Travel to Austria
The first gondola of the morning leaves the valley while it is still cold and blue, and by the time you step out at the top station the sun is already on the glaciers across the valley. An hour later you can be drinking coffee in Innsbruck’s old town or sitting on a Railjet bound for the palaces and opera houses of Vienna. Austria puts high mountains and old imperial cities a short train ride apart.
Most of the country is Alpine. Winter means skiing in Tirol, Salzburgerland and Vorarlberg, and summer means hiking, mountain lakes and festivals. Vienna, Salzburg and Graz carry the music, the coffeehouses and the architecture.
Our travel tips are sorted by place and by what you want to do: Vienna, Tirol, Skiing and Winter Sports, Things to Do and See, Outdoor and Nature, Where to Eat and Drink, Where to Stay and General Travel Tips.
Visa and Entry Requirements for Austria
Austria is part of the Schengen Area. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland can enter with a passport or national ID card. Travelers from many other countries, including the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, can stay without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen Area. Everyone else needs a Schengen visa before the trip. Check the rules for your nationality on the EU’s official travel portal.
If you arrive from outside the Schengen Area, the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) registers your fingerprints and a facial photo at the first border crossing instead of stamping your passport. Allow extra time at passport control, especially at busy airports.
ETIAS, the travel authorization for visitors who don’t need a visa, has not started yet, and the EU has not confirmed a start date. Once it runs, it will cost €20 and stay valid for three years or until your passport expires. Apply only on the official EU website, never through agencies that charge extra.
Austria runs temporary police checks at some of its land borders, so carry your passport or ID card even on a train from Germany, Hungary or Slovenia.
General travel tips for Austria
Important Cultural Information
German is the official language, spoken with strong regional dialects. In Vienna and in the ski resorts, most people working in hotels, restaurants and shops speak good English. Say hello when you walk into a shop or a small restaurant: Grüß Gott in the west and in the countryside, Guten Tag in the cities, and Auf Wiedersehen when you leave.
Austrians are polite and a little formal at first. Use Herr or Frau with the surname until you’re invited to switch to first names, and be on time. Calling Austrians German is a fast way to end a friendly conversation.
Sundays are quiet. Most shops close, and in villages people expect you to keep the noise down.
Money in Austria
Austria uses the euro, which 21 EU countries share since Bulgaria joined in January 2026. Cards and mobile payments work in most hotels, shops, supermarkets and city restaurants. Carry some cash for mountain huts, small inns, Christmas market stalls and village cafes, as a few still take cash only.
ATMs are called Bankomat. Use machines at banks and skip the standalone ATMs in tourist areas, which often charge high fees. When a card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency, choose euros.
Service is included in restaurant prices, but rounding up or adding about 10 percent is normal. Tell the server the total you want to pay instead of leaving coins on the table.
Banks, ATMs and Cards
Erste Bank and the savings banks (Sparkasse), Raiffeisen, Bank Austria and BAWAG have ATMs in every town and in most ski resorts. Machines run by banks are usually the cheapest. Independent ATMs, often placed in tourist streets, may charge a fee for each withdrawal, so read the screen before you confirm, and remember that your own bank may charge on top.
Visa and Mastercard are taken almost everywhere cards are accepted, American Express less often. To change cash, go to a bank, as exchange counters in tourist areas usually give poorer rates than an ATM.
Health, Insurance and Emergencies
The European emergency number 112 works from any phone, free of charge. Austria also has its own numbers: 133 for police, 144 for an ambulance, 122 for the fire service and 140 for mountain rescue.
Visitors from the EU should bring their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which covers necessary treatment in the public system. It does not pay for mountain rescue or a helicopter flight off the slopes, which can cost several thousand euros. If you ski or hike, take travel insurance that includes winter sports and rescue. For summer hiking and camping, ask your doctor about the vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), which is common in parts of Austria.
If you’re looking for travel insurance, we are an affiliate of SafetyWing, a travel medical insurance provider.
Wi-Fi and Internet in Austria
Mobile coverage is good across the country, including most valleys and ski areas, with 4G almost everywhere and 5G in the cities and many towns. The three networks are A1, Magenta and Drei. Prepaid SIM cards have to be registered with an ID document, so an eSIM bought before the trip is often the simpler option. With an EU SIM card you roam at home prices.
Hotels and cafes almost always have free Wi-Fi, and so do ÖBB Railjet trains and the main stations. Use a VPN on public networks, like ExpressVPN.
Arrival in Austria
Vienna International Airport (VIE) is the main gateway, with flights from all over Europe and long-haul routes. Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz, Linz and Klagenfurt have smaller airports with European connections, and in winter Innsbruck and Salzburg add charter flights for skiers. For western Austria, Munich and Zurich are often the better choice. Innsbruck is less than two hours from Munich by train.
From Vienna airport, the CAT train runs non-stop to Wien Mitte in about 16 minutes. The S7 suburban train takes about 25 minutes for the price of a regular city ticket, and ÖBB Railjets run direct to Vienna’s main station (Hauptbahnhof).
