Conception – Dec 8th
December Solstice – Mid to Late December
Christmas Eve – Dec 24th
Christmas Day – Dec 25th
St. Stephen’s Day – Dec 26th
New Year’s Eve – Dec 31st
Winter, spring, summer or fall – there’s no bad season when it comes to traveling to Austria!
Every time of year is special for its own reasons. Care to relax by a crystal clear lake with mountains in every direction or would you rather ski the Austrian Alps and experience a true winter wonderland? The choice is yours!
And it all can be done here in Österreich.
Things To Do In Austria By Region:
This is our own personal guide of things to do in Austria. Since we use this list personally we don’t spend much time making it look great. We just paste in ideas so that we have fun escapes through the day and between travel.
Our Favorites List
Food:
Best Salzburger Nockerl – St. Peter Stiftskeller (Salzburg City)
Best Kaiserschmarrn – (St. Wolfgang)
Best Beer – Augustinerbräu (Salzburg City)
Best Goulash – Die Wiess Brewery (Salzburg City)
Best Views:
Stieglkeller (Salzburg City)
Stadt Alm (Monchsberg)
Gaisberg (mountain in the city)
Salzburgerland Lakes
Seekirchen (village outside Salzburg)
Places to Stay:
Gasthof zur Post – In the center of town.
Places to Eat:
Gasthof zur Post – In the center of town and serves traditional Austrian food
Ristorante Pizzeria Il Mulino – At Lake Wallersee, pizza, pasta, and snacks
Dino’s Bistro – Pizza and Kabobs THEY DELIVER
Cafe Konditorei Moser – Best for deserts and cakes, this place also has a great menu, and outdoor seating.
Where to Shop:
Lidl – Discount grocery store that doesn’t carry everything.
Billa – Small grocery store that has everything. Not as good as Spar
Spar – The best grocery option in town.
Bipa – Makeup store
DM – It’s like USA’s version of CVS without the pharmacy
Things to Do:
Lake Wallersee – great for summer fun, boating, and hiking. They also have a restaurant Ristorante Pizzeria Il Mulino there, and a nightclub Lifestyle.
Wallersee Boat Rental – You can rent boats to the right of the lake.
Nightlife:
Lifestyle Nightclub – small club where you can see some great local DJs like Benjamin Zane and Wolf Detrix
Salzburg City
Places to Stay:
Hotel Sacher Salzburg – Expensive but famous hotel right on the Salz River in the middle of the city! Be sure to try their famous Sacher Torte.
Places to Eat:
St. Peter Stiftskeller – THE OLDEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD! Enough said. This is a MUST when you visit the city. If the menu is a bit pricey for you then just stop in and get our favorite Salzburger Nockerl in the city!
Stieglkeller – Stiegl beer is the official beer of Salzburg and is damn good. You can visit the brewery a little outside of the city or just come here. This beer garden is nestled at the foot of Hohensalzburg Castle and has an amazing view of the city.
Augustinerbräu – Best Beer in the City! It is also the best beer garden in the city. Grab a stein and pick full liter or half liter, then you are on your way to the food stands to load up. Grab a seat and make a night of it!
Ossi Spezialitäten – Best kabap in the city! Great change if you want to stray away from Austrian food.
Stiegl Brewery – Aside from the Augustiner Beer, Stiegl is our favorite mass produced beer in Salzburg. The brewery has a great museum on the history of Stiegl, and also has an amazing Beer Garden. Keep an eye on this place for special events! It’s a little bit outside of the city but it’s a short bus or cab ride away.
Die Wiess Brewery – Great Wiess Beer in the heart of the city. This place has our favorite Goulash in the city! Great food, great beer, that is all.
Things to Do:
Hohensalzburg Castle – Wondered what the amazing castle was up on the hill? Check it out!
Residence Platz – Most popular square in the city. If there is something big happening in the city it’s usually here.
Hellbrun
Salt mines
Mirrabelle Gardens
Salzburg Museum
Sporer Schnapps
Oldest Bakery
Glockenspiel
Hangar 7
Unterach
Places to Stay:
Places to Eat:
Where to Shop:
Things to Do:
Witches Castle – Moosham Castle in Unternberg, Austria, has a terrible and accursed past. It was in this castle where Austria’s bloodiest witch trials took place. Untold thousands of young women who were accused of being witches were tormented and killed in torture chambers in the dungeon. Moosham Castle is now better known as Witches Castle.
Hallstat
- The Salzbergbahn funicular to the Hallstatt Skywalk “Welterbeblick” and to the restaurant “Rudolfsturm” will be open daily
- From 10:00 to 18:00 hrs.
- You can walk up to the Rudolfstrum or just take the funicular up – ascent and descent by cable car – 13 euro
- Hallstatt Sky Walk – The “World Heritage View”
Salzbergstraße 21 – 4830 Hallstat
- Trips are possible from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.
- Khotel) / On Seestraße
- Prices:
Electric boat 300 W: 10.- Euro ½ hour / 13.- Euro 1 hour
Electric boat 500 W: 13.- Euro ½ hour / 16.- Euro 1 hour
Swan (pedal boat): 10.- Euro ½ hour / 15.- Euro 1 hour
Rowing boat: 8.- Euro ½ hour / 11 – 1 hours - Each electric boat has Sun protection
- Where to find us: On Seestraße (lake promenade) in Hallsttatt – on the way to the village centre and close to the ‘Markt (Zentrum)’ boat landing stage
Handmade Artwork
St. Gilgan
Note also the beautiful and popular town of St. Gilgen with the famousSchafbergbahn Cog Railway and Strobl. Sometimes Hintersee, Hof andThalgau are also considered to be part of the Salzburg-share of the Salzkammergut. More on this area below.
