Top Things to do in Austria
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What to do and see in Austria, Austria: The Best Things to do for Honeymoon
As home to majestic mountains, opulent palaces, and high culture, Austria's attractions are classically sumptuous and enduring. But beyond the waltzes, the strudels, the alpine summits, and Habsburg architecture, its modern cities are proof of just how easily Austria combines the contemporary with the historic.
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1. The Hofburg
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 12,521 reviews
For centuries the Vienna Hofburg was the centre of the Habsburg empire. Today the palace houses three museums which afford historically authentic insights into the traditions and everyday life of the imperial court: The Imperial Apartments with their original furnishings and decoration, the Sisi Museum with its sensitive staging of the empress' life, and the Imperial Silver Collection which contains a comprehensive range of tableware and other utensils used at the imperial court.
Reviewed By GoalieMarty - Ottawa, Canada
We took the Hofburg Vienna ticket which includes the Silver Collection, the Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Apartments with an included audio guide. We bought our tickets on the spot and did not even wait one minute in line. Not sure if it's always like that though. The visit starts with the Silver Collection. Lots and lots of everything you can possibly find on a table. For me, it was nice to see but I got a little bored at the end because I found there was too much and it gets somewhat overwhelming. The audio guide is also a bit dry in my opinion. "Exhibit 24: This silverware collection was designed by Italian master Giovanni Macaroni in 1829 for the visit of King Stradivarius IV who spent 2 weeks at the palace with his court, and bla-bla-bla ...". You get the idea. If you want to save time, I would suggest you skip the dishes. Or at least, don't listen to everything in the audio guide. The visit continues with the Sisi Museum which I found really interesting because it's about her life and all the people in it. Really well made and really well presented. The audio guide is also much more interesting this time around. The Imperial Apartments, the last third of the visit, are truly magnificent. You can feel the opulence and the wealth of this family. The audio guide is again very informative. Both the museum and the apartments are worth spending a little more time in there to take it all in. Overall, we really enjoyed our visit of the Imperial Palace. We also visited Schönbrunn Palace and based on our experience, I would recommend the following. If you want to visit both, start with the Imperial Palace first as Schönbrunn is even more grandiose. If you only have time for one, I would recommend Schönbrunn.
2. Schonbrunn Palace
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 42,524 reviews
The Cultural World Heritage Site of Schönbrunn Palace is Austria's most frequently visited tourist attraction. In the palace the residential and state rooms with their original furnishings and decorations convey an authentic impression of the imperial lifestyle. The park and gardens surrounding the palace make Schönbrunn in a unique synthesis of Baroque art as well as providing a convenient and highly popular recreational area for Vienna's population.
Reviewed By vicdud - Washington DC, United States
Schonbrunn Palace was beautiful!! The classic pass gets you access to the palace, privy garden, maze, orange garden, and the gloriette; so many awesome things to see! Definitely recommend using any kind of tour guide (audio or person), helps a lot with understanding the royal family and the interior of the palace. It should take about 4 hours and there is a lot of walking involved. There is so much to see and lots of history to learn.
3. SchafbergBahn
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 831 reviews
Take a ride on the steepest cog railway in Austria from St. Wolfgang to the top of the 1,783 m tall Schafberg. In 35 minutes, the SchafbergBahn will carry you to the top. With its striking summit, this is one of Austria’s most beautiful and scenic mountains, treating visitors to incomparable views of the surrounding natural landscapes.
4. Fortress Hohensalzburg Castle
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 11,689 reviews
This amazing 11th-century castle overlooks Salzburg from a hill on the outskirts of the city. Fortress Hohensalzburg is a real eye-catcher, high above the Baroque towers of the city. The castle remains a visible landmark to this day and is an unmistakable feature of Salzburg’s world-famous skyline. From afar, the mighty walls begin to reveal the history visitors experience at first hand within these sturdy defenses. Opening hours: We are open for you 365 days a year - even on public holidays! January – April and October– December: 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. May – September: 9.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m. Advent weekends and Easter: 9.30 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. Please note: On 24th of December, we are closing at 2pm.
Reviewed By Brittany_11_10 - Los Angeles, United States
Whether you walk up the road to get to the fortress or take the funicular, visiting Fortress Hohensalzburg is a must-do/see in Salzburg. It's well worth the 13 euro or so (which includes a one-way ride on the funicular as well and a free audio tour). The fortress is very well-preserved, the audio tour and museum offer a lot of interesting history (of the region, the fortress, the rulers over various times, etc.), and the views from the top are stunning. I'd budget at least two hours, but you can easily spend more time up there. From late November to late December, they sell gluhwein, and other beverages and snacks as well.
5. Mirabell Palace and Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,905 reviews
This former palace now houses government offices. The gardens are where the von Trapp children sang "Do-Re-Mi" in the Sound of Music.
Reviewed By Baz-Protest - Belfast, United Kingdom
Beautifull gardens memories of sound of music A formal garden in traditional style fountains and flower beds smaller than we imagined Free entry Toilets in the grounds 50 cent coin only
6. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 9,709 reviews
Experience one of the world's foremost museums! Let yourself be enchanted by works spanning five millennia, from Ancient Egypt to the modern era. Experience unique major works by Dürer, Raphael, Titian and Velázquez as well as the world's largest collection of Bruegel paintings, all in a magnificent setting. The Kunstkammer Vienna, featuring the famous Saliera by Benvenuto Cellini, is a veritable universe of art and beauty guaranteed to transform any visit into an unforgettable experience. Included in the ticket are the collections at the Neue Burg on the opposite side of Vienna's Ringstrasse. Here you will see the instruments used by the great composers and be transported back to chivalrous times when knights held sway and tourneys and hunting shaped courtly life.
