Austria

Vienna, One of History's Great Capitals

Vienna was for six centuries the capital of the Habsburg Empire — at its peak, the administrative centre of a territory spanning from Spain to Hungary. That imperial inheritance is physically present everywhere: the Ringstrasse boulevard lined with monumental museums and opera houses, Schönbrunn Palace with its 1,441 rooms and formal gardens, the Hofburg complex that housed the Habsburg court for seven centuries. Vienna consistently ranks among the world's most liveable cities.

The Alps

Austria contains some of the most spectacular Alpine scenery in Europe. The Salzkammergut lake district combines glacier-fed lakes, forested mountains, and villages of extraordinary prettiness. Innsbruck sits in a valley with the Nordkette mountain range rising directly above the city centre — you can take a cable car from the old town to 2,300 metres in twenty minutes. The ski resorts of Kitzbühel, St Anton, and Zell am See are among Europe's finest in winter.

Music & Culture

Austria produced Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Brahms, Mahler, and Strauss. The Habsburg court in Vienna was the most sustained patron of classical music in European history, and the cultural infrastructure it created — the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Musikverein — continues to operate at the highest level. Salzburg hosts the Salzburg Festival every summer — one of the world's premier classical music and opera events.

Food, Wine & the Coffee House

Austrian cuisine is richer than its international reputation suggests. Wiener Schnitzel — properly made from veal, pounded thin and fried in clarified butter — is one of Europe's great dishes. The wine regions of the Wachau and Burgenland produce Grüner Veltliner and Riesling of genuine international quality. And the Viennese coffee house, with its marble tables and unhurried service, is a way of life that the city has practised for 350 years — inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.