Austria country guide

Things To Do In Austria

An imperial capital, the Alps an hour from it, and a train network that makes both easy. More expensive than its eastern neighbours and cheaper than Switzerland, which is the whole proposition.

Pick a city What it costs

€25

Dorm bed, from

62%

Of the country is Alps

€10.20

A Vienna 24-hour transport ticket

2.5h

Vienna to Salzburg by train

A capital built for an empire it no longer has

Vienna was the centre of an empire of fifty million people and it still has the buildings for it, which is why a city of under two million has palaces, opera houses and boulevards on a scale that makes no sense until you know the history. It is also regularly at or near the top of rankings of the world's most liveable cities, which shows in the transport, the parks and the drinking water piped from the Alps.

The rest of the country is mountains. Salzburg sits at the edge of them with Mozart and The Sound of Music doing the marketing; Innsbruck is properly in them, with ski lifts running from the city itself; and Hallstatt is the lakeside village that Instagram broke and that now limits visitor numbers.

Four days does Vienna and Salzburg by train. A week adds Innsbruck or the lakes. In winter the country becomes a ski destination and prices in the resorts behave accordingly.

Where to go

Trains are fast and frequent, and no two cities here are more than five hours apart.

Vienna

25 hostels · dorms from €15

Imperial palaces, the world's best coffee houses, and standing opera tickets from €13.

Great place for art ann architecture lovers.
A traveller, on Hostelworld

The Vienna guide

Salzburg

9 hostels

Baroque old town under a fortress, Mozart's birthplace, and the Alps starting at the edge of town.

Loved Salzburg, very quaint architecture, great Christmas markets and theatre, I saw the musical the Sound of Music and it had great English subtitles.
A traveller, on Hostelworld

The Salzburg guide

Innsbruck

5 hostels

A city in the mountains, with ski lifts from the centre and a funicular designed by Zaha Hadid.

It is surrounded by mountains in all directions! Amazing hikes, Swarovski museum was nice. A good place to spend 2-3 days.
A traveller, on Hostelworld

The Innsbruck guide

Graz

2 hostels

The second city, student-heavy, cheaper than Vienna and almost never visited by foreigners.

Lovely city for a couple of days to unwind and relax.
A traveller, on Hostelworld

The Graz guide

Zell am See

Lake and glacier, a summer hiking base and a winter ski one, with a week's worth of both.

The Zell am See guide

What kind of trip is this?

Austria splits neatly into the city version and the mountain version.

City break in Austria

Vienna in three or four days, on foot and by tram.

What to do

A coffee house afternoon with a newspaper
Standing tickets at the opera
Schönbrunn gardens, which are free

Spots to visit

Innere Stadt
Naschmarkt
MuseumsQuartier

Best cities for it

Things to do

Things to do in Austria

Vienna's palaces are the anchor: Schönbrunn, the Habsburg summer residence, where the gardens are free and only the interior needs a ticket, and the Belvedere, which holds Klimt's The Kiss. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the great collections in Europe and quieter than its equivalents in Paris or London.

The cheapest cultural experience in the country is a standing ticket at the Vienna State Opera — €13 to €18, sold online from 10:00 on the day of the performance, for the same show the stalls paid two hundred for.

Outside the capital, the mountains do the work. Salzburg's fortress and the Sound of Music tour if that is your thing, Innsbruck's Nordkette cable car from the city centre to 2,300 metres in twenty minutes, and the lake district around Hallstatt and St Wolfgang.

Eating in Austria

Austrian food is imperial leftovers: schnitzel from Milan, goulash from Hungary, dumplings from Bohemia, all absorbed and made heavier. A proper Wiener Schnitzel is veal, pounded thin, and overhangs the plate; the pork version is cheaper and legally must be labelled differently.

The coffee house is the institution and it is on Austria's national list of intangible cultural heritage under UNESCO. You buy one coffee, you get a newspaper and a glass of water, and you may sit for three hours without anyone suggesting otherwise. It is the best value in the city if you use it properly.

For cheap eating, the Naschmarkt for lunch, sausage stands — Würstelstände — that operate late into the night, and supermarkets, which are the only way to keep costs low in a country where a restaurant dinner is €18 to €25.

Going out in Austria

Vienna's nightlife is spread rather than concentrated. The Bermuda Triangle in the old town is the tourist-facing cluster; the arches along the Gürtel hold the better bars, and the Danube canal fills with outdoor bars from May to September.

Graz has the student population and the lowest prices, and Innsbruck's après-ski scene in winter is its own thing entirely — expensive, loud, and starting at four in the afternoon.

Austria is not a late country by central European standards. Bars fill around ten, clubs from midnight, and many close by three.

Getting around Austria

ÖBB runs one of the better rail networks in Europe: Vienna to Salzburg in two and a half hours, Salzburg to Innsbruck in under two, and Sparschiene advance fares that cost a fraction of walk-up prices. Westbahn competes on the Vienna–Salzburg line and is often cheaper.

Vienna's public transport is excellent and cheap — a 24-hour ticket is €10.20, or €9.70 bought digitally, and covers the U-Bahn, trams and buses. The 48- and 72-hour tickets were withdrawn in 2026, so for longer stays the 7-day ticket, €25.20 digitally, is the one to buy. The trams are also the cheapest city sightseeing there is: the ring line passes most of the imperial architecture.