ÖBB, the Austrian Federal Railways, connects Austria with all of its neighbors. Railjets run from Munich, Zurich, Prague and Budapest, and Nightjet sleeper trains reach Vienna and Innsbruck from cities such as Hamburg, Amsterdam and Rome. FlixBus covers most long-distance bus routes.
Driving in is easy, but Austrian motorways need a vignette from the first kilometer (see Transportation below). Consider Europcar for car hire in Austria.
Areas of Austria
Austria has nine federal states. Most trips combine Vienna or Salzburg with some time in the Alps of Tirol, Salzburgerland or Vorarlberg.
Vienna
The Habsburgs ruled their empire from Vienna for centuries, and you see it in the Hofburg, Schönbrunn Palace and the grand buildings along the Ringstrasse. Give the city at least three days: one for the palaces and the old town around St. Stephen’s Cathedral, one for museums such as the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Belvedere and the MuseumsQuartier, and one for coffeehouses, markets and the Danube. Here is how to spend your days in Vienna.
Opera can be cheap here. Read how to get standing room tickets for the Vienna State Opera.
Salzburg and Salzburgerland
Salzburg is Mozart’s birthplace and the setting of The Sound of Music. Its baroque old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Hohensalzburg Fortress looks down on it from above, and every summer the Salzburg Festival fills the city with opera, concerts and theater. Start with Mozart’s Garden and the other Mozart sights in Salzburg.
South of the city, the salt mine in Hallein makes a good half-day trip. The province’s ski areas include Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn and the resorts of Ski amadé.
Vorarlberg
Austria’s westernmost state lies between Lake Constance and the high Alps. In Bregenz, the capital, the Bregenz Festival stages opera on a floating stage on the lake every summer. In winter, Lech and Zürs form the Vorarlberg side of Ski Arlberg, Austria’s largest connected ski area with about 300 km of slopes and 87 lifts, linked by lift with St. Anton. The Montafon and the Bregenzerwald, known for cheese and modern timber architecture, are calmer. More in our Vorarlberg guide.
Graz and Styria
Graz is Austria’s second largest city. Its old town and Schloss Eggenberg are listed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the university keeps the bars and restaurants busy. Here is how to spend a winter weekend in Graz.
The rest of Styria runs from the Dachstein glacier and the slopes of Schladming down to the vineyards of southern Styria, where pumpkin seed oil and Sauvignon Blanc are the local specialties.
Lower Austria
Lower Austria surrounds Vienna. The Wachau valley on the Danube, with Melk Abbey, Dürnstein and Krems, is the classic day trip by train, boat or bike, and its terraced vineyards and old towns are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. South of Vienna, the Semmering Railway, the first railway on the UNESCO list, winds over viaducts and through tunnels across the pass, and the spa town of Baden is an easy trip from the city by train.
Upper Austria
Upper Austria has Linz, the provincial capital on the Danube, with the Ars Electronica Center for digital art and science. Most visitors come for the lakes of the Salzkammergut around Hallstatt, part of the UNESCO-listed Hallstatt-Dachstein cultural landscape, and for the Dachstein ice caves above Obertraun, which open in the warmer months.
Burgenland
Burgenland, in the far east, is flat wine country around Lake Neusiedl, a shallow steppe lake popular with birdwatchers and kitesurfers. Storks nest on the chimneys of Rust in summer, and Eisenstadt, the capital, has Esterházy Palace, where Joseph Haydn worked for decades. The region is known for red wines such as Blaufränkisch and for sweet wines.
Carinthia
Carinthia in the south borders Slovenia and Italy and has the warmest swimming lakes in the country, such as the Wörthersee. Lake Millstatt and the Weissensee are quieter, and the Weissensee often freezes hard enough for ice skating in winter. Klagenfurt is the capital, and the Grossglockner High Alpine Road ends at Heiligenblut on the Carinthian side.
Transportation in Austria
Trains are the easiest way to get around. ÖBB runs most routes, with Railjets linking Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz and Klagenfurt, while WestBahn competes on the main line between Vienna and Salzburg. Regional Postbus services reach the valleys and villages the trains miss. Book ÖBB’s Sparschiene fares early for the lowest prices. For long stays, the KlimaTicket Ö covers almost all public transport in the country for a year.
Motorways and expressways need a vignette, which you can buy as a digital vignette from ASFINAG or at gas stations near the border. In 2026 a 10-day vignette costs €12.80. One-day and 10-day vignettes bought online are valid right away, while 2-month and annual vignettes bought online only become valid after 18 days. From December 2026 the vignette is sold in digital form only. Some sections, including the Brenner, Tauern and Arlberg routes, charge an extra toll. Winter tires are required in winter conditions from November to mid-April, and mountain roads may call for snow chains. For a rental car, consider Europcar, and ask for winter tires when you book a winter trip.
In Vienna, Wiener Linien runs five U-Bahn lines plus trams and buses. A single ticket costs €3.20 from a machine or €3 in the app, and the 24, 48 and 72-hour tickets pay off quickly if you ride several times a day.
Cycling is popular. Vienna, Graz and Salzburg have bike lanes and rental bikes, and the Danube Cycle Path follows the river across the country.
