Oh Little Town in Austria . . .

Austria is full of little towns where we have stayed and enjoyed the local delicacies. While big metropolitan areas are always fun to visit, both my partner and I grew up in rural areas, which mean we love the little towns and villages that dot Austria’s landscape. Whether we’re staying in a small pension or hotel in a town or have found a zimmer in a village, we find these small clumps of houses really reveal the heart of Austria.

For sheer Austrian beauty, you cannot go wrong with the town of Hallstatt. Set on Hallstatter See, a large lake in Upper Austria, it is one of the most picturesque towns you’ll ever visit. When covered in snow, it looks like a gingerbread house town, although it may be a little salty thanks to the salt mines in the area. These mines serve as one of the town’s tourist attractions, as does the town’s ossuary, a place where the bones of the dead are stored. The reason everyone goes here, though is for the relaxation, the walks, and the views. It’s a wonderful place to be.

Pertisau in Tyrol is a lovely summer and winter village. In winter, it has the great ski slopes that dominate the Tyrolean Alps. In summer, it has access to the lush warm waters of Achensee and the gorgeous mountains around it. It’s not as pretty as Hallstatt, but the food is better.

Feldbach in eastern Styria is a lovely sleepy town set in the rolling vineyards. It has a great mediaeval feel about it, and the castles surrounding it just reinforce that sense of being back in 1200. Of course, the wine that comes out of that region also makes you feel like you’re somewhere in the dark ages, although that could just be the hangover. While you’re there, visit Bad Gleichenberg where there is a spa.

Mürzzuschlag in Lower Austria is always worth a visit as it has some great wild trails and some lovely cycling routes. If you’re interested in railways, there is a railway museum and several other sights. In winter, it has some great skiing nearby, so it’s a fantastic place to eat and sleep between days of skiing. The hotels are often cheaper than their Tyrolean equivalents.

Villach and Landskron in Carinthia have several little interesting bits to explore. The nearby castle, Burgruine Landskron, dominates the local landscapes, and falconers regularly display their birds there. In addition there are a lot of monkeys there, and no, we don’t mean our fellow tourists. The castle holds a collection of macaque monkeys in the Affenberg. When you’re done with the castle, you can explore Ossiachersee, a nearby lake that offers the usual scenic walks and diversions.

Austria’s towns and villages are far too numerous to be listed here, but these are some of our favorites. Hotels and zimmers are usually easy to find, so enjoy your trip to Austria in comfort.

Need a hotel in Austria? Click here to find it at Booking.com

Family Hotel "Landhaus" in Carinthia Austria

Carinthia, one of the nine states in Austria has some of the finest Zimmers and small hotels in Austria. Carinthia is also your gateway to exploring Slovenia and Italy as it shares its border with those beautiful countries.

Check out the latest Family hotel to join the AustrianZimmers.com website:

http://www.austrianzimmers.com/landhaus_drachenstein,_st._jakob_i._rosental-79

You can relax in a calm atmosphere near the Alps of Austria. You will be served the lovely Austrian breakfast and overall you will have a great country side experience. Come back to tell us and share your story and photos from this hotel with us.

Need a hotel in Austria? Click here to find it at Booking.com

Ich Spreche Englisch: German Phrases You Should Know

As with any country, it helps to speak the native language. While some of us, particularly myself, are very bad at languages, it does pay to know the basic phrases of German, Austria’s mother tongue. Whether you are trying to ask for a room in a hotel, say please or thank you, or ask for a beer, these brief phrases will help you to communicate in Austria.

Greetings are usually similar to English. Hallo is a basic greeting used to cover most situations. Guten Tag (good day, pronounced gooten taag), Guten Morgan (good morning), and Guten Abend (good evening, pronounced gooten ah-bun) are similar time-specific greetings. Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye, pronounced owf veeder-zayn) and bis bald (see you soon, pronounced biss bauld) are good ways to see someone off.

Continuing on the conversation, you’ve got wie geht es Ihnen? (how are you, pronounced vee gate is eenen). You hear a reply of Danke, gut. Und Ihnen? This indicates the speaker is well (good, thanks. And yourself?, pronounced danker goot. Unt eenen?).

Yes and no are ja and nein (yaa and nine) respectively.

The one I came to rely on for a while was sprechen sie Englisch? (do you speak English, pronounced spreken-zie Engleesh). However, when the answer was nein or ein bisschen (a little, pronounced eyn beeshen) I found I ended up resorting to an ever-handy phrasebook.

Please and thank you are bitte (pronounced bit-ter) and danke (pronounced dan-ker).

Now for the important stuff I found incredibly useful.

Numbers one to six are ein, zwei, drei, vier, funf, and sechs (eyn, szvei, dry, fear, foonf, and zex). So if you were asking for four beers, you would say “veir Bier bitte.” A number of German words are similar to their English counterparts, so this makes pronouncing them a lot easier.

Although the point hold up the number of fingers for the items you need approach can work well, it does painfully indicate you know nothing about German. I find it’s best to garble the German pronunciation a little, as that seems to make it more easily understandable. For a real rustic accent, a raging throat infection is recommended.

Ein Zimmer,bitte is what you need to say if you’re looking for a room for the night. Of course, if you’ve already booked your hotel room (hint hint), all you might need to say is Ich habe ein Zimmer reserviert. Meine Name ist *name* (I have reserved a room. My name is ...).