In the mountains, post buses reach the villages and ski resorts run their own shuttles. A car is only worth it for the lake district and remote valleys, and winter tyres are a legal requirement in snow conditions.

Costs

What Austria costs

Austria sits between its neighbours: noticeably dearer than Hungary or Czechia, noticeably cheaper than Switzerland. Vienna dorms start around €25, Salzburg and Innsbruck similar, and ski resorts in season are a different market entirely.

Vienna is unusually good value for culture. Standing opera tickets, free palace gardens, cheap transport and a coffee house that lets you sit all afternoon on one order all pull the daily cost down.

The mountains are where it climbs. A ski day pass is roughly €65 to €85 in the big resorts, equipment hire another €25 to €35, and resort food is priced for people who are not counting.

Staying safe in Austria

Austria is one of the safest countries in Europe and Vienna is safe at any hour, including on public transport. Pickpocketing occurs around Stephansplatz, the main stations and on the U-Bahn, at ordinary European levels.

The risks here are alpine. Weather in the mountains changes fast, marked trails are graded by difficulty for a reason, and people get into trouble every summer by starting a long route in the afternoon. Check the forecast, tell someone your plan and turn back earlier than you want to.

In winter, avalanche risk is published daily and taken seriously. Off-piste skiing without a guide, a transceiver and the training to use it is how people die here, and it happens every season.

Entry and documents

Austria is in the Schengen area. EU citizens need an ID card. UK, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders get 90 days in any 180 across the whole zone, counted together rather than per country.

Passports need three months' validity beyond departure and to have been issued within the last ten years.

ETIAS has been postponed several times; check the official EU page rather than any article. If you are skiing, check that your travel insurance covers winter sports and mountain rescue specifically — standard policies often do not, and a helicopter evacuation is billed.

When to go

Austria has two seasons that both work: alpine summer from June to September, and ski season from December to March. April and November are when half the mountain infrastructure closes.

3°

Jan

Peak ski season. Cheap in the cities, expensive in the resorts

5°

Feb

Ski season and Vienna ball season

10°

Mar

Spring skiing, and the cities warming up

15°

Apr

Between seasons. Lifts closed, cities quiet and cheap

20°

May

Excellent in the cities. High trails still under snow

23°

Jun

The best month. Alpine trails opening, long days

25°

Jul

Hot in Vienna, perfect in the mountains

25°

Aug

Busy in the Alps, and Salzburg Festival fills the city

20°

Sep

Superb. Hiking at its best, crowds gone

14°

Oct

Cool and quiet. Mountain huts start closing

7°

Nov

The dead month. Cheapest beds of the year

3°

Dec

Christmas markets, then ski season proper

Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets: quiet busy peak

Average highs for Vienna. Mountain valleys run several degrees colder and the high Alps hold snow into June.

What your trip will cost

Pick how you travel and how long for. Per night, for one person, outside ski season in the resorts.

Excludes ski passes and hire, which add roughly €90–120 a day. Vienna to Salzburg is €20–35 booked ahead on ÖBB or Westbahn.

Nights 7

—

Beds—
Food and drink—
Getting around—
Doing things—

What's on

Salzburg

Jazz&TheCitysounds Festival transforms Salzburg, Austria, into a lively hub for jazz, global grooves, and electronic music, drawing artists and audiences from around the world.…

All events in Austria

Vienna

Dorms from €23 a night

See dates and book

All hostels in Austria

Austria travel questions

The ones we get asked most.

How many days do you need in Austria?

Four covers Vienna and Salzburg by train. A week lets you add Innsbruck or the lake district, and if you are skiing or hiking, a week in one valley is a different trip entirely.

Is Austria expensive?

Mid-range: dearer than Hungary or Czechia, cheaper than Switzerland. Vienna dorms from €25 and a day at €55 to €75. Ski resorts in season are the expensive exception, with a day pass at roughly €65 to €85 before hire.

What is the cheapest way to see the Vienna opera?

Standing tickets at the State Opera, sold online from 10:00 on the day of the performance for €13 to €18. Same performance, same orchestra, no seat. It is the best cultural bargain in Europe.

When is the best time to visit Austria?

June and September for the mountains and the cities, January to March for skiing. April and November are the two dead months, when lifts close and mountain villages shut down — though the cities are cheap then.

Is Hallstatt worth visiting?

As a day trip from Salzburg, yes, and it is genuinely beautiful. It is also a village of under 800 people receiving enormous numbers of visitors, and it now manages arrivals. Go early or late in the day, or visit a neighbouring lake town instead.

Do I need to speak German?

No. English is widely spoken, particularly in Vienna, Salzburg and the resorts. A Grüß Gott on entering a shop is the local greeting and goes down well.

Is skiing in Austria cheaper than Switzerland?

Considerably. Day passes run roughly €65 to €85 against Swiss prices that can be half as much again, and food and beds follow the same pattern. Austria also has more resorts served directly by public transport.

Say yes to hostels, meet the world

Compare hostels across Austria — live prices, real reviews and free cancellation on most bookings. Then meet the people already there in the app.

Find hostels in Austria Get the app

Things To Do In Austria

A capital built for an empire it no longer has

Where to go

Vienna

Salzburg

Innsbruck

Graz

Zell am See

What kind of trip is this?