Where to Stay in Austria
In the cities you’ll find everything from hostels and apartments to grand old hotels in former palaces, and Austria has a long list of design hotels. In the mountains, family-run guesthouses (Pension or Gasthof) and holiday apartments give you the best value, and spa hotels with saunas and pools are a local specialty. In summer you can sleep in mountain huts run by the Alpine clubs or stay on a working farm.
Book early for ski weeks around Christmas, New Year and the February school holidays, and for Salzburg during the festival in July and August.
What to Eat and Drink in Austria
Austrian food is hearty, and centuries of empire brought in influences from Bohemia, Hungary and northern Italy. Dishes to try:
- Wiener Schnitzel – veal, breaded and fried. If the menu says “vom Schwein”, it is made with pork.
- Tafelspitz – boiled beef served with its broth, apple horseradish and chive sauce.
- Knödel – dumplings, savory with bacon or spinach, or sweet with apricots.
- Käsespätzle – cheese noodles from Vorarlberg and Tirol, the standard hut lunch on a ski day.
- Kletzennudeln – a Carinthian specialty of pasta filled with dried pears and curd cheese.
- Kernöl – dark green Styrian pumpkin seed oil, poured over salads.
- Apfelstrudel and Sachertorte – the two desserts every coffeehouse serves, best with a Melange.
For traditional Austrian food, look for a Gasthaus or, in Vienna, a Beisl. The weekday lunch menu (Mittagsmenü) is the cheapest way to eat well. Vienna’s Heurigen, wine taverns on the edge of the city, pour wine from their own vineyards with a cold buffet. Vegetarians will find plenty in the cities, and most mountain menus have at least one meat-free dish.
Where to eat and drink in Austria
Skiing in Austria
The main ski season runs from early December to Easter, with the most reliable snow from January to March. Glacier areas open earlier. Sölden and the Stubai, Pitztal and Kaunertal glaciers usually open between late September and November, and the Hintertux Glacier in the Zillertal is open all year. The Alpine Ski World Cup season traditionally opens on Sölden’s Rettenbach Glacier in late October.
The largest linked areas are Ski Arlberg (St. Anton, Lech, Zürs, Stuben, Warth and Schröcken), Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn and the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental, each with well over 250 km of slopes. Smaller family resorts are often cheaper and less crowded. Many resorts sell lift passes online, and buying ahead can save money on busy weekends.
Skiing and winter sports in Austria
Things to do and see in Austria
Shopping in Austria
Look for Swarovski crystal from Wattens in Tirol, loden coats and traditional Tracht, Mozartkugeln chocolates and Styrian pumpkin seed oil. Vienna’s longest shopping street is Mariahilfer Strasse, while Kärntner Strasse and the Graben in the old town carry the luxury brands. In Innsbruck the shops line Maria-Theresien-Strasse, and in Salzburg the Getreidegasse.
By law, shops may open from 6:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and until 18:00 on Saturdays, but most keep shorter hours, and nearly all close on Sundays. Supermarkets in the big train stations and at Vienna airport are the exception.
Visitors who live outside the EU can get the VAT back on purchases of more than €75 per receipt in shops that offer tax-free shopping. Ask for the refund form when you pay, and have the form, the receipt, the unused goods and your passport ready for customs when you leave the EU, at the airport before you check in your bags. The goods must leave the EU within three months after the end of the month you bought them, and the refund company keeps a fee.
Nightlife in Austria
In Vienna, an evening often starts with a concert or the opera and ends in a Heuriger, a bar along the Danube Canal or a club under the U6 arches on the Gürtel. In the ski resorts, après-ski starts at the bottom of the last run in the afternoon, and Ischgl, St. Anton and Saalbach are the loudest. In summer, open-air festivals, outdoor cinemas and the lake stage in Bregenz fill the evenings.
You can buy beer and wine from the age of 16 and spirits from 18 everywhere in Austria. Smoking is banned inside bars, restaurants and clubs.
Safety Tips for Austria
Austria is one of the safest countries you can travel in, ranked sixth in the 2026 Global Peace Index. Pickpockets work crowded places such as Stephansplatz, the Christmas markets and busy trams, so keep your phone and wallet out of reach. In the cities, lock your bike and stay off the bike lanes, where cyclists ride fast.
The real risks are in the mountains. Check the avalanche report before you ski off-piste, stay on marked trails, and start summer hikes early to be down before the afternoon thunderstorms.
Conclusion
With one week, combine Vienna with Salzburg, or Salzburg with Innsbruck and a few days in the mountains of Tirol, all linked by Railjet. With two weeks, add the Salzkammergut lakes, the Wachau, or Graz and the vineyards of southern Styria. In winter, a ski week in Tirol, Salzburgerland or Vorarlberg pairs well with two or three days in Innsbruck, Salzburg or Vienna.
Before you book, check the entry rules and the EES registration at your first Schengen border. Ski weeks over the holidays and the Salzburg Festival sell out first, so reserve those early, and if you drive, buy the vignette before you reach the motorway. Our general travel tips for Austria cover more of the practical details.