Reviewed By Ina5555 - Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine
The museum was the main goal of my Vienna visit, but I never expected it to be such an excellent introduction into the city and palaces sculptures' motifs as well, underscoring how much power was assigned back then to the art as a means of ideological visual education. Having spent 1,5 days in the museum I have made plenty of personal discoveries and enjoyed new for me artworks (e.g. unexpected parallel to the modern popular mass culture is a 1524 'Arya Stark' self-portrait bearing uncanny resemblance, in fact Parmigianino's enchanting masterpiece). The discoveries haven't stopped after the museum visit ended, because the next day during sightseeing I realized I recognize many of the city and its palaces sculptures' motifs and whatever I used to know about the big name old masters the most influential of them in Vienna must be Luca Giordano's The Fall of the Rebel Angels, whenever I saw its impressive replicated Laocoon-like convulsion-wriggled figures conveying the ideals of Counter-Reformation to the empire subjects on the city streets. Just walking the city you can recognize in the city sculptures' many familiar motifs, not only Biblical but antique as well (Hercules lifting Antaeus, Amazons, etc). Practicalities of the museum visit: the air-conditioning wasn't felt at all in the big inner rooms with Roman numerals, I slightly felt it in the small outer rooms with Arabic numerals (as of 14th and 15th of July). Six or seven rooms were entirely closed for reconstruction during my two-day visit. For lockers you need either a 1 or 2 euro coin, but there's a manned storage facility as well. Backpacks have to be left in a locker, normal shoulder bags are OK. Photo of the permanent exhibition without a flash is allowed. Temporary exhibition: Yan van Eyck "Als Ich Can". Probably I somehow unfortunately missed it. In the room dedicated to the special exhibition (0.5 floor, the same floor as the Kunstkammer, Egyptian and Antique collections - beware indeed almost no English translations of the exhibits, an audio guide cannot make up for all of them; the Egyptian rooms maintain specific humidity level) I saw only few works by the painter, and few works by his contemporaries like Rogier van der Weyden. The museum building (as well as the whole square) is a stunning art object in its own right, specifically built to showcase the Habsburg art treasuries, its highlights are covered by audio guide, including Klimt, Munkacsy contributions. Seeing the interiors I couldn't help but felt as the Mask film protagonist having to recover my awestruck jaw from the floor. Really a mind-boggling shrine of a high art which symbols and messages are probably half-obscure nowadays.
7. Mayrhofen
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 180 reviews
This mountain town is best known for its renowned ski slopes.
Reviewed By phillhx24
I have been to Mayrhofen a Few times and Love the place ! Highly recommend Mayrhofen to Everyone, I have always gone for Skiing or Snowboarding It’s Great for beginners , intermediates and Experts levels Apres is class in Mayrhofen !!! I have been as a Couple, Group of lads and a Very large group of lads on a stag do and this place covered all that each wanted If your looking for a Great place to ski/ board then try Mayrhofen Don’t be shocked if there’s No Snow in the town as slopes are high above
8. Schloss Hellbrunn
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,958 reviews
Reviewed By Sue77777
Beautiful gardens and grounds around the main house. The fountains were off as seasonal but the main lake had a lovely Christmas angel there We spent three hours here , they also had a children’s petting area for the Christmas market. Free entry except the weekends, so great fun. The actual market was reasonably priced , unlike some we have been too around the European cities. Nice cafe too offering reasonably priced meals and drinks, great attentive service too We enjoyed walking the garden too and of course seeing the sound of music pavilion
9. Untersberg
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,021 reviews
Reviewed By S8424YSmarkc - Cambridge, United Kingdom
Great way to spend a few hours of a trip to Salzburg. Particularly at this time of year when there's plenty of snow at the top (but none in town). On a clear day, such as we had, the views were great and it's really nice in the sunny weather. Cable car up is pricey (EUR25 return), but it is free with a Salzburg Card (one of its many many benefits). Easy to reach from the town centre by bus. One of the bus routes (route 25) also goes via Hellbrunn and Salzburg Zoo, so it is very easy to combine all 3 into an excellent day trip (as we did).
10. Albertina
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,819 reviews
Situated in the very heart of Vienna's City center, the Albertina houses one of the most important art collections of the world. Founded in 1776, the Museum today owns masterpieces by Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Duerer, Rembrandt etc. These collections are presented in temporary exhibitions. The Batliner Collection "From Monet to Picasso" is permanentely on display and shows the most important works by artists from the age of modernism. The Habsburg Historic Staterooms of the Albertina give an air of Imperial glamour.
Reviewed By iioannis2 - Limassol City, Cyprus
Let yourself be attracted and inspired by classical and modern art of famous painters like Picasso and Rubens, as well as admiring memorable vividness painting scenes of the A' World War and medieval personalities, along with modern pieces of painting of abstract art. You will also enter at luxurious furnished coloured rooms taking you back at classical eras and rooms decorated with Greek status like the 9 muses and Apollon (usually their names are written in Greeks). I was impressed that most of the visitors are young people even if the ticket could be considered a bit expensive. But the cost deserves for those who look for such cultural exhibitions. When an exhibit (eg a painting) impresses you, read the small label in the wall next to it and then let your imagination be absorbed looking at the painting, enjoying it as an excellent creation and experiencing in your though what it represents. This is the best place for this purpose!
