Austria Travel Guide: Attersee

Austria Travel Guide – 21 Austrian Locations To Visit From Vienna

In my Austria Travel Guide I’m going to share my favourite travel destinations from Vienna. It will increase your radius of exploring Austria, too.

Find out which amazing places to visit from Vienna, best transport connections, trip duration and what to do in each location. The following 21 places have been taken from my personal photo albums, memories and hot tips from local friends and family.

You can use the Austrian Railway search widget at the end of this post to find train timestables and book tickets. Sometimes, it is more advisable to rent a car, especially if you are short on time and want to be flexible. Check out my car rental guide.

If you’d like to get things sorted and have 7 days at hand for Austria, consider a railway tour from Vienna to Salzburg, Innsbruck and Swarovski Crystal Worlds.

Lower Austria

1. Austria Travel Guide: Wachau Valley

Austria Travel Guide: Wachau ValleyThis UNESCO World Heritage Site makes a perfect day out for wine lovers, boat ride fans, medieval and baroque art aficionados, hikers and bikers, and rural tranquil seekers. Visit Dürnstein, Spitz and Melk Abbey. If you like classical music find out what is on atGrafenegg Castle. For more tips on what to see and do there, go to Wachau Valley.

By train: Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof train station to Krems or Melk; approx. 1 hour / 1.25 hours
By car: via A1 highway; approx. 1.15 hours / 1.5 hours

Top local hotel deals in Wachau Valley: get the best deals forHotels in Wachau.

2. Austria Travel Guide: Schloss Hof

Austria Travel Guide: Schloss HofThe castle between Vienna and Slovakian capital Bratislava was Prince Eugene of Savoy’s beautifully restored baroque country retreat. It boasts lavish rooms, manicured baroque gardens and an authentic manor farm. The palace makes a fantastic day trip from Vienna for culture travellers and families. It is open from early April to early November.

By train and bus: Vienna Central Station to Marchegg train station, from there take free shuttle bus to Schloss Hof; approx. 1.25 hours
By car: via A4 highway; approx. 1 hour

My tip: connect your visit with a trip to nearby Bratislava the following day;
Access Bratislava hotel deals

3. Austria Travel Guide: Vienna Woods

Austria Travel Guide: MoedlingYou would want to venture out into the Vienna Woods if you love wine, hiking, wellness spas, classical music and casinos; I grew up in the spa, casino, operetta and wine town Baden. In the 19th century,the Austrian Emperor built a summer residence there. Musicians like Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Strauss spent their summers there. On Summer weekends you can listen to free classical concerts in the pavilion of Kurpark. Insider tip: Visit the winery festivals in Gumpoldskirchen and Pfaffstätten if you are around in August/September. Find out what to see and do in Vienna Woods.

By train: Vienna Central Station to Gumpoldskirchen, Pfaffstaetten or Baden bei Wien; approx. 30 min
By car: approx. 45 min
Find the best Vienna Woods hotel.

Burgenland

4. Austria Travel Guide: Neusiedlersee

Austria Travel Guide: Lake NeusiedlEach summer I visit Neusiedlersee in Burgenland, called the ‘seaside of the Viennese’, with my local family. We would swim, rent a little boat, visit local wineries, go biking along the lake, and take our kids to the wildlife centre at Seewinkel. Shipping across the river from Illmitz to Podersdorf is highly recommended. The steppe lake’s water is quite muddy but doesn’t do any harm, it’s all natural. Best villages to visit: Rust, Illmitz and Mörbisch; If you visit in the summer, make sure you take insect repellent with you.

By train and bus:Vienna Central Station to Rust am See, Illmitz or Podersdorf am See (change to local busses as indicated on train timestables); approx. 1.5 hours / 1.25 hours / 1.25 hours.
By car: approx. 1.25 hours to 1.5 hours

5. Austria Travel Guide: Eisenstadt

Austria Travel Guide: Esterhazy PalaceBurgenland’s capital is a well kept travel secret. The small town has loads of character and boasts stunning baroque Esterházy Palace. It is mostly known as baroque composer Joseph Haydn’s main realm of composing and conducting.

Best connection: To visit both Eisenstadt and Forchtenstein Castle get on the Esterházy Bus for a day trip by coach to Eisenstadt, Esterhazy Castle, the Haydn Hall and Forchtenstein Castle. The tour is available between May and September. Further information and booking: email tourismus@esterhazy.at

6. Austria Travel Guide: Forchtenstein Castle

Forchtenstein's treasure chamberYou probably know this kind of castle from ‘middle earth’ fanstasy films. This is the real one, though. The 14th century medieval fortress close to Eisenstadt is picture perfect. Enthroned on a limestone rock amidst the Rosalia mountains, Forchtenstein hosts the sparkling treasury of the Esterhazy family, the most wondrous ancestors gallery and natural curiosities.

