Austria
Imperial cities at one end, glaciers at the other
Austria is a long, narrow country that runs from the Danube plains around Vienna to the glaciers of the Tyrol, and a single railway line ties the whole of it together.
- Main gatewaysVIE Vienna · SZG Salzburg · INN Innsbruck · MUC nearby
- CurrencyEuro (EUR)
- LanguageGerman · English widely spoken in cities
- Time zoneCET (UTC+1) · CEST from late March
- RailÖBB Railjet · Vienna–Salzburg 2h 22m
- Typical tour7–10 nights · two or three bases
Austria, in three paragraphs.
Austria is shaped like a frying pan: a broad eastern end holding Vienna, the Danube and the Burgenland plains, narrowing westwards through Salzburg into the Tyrol and finally Vorarlberg on the Swiss border. Two-thirds of the country is Alpine. The main west–east railway follows that shape, linking Vienna, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck, which means an itinerary is usually a line rather than a loop, often entering at Vienna and leaving from Innsbruck or Munich.
The eastern half is imperial and urban: Vienna’s Habsburg palaces, the Wachau vineyards along the Danube, the thermal spas of Styria and the Baroque abbey at Melk. The west is mountain country, with Innsbruck ringed by 2,000-metre peaks, the Arlberg ski areas and the Ötztal glaciers. Salzburg and the Salzkammergut lakes sit between the two and are where most first-time visitors spend their middle nights.
Practicalities worth knowing: Austria is more formal than its neighbours, with restaurant reservations expected and Sunday closing near-total outside cafés and museums. Vienna’s coffee-house culture is a recognised tradition rather than a marketing line, and sitting for two hours over one melange is entirely normal. The ski season runs mid-December to mid-April, and glacier areas at Hintertux and Sölden extend either side of it.
Regions
- Vienna and the DanubeThe capital plus the Wachau valley, Melk abbey and Krems. Habsburg architecture, world-class museums, coffee houses and white wine country, all within an hour by train or boat.
- Salzburg and the SalzkammergutThe Baroque old city, Mozart, the summer festival and the lakes at Hallstatt, St Wolfgang and Attersee. The natural middle leg of any west–east itinerary.
- TyrolInnsbruck, the Arlberg, Kitzbühel, the Zillertal and the Ötztal glaciers. The heart of Austrian skiing in winter and of high-Alpine walking and via ferrata in summer.
- Styria and CarinthiaGraz’s Renaissance old town, the south Styrian wine road, thermal spas and the warm lakes around Wörthersee. Quieter, greener and considerably cheaper than the western resorts.
- VorarlbergBregenz on Lake Constance, the Bregenzerwald and the Arlberg’s western side. Contemporary timber architecture, strong cheese-making tradition and easy links into Switzerland and Germany.
When to send your clients.
May to June and September are the best all-round months: Alpine trails open, cities comfortable, and neither the ski nor the summer crowds in place. July and August are warm and busy, with Salzburg dominated by its festival. Mid-December to mid-April is the ski season, and late November to December brings the Christmas markets that fill Vienna and Salzburg.
Spring · March–May
March still belongs to the ski areas, with spring snow above 2,000 metres and long sunny days. From late April the valleys green up, the Wachau apricot and vine terraces flower, and Vienna’s parks and palace gardens come into use. High mountain huts and passes such as the Grossglockner High Alpine Road open only from early May, and lakes are too cold for swimming until June.
Summer · June–August
The Alps are at their best from late June, when trails clear above 2,000 metres and the Salzkammergut lakes warm to swimmable temperatures. Vienna reaches the low thirties and empties of locals in August. The Salzburg Festival runs from mid-July to the end of August, taking the city’s hotel stock with it, so book a year ahead or base elsewhere.
Autumn · September–November
September is excellent: stable weather, clear mountain air, the Wachau grape harvest and the cloudy Sturm young wine appearing in Vienna’s Heurigen taverns. October holds for cities and lower walking. From late October cable cars close for maintenance, valley fog settles in the east, and November is the quietest and least rewarding month before the markets open.
