The most beautiful cities in Austria

Welcome to one of Europe’s most beautiful countries. Austria’s landscapes, regions and townscapes provide almost the full range of European variety in the centre of the continent. Austria is often associated, rightly, with winter sports, but there is so much more on offer. Its alpine areas are rugged and picturesque, but that’s far from being the whole story.

Landscapes & outdoors

The leading Austrian landscape attractions for travellers include the world heritage-listed Wachau region centred on the river Danube west of Vienna, best admired from river cruises or a network of walking paths.

The landscapes of the Salzkammergut region include the lake Traunsee, where walking possibilities are provided by trails from the peak Grünberg and rock-climbing adventures can be based in Gmunden. The Hallstätter See, between Hallstatt and Obertraun to the south, is also a popular walking area.
At the gorge known as Liechtensteinklamm near St Johann in SalzburgerLand, spiral stairs reach 30 metres into the gorge. The Krimml waterfalls about 40km east of Innsbruck fall almost 400 metres.

Alpine sports are best catered for in the Tyrol, where Innsbruck is a city focused on winter activities, and the Vorarlberg region in the west of the country. But winter sports including skating are popular in most parts of Austria.
Ski resorts are typically open from early or mid-December to April.
For cycling and long-distance trails, see the Transport section or visit the Austria.info website.