Schönbrunn Palace
Top pickVienna
The Habsburg summer palace — 1,441 rooms of rococo excess, formal gardens and the Gloriette hilltop pavilion with the city’s best view.
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Travel Guide — Austria
Austria
Vienna, Salzburg & Hallstatt
13 places · 6-stop walk
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Austria panorama
Austria’s classic itinerary is the imperial triangle — Vienna’s palaces and coffee houses, Mozart’s Salzburg, and the lakeside villages of the Salzkammergut. The trains between them are fast and scenic.
Vienna alone can fill three days; Salzburg and Hallstatt make perfect rail day-trips or a two-city extension.
Getting there & around
01
Fly into Vienna (VIE)
The City Airport Train reaches the center in 16 minutes; the regular S7 S-Bahn is half the price and only slightly slower.
02
Salzburg is 2.5h by railjet
ÖBB Railjet trains run every 30–60 minutes from Vienna’s main station, continuing on to Munich.
03
Hallstatt: train + ferry
Salzburg → Hallstatt station is ~2h with a change at Attnang-Puchheim, then the ferry crosses the lake into the village — a great arrival.
Vienna Ring Walk
The Ringstrasse circuit — opera house, Hofburg, the museum quarter, City Hall and a finish at St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Places I recommend
Everything I visited and would send a friend to. Starred entries are the ones I'd put at the top of the list.
01
Landmarks & History
St. Stephen's Cathedral
Vienna
The Gothic heart of the city since 1147 — patterned tile roof, 136 m south tower and catacombs beneath.
Hofburg & the Ringstrasse
Vienna
The imperial palace complex at the center of the grand boulevard — the Opera, Parliament, City Hall and twin museums all on one ring.
Belvedere Palace
Vienna
Two baroque palaces linked by gardens — the Upper Belvedere holds Klimt’s The Kiss and the national art collection.
Hohensalzburg Fortress
Salzburg
The white-walled fortress on the Festungsberg — one of Europe’s largest intact castles, reached by funicular above the old town.
Mirabell Gardens
Salzburg
The baroque palace gardens where the Sound of Music "Do-Re-Mi" scene was filmed — Pegasus fountain, dwarf garden and fortress views.
02
Outdoors & Views
Hallstatt
Top pickSalzkammergut
The lakeside village that became the postcard — pastel houses stacked between mountain and water, a salt mine and the famous ossuary.
Arrive before 10am or stay overnight — the village empties out after the day-trippers leave.
Wolfgangsee
Salzkammergut
The bluest of the Salzkammergut lakes — the Schafbergbahn cog railway climbs 1,783 m from St. Wolfgang for views over seven lakes.
Prater & Riesenrad
Vienna
The giant park where Vienna plays — the 1897 ferris wheel (famous from The Third Man) plus meadows and the long Hauptallee for cycling.
03
Food & Drink
Naschmarkt
Vienna
The city’s main food market — a 1.5 km strip of stalls, produce, spices and restaurants between two art nouveau pavilions.
Viennese coffee houses
Top pickVienna
UNESCO-listed coffee-house culture — marble tables, newspapers on wooden racks and a melange coffee. Café Central and Sperl are the classics.
One coffee buys you the table for the whole afternoon — bring a book.
Schnitzel & sachertorte
Vienna
Figlmüller serves the oversized veal-free original schnitzel; Hotel Sacher invented the chocolate-apricot sachertorte — both are institutions.
04
Misc
St. Gilgen & lake villages
Salzkammergut
The quieter alternative to Hallstatt — Mozart’s mother’s hometown on Wolfgangsee with ferries linking the lakeside villages.