The Schafberbahn is a cog railway on Mount Schafsberg in the Sazlzkammergut, more precisely in the municipality of St. Gilgen, a popular travel destination. The starting point, however, is in nearby St. Wolfgang. The Schafbergbahn featured in “The Sound of Music” and is a highly popular day-trip destination among both locals and tourists. Mount Schafberg is 1783 metres high and the railway is famous for some very nice views over much of the Salzkammergut Lake District, most importantly Lake Wolfgangsee.
The construction of the Schafbergbahn dates back to the late 19th century. At this time, it became common among Viennese aristocrats to spend the summer in the mountains of Salzburg, Tyrol or Carinthia. The railway network was rapidly developed and an early form of tourism became an important source of income for many locals in the Salzkammergut.
Untersburg
Address:
5083 Gartenau
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Werfen
Things to Do:
Hohenwerfen Castle – built between 1075 and 1078
Eisriesenwelt – Largest Ice Cave in the world!
The Dr. Oedl House at the summit cable car station is the ideal place to stop for a meal before or after the cave tour. Visitors are welcome to select from a large menu on the spacious terrace during nice weather, or inside the cozy restaurant in case of bad weather. The terrace can accommodate about 200 guests and the interior can hold about 120 persons. Because of the limited seating, we recommend that larger tour groups make a reservation ahead of time.
Address: Eishohlenstrasse 30, 5450 Werfen
Ticket office (visitor’s center):
| May, June, Sept., Oct. | 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. | |
| July, August | 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
Aerial cable car (last ride to the cave):
| May, June, Sept., Oct. | 3:20 p.m. | |
| July, August | 4:20 p.m. | |
Cave visit & Cable Car – 22 euro
Cave tour (without cable car, additional footpath over alpine terrain – about 1.5 hours – tough hike): 11 europ
The cable car generally starts operating at 8:30 a.m. – unless important modifications are necessary in rare cases – and definitely by 9 a.m. on at least a half-hourly basis with additional trips as required.
Upon arrival, mountain climbers can take advantage of an early-morning cable car ride by 7:50 a.m. directly at the station.
Cave (last tour):
| May, June, Sept., Oct. | 3:45 p.m. | |
| July, August | 4:45 p.m. |
Salzburg Hbf
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REX 6towards Wörgl Hbf
Attersee
Unterach am Attersee: best place to lay out
Boat Rentals
Boat rental Proch
Jeritzastraße 22
4866 Unterach am Attersee
Sternwarte Gahberg Observatory – Weyregg am Attersee
Several observatory buildings feature numerous telescopes that offer a view of the universe (moon, planets, falling stars, galaxies, constellations, photo exhibition, astronomical photography).
Places to Stay:
Places to Eat:
Innsbruck
Graz
Linz
Pegging yourself as the “Museum of the Future” is, in our ever-changing world, bold. Brash, even. And that’s exactly what the Ars Electronica Centre in Linz is. Dedicated to new technology, and its influence within the realms of art, few museums on Earth have their fingers quite as firmly on the pulse. Come here for the CAVE (Cave Automatic Visual Environment). This room, measuring – cutely enough – 3m cubed, is at the cutting-edge of virtual reality; the simulation uses technology so advanced – 3D projections dance across the walls and along the floor, as you navigate through virtual solar systems and across artificial landscapes – that you feel like you’re part of the installation.
Road Trips:
Hiking Near Home
- Starting place: 5330 Fuschl am See
- Starting point: Parking area Fuschlseebad
- Destination: 5330 Fuschl am See
- Destination: Parking area Fuschlseebad
- Path number: 30
- Starting place: 5350 Strobl
- Starting point: Postalm Hiking area – parking no. 1
- Destination: 5350 Strobl
- Destination: Postalm Hiking area – parking no. 1
- Starting place: 5350 Strobl
- Destination: 5350 Strobl
Saalachtaler Naturgewalten – 1 hour drive – best during sunny, comfortable day
Saalachtaler Naturgewalten is one of the coolest protected nature areas in all of the Alps and has been open to tourist since 1882. The protected area of the park called Weißbach has 3 main sections all full of mountain forests starting in the North with Vorderkaserklamm. Vorderkaserklamm is a huge gorge is 2.5km long, 263 feet deep, and while it starts at 20 feet wide it narrows to under a foot wide near waterfalls at the end. During your decent on foot into the gorge you cross 51 bridges and 35 sets of stairs with a total of 373 steps.
How To Get To Saalachtaler Naturgewalten: The best route if you don’t have a car is to take Bus 260 right from Salzburg’s Main Bus Terminal toward Weißbach Gemeindeamt which takes 80-90 minutes and costs less than 20€. You can either buy a ticket at the station or pay the driver. If you happen to be leaving from Berchtesgaden you take the train to Bad Reichenhall and catch Bus 260 from there. Bus 260 typically leaves Salzburg at 9:55am, 12:23pm, 3:23pm, 4:23pm, 5:06pm 6:15pm. Bus 260 typically leaves Saalachtaler Natugewalten back to Salzburg at 7:28am, 1:29pm, 4:34pm. There are other train/bus combos but they tend to take 30-60 minutes longer. Bus 260 Timetable. Park Hours: Daily 8:30am-6:30pm, gorges close in the Winter by the Caves stay open. It is a much better Summer Attraction.
Daily from 8:30 – 18:30 clock
5093 Weißbach – Austria