Winter · December–February
The ski season runs from mid-December, with St Anton, Ischgl, Kitzbühel, Sölden and the Zillertal all reliable by January. Vienna and Salzburg are cold, often below freezing, but this is when the Christmas markets, the opera season and the January ball season are in full swing. Book Vienna’s State Opera and any ball well in advance.
What the weather usually does.
These are typical seasonal conditions, not a forecast. The figures below are long-run climate averages — the normal daily high and low for each month in Austria. No weather service is connected to this site, and no date-specific prediction is made or implied. Figures are for Vienna in the eastern lowlands; Salzburg is wetter, Innsbruck and the Alpine valleys colder, and ski resorts above 1,500 metres colder again.
- Jan 4°-1° Cold and grey · peak ski and ball season
- Feb 6°0° Best snow depth in the Tyrol
- Mar 11°3° Spring skiing · cities warming
- Apr 17°7° Valleys green · high passes still shut
- May 21°11° Comfortable everywhere · good walking
- Jun 25°15° Alpine trails clear · lakes warming
- Jul 27°17° Warm · Salzburg Festival begins
- Aug 27°17° Hot in Vienna · busiest Alpine month
- Sep 21°12° Clear and stable · Wachau harvest
- Oct 15°8° Autumn colour · cable cars closing
- Nov 8°3° Fog in the east · quietest month
- Dec 4°0° Christmas markets · ski season opens
Average daily high and low in degrees Celsius. Source: long-term climate normals. Conditions in any given week can and do differ.
Worth your clients’ time in Austria.
Give Vienna three or four nights
The Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Hofburg, Schönbrunn, the Belvedere’s Klimts and the Albertina all need a separate half-day each. Add a standing-room ticket at the Staatsoper for €13–18, sold ninety minutes before curtain, and an unhurried afternoon in a traditional Kaffeehaus such as Café Central, Sperl or Hawelka.
Cruise or cycle the Wachau
The Danube between Melk and Krems runs for 36 kilometres past terraced Grüner Veltliner vineyards, the Baroque abbey at Melk and the ruined castle at Dürnstein where Richard I was held. DDSG boats take about 1h 45m downstream, and the riverside cycle path is flat and fully separated from traffic.
Take the Salzkammergut lakes
Hallstatt, Wolfgangsee and Attersee sit within an hour of Salzburg. Hallstatt is extremely crowded between 10:00 and 16:00, so stay overnight or go early. The Dachstein ice caves and the Five Fingers viewing platform above Obertraun are the better use of a full day in the same area.
Ski or walk the Tyrol
St Anton and the Arlberg, Kitzbühel, Sölden and the Zillertal cover the winter side, with lift passes around €67–75 a day. In summer the same valleys run the Innsbruck Nordkette funicular from the city centre to 2,256 metres in twenty minutes, and long-distance routes such as the Adlerweg cross the whole province.
Drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road
Open roughly from early May to late October, this 48-kilometre toll road climbs to 2,504 metres at the Hochtor pass with views to Austria’s highest summit and the Pasterze glacier. The car toll is about €41. Allow a full day with stops, and check the opening date before planning around it.
Follow the music calendar
Vienna’s Staatsoper and Musikverein run from September to June, the Salzburg Festival mid-July to end of August, and the Bregenz Festival stages opera on a floating lake stage in July and August. Tickets for the headline events go on sale up to a year ahead and sell out within days.
2 bookable experiences in Austria.
- Tickets & Passes · Austria
Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour with Skip-the-Line Entry
Reserved entry to all forty rooms of the Grand Tour, with an audio guide, plus the gardens, the Gloriette and the maze.
3 hours Instant confirmation Skip the lineLimited availability
From$62 View detailsSign in to view agent rates
Prices shown are per-person selling rates in USD — the figure your client pays. Sign in to view agent rates, availability calendars and instant booking.
Guided tours and day trips in Austria.
- Cultural Experiences · Austria
Mozart and Strauss Concert at the Kursalon Vienna
A category-A seat at the Kursalon, where Strauss conducted his own waltzes — a Salonorchester in period costume with singers and ballet dancers.
2 hours Instant confirmation EveningAvailable
From$86 View detailsSign in to view agent rates
1 cities and regions with their own guides.
How Austria actually works.
