Everybody has heard of the pop-stars Falco and DJ Ötzi, the great composers Mozart and Haydn, has seen the film on the Trapp family, "The Sound of Music", has seen the great mountainside when skiing in winter or hiking in summer, everybody has his clichés on this small country in the heart of Europe…
Yes, I do know, that there was this governor of the province of Carinthia by the name of J. Haider, whose racist comments have found their way into all of Europes principal media. But his fame was declining fast and the party which he used to lead has proven that they can do without him when looking back at almost two years of successful political work in a coalition with the conservatives.
So, what else is there about Austria: well, lots of history and I mean it. The Hapsburgs have ruled it for six centuries and influenced the culture of central and eastern Europe. You will think about
them when visiting Schönbrunn Palace or the Hofburg residence in Vienna, their castles in the countryside, even when visiting their other landmarks in Prague and Budapest. You will think about them when listening to famous orchestras like the Vienna Philharmonic performing in the State Opera or at the Salzburg Festival. Their collections of famous paintings can be seen in the "Kunsthistorisches Museum", different foods and drinks bear their name, in short: though there is no more monarchy for almost a century, the "Kaisers" are still omnipresent...
As tradition is one element of the attractiveness of Austria, its beautiful countryside with the friendly people is another. Due to their hospitality every year millions of tourists swarm into the country, thus making it the major source of revenue over here. It is only a 2 hour flight from England, the airports you arrive will probably be Innsbruck, Salzburg or Vienna. BA, Ryan Air, Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air are the main carriers with several other charter companies unloading their skiing clientele every winter. Travelling by train takes quite some time as the fast trains like TGV or ICE cannot run in the mostly mountainous area but you get your share of great views at considerable lower speeds. Arriving by car from Britain takes you via French or Belgian motorways to Germanys "Autobahnen", the only ones where limitless speeding is still tolerated. When entering Austria you are asked to observe the 130 kmh on motorways, 100 kmh on so called federal roads and 50 kmh in towns and villages and bear in mind that using the Autobahn requires a sticker for 10 days, 2 months or a year. As you might not enjoy to drive your own car over there are rental cars abound with the steering wheel on the "right" side, that is the left ;-) Petrol is now well below last years record prices, Eurosuper 95 is around 60 p per litre, Diesel even below that.
If you want to discover the beautiful Danube valley on a bicycle you may very well do so as there are a lot of small guest houses that cater specifically for the cyclists. The tour from Passau on the German border to Vienna can easily be done in 3-4 days and you do not have to fight the strong north westerlies on your way back when returning on one of the river-cruise ships.
Other must-sees from West to East: the small province of Vorarlberg is a miniature of Tyrol with Bregenz and its Summer Festival on Lake Constance and its fabulous skiing resorts Lech and Zürs on the Arlberg. There is glacier skiing all year round in Tyrol, Downhill World Cup action in Kitzbühel, mountain climbing, parasailing and golf from the Arlberg to Pass Thurn.
Salzburg adds its cultural flavour and has the largest skiing area in all Europe ("Amadé") that can be crisscrossed with a single pass. The easternmost glacier is on the Dachstein already in the province of Upper Austria, this is lake country: here you find Attersee, Traunsee, Mondsee and Wolfgangsee, skipper´s heaven. Another similar province is Carinthia in the south, bordering both Italy and Slovenia, also mountainous and speckled with lakes. The highest Austrian mountain found there with 3798 metres is the Großglockner. On the south side of the Dachstein begins Styria stretching south-east to the Slovenian border where wine tasting is highly recommended. Austria´s best Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs are produced here. Lower Austria is another great wine growing area, in the Wachau valley the famous Riesling and the "Grüner Veltliner" are the best white wines.
A country of castles is Burgenland, Austria´s easternmost province on the Hungarian border, here you complete your wine-tasting with fabulous reds of the "Blaufränkisch" (Pinot Franc) or Pinot Noir variety. Go ahead and try the local food, you will be pleasantly surprised at the high level of quality. My favourite and "dear" gourmet place is the "Taubenkobel" restaurant in the village of Schützen near Eisenstadt.
Be advised to stay off the main roads, the many picturesque villages are truly worth it. Do not hesitate to ask for directions in English as the language is widely understood and spoken, "bitte" (be-tah) for please, "danke" (dunkah) for thank you and "auf Wiedersehn" (owf weedersahn) for good bye will make the locals smile...
That leaves the capital, Vienna and the ninth province, worth a trip by itself, some hints about you find in my special op on it.
"Servus" - meaning: I´m your slave ;-) and see you in Austria.
Austria - capital Vienna, 9 provinces, 84000 km², 8 million inhabitants
Info in the net: www.tiscover.com and www.wien.gv.at
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We enjoyed our visit - I was amazed at how empty Salzburg Airport was - about 30 people it was as if we had gone on a day it was shut!!
neenn 01.08.2009 21:12
A friend of mine has recently seen the light and moved over there to live.... Very envious of her fantastic scenic photos and chat of the 'good life'! Good review :-)
torr 06.07.2009 00:57
I don't know how I missed this first time round. A most interesting review.
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Nov 25th, 2001
(Jul 2nd, 2009)
very helpful by (100%):
