Visit Austria for your next Holiday

Are you looking for an exciting and beautiful country to visit for your next holiday? If so, you might like to consider the European country of Austria, which has something to appeal to everyone. Here are a few reasons why.

Good transport links

Okay, so transport might not be the key deciding factor in your choice of holiday destination but it’s certainly an important consideration as you need to know you’ll be able to easily get around once you get to the country. The good news is that if you go to Austria, you shouldn’t have any problems. The train service is excellent and a popular way to get around the country – there is also a range of train discount passes available for purchase, which can help save you money.

Driving is also a good option. You’ll need to get a toll sticker for your windscreen if you’re driving on the motorway and ensure you’ve got snow tyres or snow chains in the winter, but the roads are well-maintained and offer good variety.

Good accommodation options
As you might expect from a country where tourism is such a major industry, there is all sorts of accommodation available in Austria. From rustic Austrian Zimmers to glamorous Viennese hotels, you’re sure to find something that’s suitable for every taste and budget no matter which region you choose to visit.

Good climate

Austria also benefits from having a good climate. It’s worth mentioning that it can rain at any time of the year so waterproofs are advised, but the country is on the whole fairly temperate. If you’re after skiing or a nice winter break, the Alps are a good place to go. For hot summer holidays, the eastern part of the country could well be what you’re looking for.

Good selection of attractions

One of the main reasons to consider going to Austria is the fact that there is just so much to do there. From going to see the opera in Vienna to visiting the last protected stretch of rainforest in Europe, it’s a diverse and exciting country. Salzburg is a must-see, as this is home to Mozart’s birthplace and is very close to a valley where you will find ice caves. Another benefit is that Austria has very good links to the rest of Europe, so it’s a great place to go if you’re hoping to go on a wider European tour and take in as many sights as possible.

Coffeehouses in Vienna

One thing you won't lack for in Vienna is a place to go and drink coffee. You'll often find there is one opposite your hotel, which is very handy when you wake up late, miss breakfast, and need something to wake you up in the morning. Not that we've done this on a very regular basis. Much...

There is something about Vienna's wide variety of coffeehouses that is very comforting. We suspect they used to having to cater to hungover tourists and locals, so the staff generally speak softly and give you what you want with the minimum of fuss—in our case normally something greasy such as fried sausages and a large pot of coffee.

Of course, coffee drinking isn't just for those who have been out the night before. Vienna's coffeehouses are great places to meet friends for a chat and catch up. If you're feeling peckish, you can enjoy a range of sweet treats along with your coffee.

We prefer to go to the old city for our coffee as you can relax underneath the magnificent architecture and simply relax. Whether you go to Café Sacher, one of the most luxurious cafés in Vienna, or one of the many small coffeehouses surrounding it, you can find the perfect atmosphere for you. You see, the Viennese coffeehouse is more than simply a place to enjoy coffee; it's an institution. Writers such as Karl Kraus and Elias Canetti,  artists such as Gustav Klimt, and other creative geniuses all sat down in various coffeehouses to relax and discuss ideas. Whether you go to the Café Hawelka or the Café Museum, you are sitting in a piece of history.

If you fancy something a bit different, however, you might want to try Haas & Haas, which offers a variety of breakfasts from around the world. You can sit down and order a full English breakfast while your partner has dim sum, the Chinese breakfast, served in a bamboo steamer. Café Sperl is famous for its soft boiled eggs and ham, and Café Drechsler, our personal favorite, offers great sausages and goulash—a perfect hangover cure.

When you have a coffeehouse just over the road from your hotel, though, you will find that it's the perfect place to have a midmorning snack and just generally relax. That's what makes Vienna's coffeehouse culture absolutely fantastic—they are relaxing, charming, and elegant. And the coffee is great, too!

Music in Vienna

If you are a massive music fan, there are a lot of options for you in Vienna. Whether you like classical music, jazz, rock, metal, or pop, you are sure to find a venue that will cater to you, and they’re all within easy reach from your hotel or zimmer.

Classical music, of course, has a major influence in Vienna. The Vienna State Opera offers performances 300 days of the year on a wide variety of themes, albeit based on opera or ballets. In addition, the Vienna Musikverein and the Vienna Konzerthaus both offer a wide range of classical music, including concerts, musicals, and recitals.

If you prefer something a little more modern, there are a wide variety of clubs and other venues within the city. One of the biggest venues is the U4 club, which has seen the likes of Prince, Nirvana, and Grace Jones. If you're feeling brave, you can check out the Jenseits Café & Dance. This former brothel generally focuses on funk and soul with a little bit of jazz thrown in. If you're in the mood for a wide variety of music, the Prater Dome offer something for everyone. Vienna's largest disco offers a wide range of music, from dance, trance, and garage to R&B, salsa, and Latino – all in the same venue.