At one hour’s drive from Vienna, Forchtenstein is suitable for a day trip or a stopover on your way to Hungary or Austria’s southern regions. Find out more about Forchtenstein.

Access Burgenland hotel deals

Upper Austria

7. Austria Travel Guide: Salzkammergut Lakes

Austria Travel Guide: AtterseeThink ‘Sound of Music’, subtract Hollywood and you’ll get the breathtaking surroundings of Alpine lakes and mountains. I have sent families, groups of friends and romantic couples there, and they were all amazed. My top three must-see lakes: Lake Hallstatt, lake Wolfgang, and lake Fuschl. If you visit Salzburg, you can join a mountain and lake resort day tour from there. Alternatively, take a private tour to Hallstatt. Insider tip: At St. Wolfgang, get uphill by Schafbergbahnsteam cogwheel railway from St. Wolfgang for a fabulous view of lake Wolfgang; then take a boat ride from St. Wolfgang to St. Gilgen;

By train:Wien Westbahnhof to St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut via Bad Ischl or Salzburg; 4 hours
By car: via A1 higway, approx. 3.75 hours
Access Salzkammergut hotel deals

8. Austria Travel Guide: Danube Region

The stretch along the Danube in Upper Austria is one of the most picturesque in the country.Bikerscan go from Passau viaLinzto Vienna across flat plains, sloped banks and hills on theDanube bike path.Hikerscan use theDonausteighiking path. You will love the many historic villages, medieval ruins and baroque monasteries and castles on the way. The best locations forculture travellersare Engelhartszell monastery, Aschach and Enns, Austria’s oldest town. Most impressive patch is the Schlögener Schlinge. From Passau to Vienna, it is mostly downhill.

By train:Wien Westbahnhof to Linz an der Donau; 1.25 hours
By car:via A1 highway, approx. 2.5 hours
Find Hotels in the Danube region

Hotel Tips

The best locations to stay along the Upper Austrian Danube are theDom Hotel in Linz, Hotel Schloss Mühldorf in Feldkirchen, and Hotel Donauschlinge in Haibach. For Salzkammergut, choose a wildly romantic lakeside hotel in St. Gilgen or Hallstatt.

Salzburg

9. Austria Travel Guide: Salzburg City

Austria Travel Guide: Salzburg CathedralAustria’s second most popular city deserves the attention of culture travellers in general and Mozart fans in particular. Everything here lifts my spirits, whether I stroll through the historic Getreidegasse, visit Residenz Gallery, have coffee at Café Tomaselli or go up to Mönchsberg and the Fortress Hohensalzburg. Don’t miss Mirabell Palace. For added convenience, join a good historic walking tour. Mozart music is almost everywhere in town. Find out what classical events are on stage during your stay here. If you decide to stay in Salzburg, add some time to also explore the surrounding regions. Sound of Music fans: you will find a buzzing fan community onsite. If you like to keep it more private, consider doing an exclusive Sound of Music tour. The annual Salzburg Festival takes place from mid July to the end of August – expect the town to explode with music and visitors.

By train:Wien Westbahnhof to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
By car: via A1 higway, approx. 3.5 hours;
Organised tours: If you’d just like someone to whizz you to Salzburg and back, check my favourite Vienna tours to Salzburg;

10. Austria Travel Guide: Hohe Tauern National Park

Austria Travel Guide: Hohe Tauern National ParkThe Hohe Tauern National Parkis where Austrians spend their mountain holidays. What I find most fascinating there is that mix of rough rocks and lush green mountains, pure water and super clean air. You can join a national park ranger for a hike, learn about schnaps distilling and Alpine flowers, visit the Krimml waterfalls, travel by steam locomotive through mountains and valleys. Best local ski resorts are Bad Hofgastein (you may find me there) and the glacier of Kaprun.

By train:Wien Westbahnhof or Vienna Central Station to Bad Gastein, Mittersill and Kaprun; approx. 4.25 hours / 5.25 hours / 5.25 hours
By car: via A2 highway approx. 4.75 to 5.25 hours;

Hotel Tips

Go for Hotel Stein, Altstadthotel Amadeus, or Altstadthotel Kasererbräu . Get more local hotel deals in Hotels in Salzburg.

Read more on the best places in Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol and Vorarlberg.

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