Hopefully a few of these phrases will help you to get around a bit more easily. It’s amazing how far you can go by remembering a few simple phrases.

Om Nom Nom — Austrian Food!

Food is essential to any traveler. While you can improvise a bed on a train platform (although we do recommend checking into a hotel as it’s generally nicer, safer and warmer) and you can walk anywhere if necessary, without food, holidays are not much fun. And we like our holidays to be fun.

Most people will be familiar with a few Austrian dishes, such as apple strudel and weiner schnitzels. However, like a lot of central European dishes, there’s an awful lot more that often gets overlooked. When eating, we prefer to head to a small local place that is more likely to serve good local food at reasonable prices.

Austrians typically have a continental-style breakfast with bread rolls, cold meats, cheeses, and jams. Tea, coffee or juice may be served. We found it is good to have a nice big breakfast that sets us up for the day, particularly when walking. Lunch is typically a snack with the main meal later in the day.

A lot of emphasis is placed on meat in Austria, which can be in stews, soups, and, of course, sausages. The weiner schnitzel is meat, usually veal, fried in breadcrumbs. It’s often served with potatoes. These might be mashed, boiled, or in the form of a salad (Erdapfelsalat). This is Austrian food at its most basic, but it is easy to replicate and try at home.

One of my favorites is Gulasch, a thick beef stew with onions, paprika and potatoes. It’s very warming and is great after a cold day. Basic but filling fare. You’ll often see it served with dumplings or bread rolls (Semmel). Similar to this is Tafelspitz—beef boiled in broth. Considered to be one of Austria’s national dishes, it is boiled with whatever root vegetables are available. A horseradish-and-apple sauce is served alongside it.

When you have a chance, try Beuschel, a ragout made with beef offal. This tender but filling dish usually has a spicy flavor. If you’re reaching for your dictionary or phrasebook trying to work out what Fledermaus is, don’t worry—it’s not actually a bat. It’s a specific cut of pork that looks a little like a spread-eagled bat, although a butterfly would be similar too.

In rural areas, game meats play a big part in any Austrian’s meals. Venison, boar, hare, pheasant, duck and partridge are all familiar sights. These will usually be served with seasonal vegetables, such as Styrian pumpkins, runner beans, and potatoes.

There are a wide variety of local, regional, and national sausages available in Austria. Whether this is the Käsekrainer, a boiled sausage that contains small pieces of cheese, the Frankfurter (or Wiener after the Austrian name for Vienna—Wien), or the Bratwurst, each sausage has its own distinct flavor, so we sample as many as we can when we are travelling through Austria.

Wherever you are, though, there will be a dozen local dishes that will delight you. It may be from a pension’s kitchen, a bar, a Würstelstand (sausage stand), or the restaurant opposite your hotel, Austria’s selection of foods delighted us, and they will delight you.

Zimmers and Hotels: What is the Difference?

Throughout this site, you’ll see that we’ve talked about zimmers, hotels, pensions, and apartments. It’s a good idea to be familiar with the differences between these different types of accommodation.

A hotel is a very common sight. Whether it’s a multistory complex in Vienna or a smaller multistory complex resort in the Austrian Alps, hotels offer an fairly impersonal but clean place to stay.

Depending on where you are and what time of year it is, hotels can cost anything from €30 to hundreds of Euros per night. Typically, hotels in ski resorts in the height of the winter and spring skiing season will cost between €500 to €2000 for five days, based on two sharing. A family of four generally won’t get a discount, as children over the age of five will generally require separate rooms, so this can make staying in a hotel very expensive.

If you have a large group, a chalet may be a better alternative. Prices for chalets can start from €600 for a four-person chalet, rising to €1,200 for a 10-person chalet. Prices during the ski season may be significantly higher depending on availability, though. These are often self-catering, so be prepared to cook.

We’ve found staying in a town a little distance away from the main ski slopes is a cheaper way to enjoy Austria’s skiing routes. Often, cross-country skiing can be a fun diversion, and the prices make it worth it. There are also usually busses that drive around picking people up, so you’ll have a short ride before you get to the slopes. That’s not a problem, because you’re paying so much less for the same amount of fun!

Zimmers are a lot more personal than a hotel and are often a free room in a house. The house might have several rooms that the owners rent out, but it’s usually an informal family-run business. Prices range widely, but you can get zimmers from €20 to €100 per room. This makes it a very cost-effective option when sleeping two people. However, zimmers are best in the summer, particularly when you’re looking for somewhere different to stay in a small town or village. For a family of four, a hotel may be a more reliable choice, but if you’re a seasoned traveler traveling with a partner, like I am, you will find zimmers offer that extra personal touch to Austria—and often a bigger breakfast.

Urban hotels, on the other hand, particularly in areas such as Salzburg and Vienna, offer good cheap rooms for the night, often with a reasonable breakfast, no matter what season it is. Just be aware of local festivities that may push up the price.

The personal nature of zimmers is their greatest strength, and we’ve often found out about little hidden gems of Austria through chatting with our hosts, something you don’t often get the chance to do in a hotel. We love Austrian zimmers, and with a little planning and booking, so will you.