No city would be complete without its jazz clubs. One of our favorite clubs to visit is Jazzland, which is Vienna's oldest jazz club. Hidden underneath a church, this club has managed to attract numerous famous jazz musicians, from Big Joe Williams to Ray Brown. The food is pretty decent too. Another place to visit would be Porgy and Bess. This unique club has musicians from around the world visiting it, including some more unusual ensembles. A recent concert featured jazz musicians from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. If you just fancy a very nice dinner with some jazz in the background, go to the Albertina Passage, which is based in the Vienna State Opera.

If you fancy doing a bit of dancing, you can practice your samba or salsa in Vienna's Latino clubs. Floridita is a great place to experience the delights of Cuba, and El Dorado's cozy atmosphere is a perfect place to learn a little bit about Latin America's dances.

Finding these clubs is generally easy, but be sure to check out what is open by asking around. Some of the smaller clubs are well worth a visit, so ask your friendly Austrian hotel staff for details.

I Want to Ride My Bicycle: Cycling in Vienna

Vienna is incredibly bicycle-friendly city. It has around thousand miles of bicycle tracks, which are very useful when getting from A to B. In addition, it also has a free city bicycle scheme, although the word free is not completely accurate. There are some great Austrian zimmers that are bicycle friendly too.

The city's bicycle scheme allows you to hire a bike at an extremely low rate. The first hour is free, the next hour is a euro, the third hour is charged at two euros, and anything between four and 120 hours is charged at four euros an hour. It is worth mentioning that this is per cycling session. Therefore, if you use the service for a half hour trip and return it, you will not get charged no matter how many trips like this you make. The journey begins when you remove the citybike from its slot and ends when you plug it back into a slot, even if this is at a different station. You will need either a debit card or a citybike tourist card, which can be rented from your hotel. Make sure you ask about it. There may be a small fee of around two euros a day to hire a citybike tourist card.

There are approximately 80 public rental stations in Vienna, and the terminals are normally located near major transportation routes, such as tram, bus, and rail stations, and near major tourist areas, such as the Imperial Palace and the Ringstrasse. 

It is also worth checking out the guided cycle tours in Vienna. Most of these run between 1 May and 31 October, and there is often a nominal charge for these. For more information, it's worth going to the tourist information center at Albertinaplatz. Alternatively, your pension may have more information.

If the rain started coming down, you can always do a little traveling underground. We don't mean, of course, that you start tunneling like a mole. The Viennese Metro allows bicycles on it after the morning rush hour, which generally ends at 9 AM on weekdays, until 3 PM. Trains after 6:30 PM also allow bicycles. Saturdays and Sundays are generally unrestricted.

Cycling in Vienna is a fantastic opportunity that's not to be missed. The ease of cycling makes this one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. The free bicycle scheme is a great way for tourists to get around Vienna, and it keeps you fit, too!

The Schönbrunn Palace

When most Austrians want to build a hunting lodge, they generally build a small shack somewhere up in the mountains. If you're lucky, it will have a well where you can draw water, and some of them will even have a wood-burning stove. When an emperor decides to build a hunting lodge, he tends to go a little overboard. The Schönbrunn Palace is not your typical Austrian place to stay.

The trouble is with the the Schönbrunn Palace, no matter how nice your Austrian hotel is, it will look distinctly shabby after you visit this exhibition of magnificence. There is a reason this palace is a UNESCO world heritage site, and it is also Austria's top tourist destination.

It started off as a place for the holy Roman emperors to stay in the summer. In typical Imperial style, the holy Roman Emperor of the time, Maximilian II, booted off the previous owner and took over his mansion. He ordered a large section of the area fence, and he used it as a hunting area. Over the centuries, orangeries, gardens, and mazes were added to the palace grounds. No self-respecting Emperor would be without some sort of Roman decoration, and the Roman ruin was created in 1778.

When you choose to go there, as I am confident you will when you visit Vienna, join a tour to learn more about the palace. There are also concerts throughout the year featuring the music of Mozart and his contemporaries. It's open all year round usually between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM, although it closes a little earlier in winter and stays open a little later in summer.

We found that spring was the best time to visit the gardens, as most of the flowers and trees were blooming at that time. The scent was absolutely incredible, although if you suffer from hay fever that might sound like torture. Try to get there early, as the crowd will build up towards the middle of the day, and take a look at its website before you visit to check what is going on. In addition, the latest pricing information will be on that site.

To get from your hotel to the palace, it's usually best to take the underground, so look for Schönbrunn Station. Alternatively, you can take bus 10A and ask for the Schönbrunn Palace. Trams also offer a good way to get there, and the 10 and 58 will drop you straight in front of the palace.