The backbone service runs Vienna–Salzburg in 2h 22m and Vienna–Innsbruck in 4h 15m, hourly. Walk-up fares are around €60 to Salzburg, but Sparschiene advance tickets start at €9.90 and are released six months out. Seat reservations cost €3 and are worth it on Friday and Sunday services.
Regional services and ÖBB Postbus reach the Salzkammergut lakes, the Zillertal and the smaller valleys, generally hourly. Salzburg to Hallstatt takes about 2h 20m including the ferry across the lake from the station. The Einfach-Raus-Ticket covers two to five people on regional trains for around €40 a day.
Vienna’s Wiener Linien network is excellent: a 24-hour ticket is €8, 72 hours €17.10, and the City Airport Train reaches the centre in 16 minutes for €14.90 while the S7 does it in 25 for €4.60. Salzburg and Innsbruck are small enough to walk end to end.
Useful for the Salzkammergut, the Grossglockner road and the smaller Tyrolean valleys. A motorway vignette costs €12.40 for ten days and must be bought before joining the autobahn. Winter tyres are legally required from 1 November to 15 April in wintry conditions, and hire cars are fitted accordingly.
Innsbruck, Salzburg and Munich airports serve the western resorts, with shared transfers to St Anton or Kitzbühel taking 1h 30m to 2h 30m. Most resorts include a free ski bus with the lift pass, and the Arlberg and Zillertal valleys have direct rail stations, which avoids a transfer altogether.
Things worth knowing first.
Austria, answered.
Vienna and Salzburg in one week — what else fits?
Comfortably, one more stop. Three nights in Vienna, a day on the Wachau, two or three in Salzburg with the Salzkammergut lakes, and either Innsbruck or Graz for the last two. The rail line makes this a straight run rather than a loop, so consider flying out of a different airport.
Is Austria good for a first ski trip?
Yes, and often better value than Switzerland or France. Lift passes run €67–75 a day, ski schools are well organised and English-speaking, and resorts such as Alpbach, Söll and the SkiWelt suit beginners. St Anton and Ischgl are for confident skiers and heavy après rather than first-timers.
How do I get to Hallstatt from Salzburg?
By train to Hallstatt station in about 2h 20m with a change at Attnang-Puchheim, then a short ferry across the lake that meets each train. By car it is 1h 20m, but village parking is limited and pre-booked in summer. The Postbus via Bad Ischl is a slower third option.
When do Austria’s Christmas markets run?
From mid-November to 24 or 26 December in most cities, with Vienna’s Rathausplatz, Schönbrunn and Spittelberg markets the largest, and Salzburg’s Domplatz market the most photographed of all. Some Vienna markets continue to 6 January. Weekends are extremely busy from late afternoon onwards; weekday afternoons are far more pleasant.
Do I need a car?
Not for Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck or Graz, all of which are well linked by Railjet. A car helps for the Salzkammergut lakes, the Grossglockner road and smaller Tyrolean valleys. Remember the vignette, and note that winter tyres are legally required in wintry conditions from November to mid-April.
Is Austria expensive compared with its neighbours?
Cheaper than Switzerland, broadly comparable with Germany and dearer than Italy. Expect €18–28 for a restaurant main, €5 for a coffee-house melange, and €120–200 a night for a mid-range city hotel. Ski resorts in high season and Salzburg during the festival are the two clear exceptions.
More on operating in Austria.
Europe DMC capabilities
Our Austria ground operation: Vienna, Salzburg and Tyrol hotel contracting, licensed guides, concert and festival ticketing, and Alpine transfer logistics.
Pre-costed Europe packages
Ready-priced Austrian itineraries linking Vienna, the Wachau, Salzburg and the Tyrol by Railjet, with lake excursions and transfers already costed.
Rail assistance
ÖBB Railjet group bookings, Sparschiene advance fares and seat reservations, plus platform assistance at Wien Hauptbahnhof, Salzburg and Innsbruck for larger parties.
Build an itinerary for Austria.
The agent workspace turns this guide into a costed programme — 2 contracted experiences here, with net rates, live availability, a quote builder and a client-ready document, plus 24/7 ops on the ground once it runs. Everything on this public page is the selling rate; your cost sits behind sign-in.