Austria holidays

Vienna is the headline experience and rewards 4-5 nights. The cultural density is remarkable — the Hofburg (the Habsburg winter palace, now housing the National Library's Prunksaal — one of Europe's most-beautiful baroque libraries — plus the Sisi Museum, Spanish Riding School, and Imperial Treasury), Schönbrunn (the Habsburg summer palace, the Gloriette viewpoint, the world's oldest zoo founded 1752), the Ringstrasse boulevard that replaced the city walls in 1857, and the cluster of imperial-era museums on Maria-Theresien-Platz (Kunsthistorisches Museum for Bruegel and Vermeer, Naturhistorisches for the 25,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf). The Vienna coffee-house culture (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage) is unique — Café Central, Café Demel, Café Hawelka, Café Sacher each have their own atmosphere and regulars.

Music and opera is the cultural mainstay. The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) runs nightly performances September-June at world-class quality with cheap standing tickets (€10) available 80 minutes before each show. The Musikverein hosts the Vienna Philharmonic and is acoustically considered one of the world's top three concert halls. The Konzerthaus offers a more varied programme. The annual Vienna Opera Ball each February in the State Opera converts the auditorium to a ballroom for one of Europe's grandest formal events. In Salzburg, the Salzburg Festival each July-August stages opera and orchestral performances in the Felsenreitschule (carved into the cliff face) and the Grosses Festspielhaus.

Austrian food rewards exploration. Wiener Schnitzel (breaded veal cutlet, original at Figlmüller in Vienna), Tafelspitz (boiled beef with horseradish), Goulash (the Hungarian-influenced beef stew with paprika), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Kaiserschmarrn (shredded sweet pancake with plum compote), Apfelstrudel (the apple strudel that originates here, not in Germany), Sachertorte (the Vienna chocolate cake invented at Hotel Sacher in 1832 — Café Sacher and Café Demel still compete for the "original" claim), the Heuriger wine taverns in Grinzing on Vienna's outskirts (the Beethoven-era wine villages serving Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt from open carafes with cold-meat platters), plus a strong Wachau Valley wine scene with serious Riesling and Grüner Veltliner producers (Domäne Wachau, FX Pichler, Hirtzberger).

UK travellers get 90 days visa-free Schengen entry. Austria uses the Euro. German is the universal language; English is widely spoken in tourism and among young people in cities. The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) network is excellent — fast, punctual, with the Vienna-Salzburg express running 8 daily in 2.5 hours.

Best for: classical music travellers (Vienna and Salzburg are gold-standard), imperial-architecture-and-history travellers, Sound of Music pilgrims (the Salzburg locations tour is genuinely fun), foodies (the coffee-house and cake culture is unique), skiers (Tyrol and Vorarlberg ski areas are world-class), Christmas-market travellers (the Vienna Rathaus and Salzburg Christkindlmarkt are among Europe's best). Often combined with Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Switzerland or Italy.