Europe: Austria

This centrally situated country in Europe neighbours Germany, Hungary and Italy, is small and mountainous, and is a small, predominantly mountainous country geographically located in Central Europe, approx. between Germany, Italy and Hungary. It has a total area of 83,859 km², about twice the size of Switzerland and slightly smaller than the state of Maine.

The Austrian Climate is known for great skiing weather during December! The Alps get snow due to Atlantic maritime weather, stabilised by the cold, dry continental weather. During summer, warm and sunny weather is thanks to the high-pressure Mediterranean system.

Austrian Culture has contributed greatly to the world of music and art.
The world's most famous composers originate from Austria and include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, Sr. and Johann Strauss, Jr., Joseph Haydn, Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler, while Ludwig van Beethoven spent most of his musical life in Vienna.
Austrian Art saw the timeless world-wide popularity of Gustav Klimt and photographer Inge Morath.
Austrian Literature has made this country a contriuter in the world of writers, poets and novelists with talent such as Elfriede Jelinek, a comtemporary playwright and novelist Nobel price winner. Noteworthy writers include Stefan Zweig, Franz Kafka and Arthu Schnitzler and Karl Kraus with poets such as Franz Werfel and Rainer Maaria Rilke.

Austrian Cuisine has great influences of Italy, Bavaria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Dishes found and loved in Austria include Wiener schnitzel, Knödel, Sachertorte and Schweinsbraten and Tafelspitz, with of course the famous Apfelstrudel!

Austrian Geography is ruled by the Alps which consist of the Central Alps, the Northern and Southern Calcareous Alps with 4 passes and roads running through them. These 3 ranges run from West to East through the country of which the central Alps are the highest. North and South of this range the mountains drops in altitude. The pastures have always been used for the Austrian's dairy cattle grazing. The rest of Austria has hills and some flat-land and then of course the famous Bohemian Forest (Böhmerwald) above the Danube Valley.

Vienna has plenty to offer the tourist.
Anchor Clock (Ankeruhr), built between 1911 - 1917 on the oldest square of Vienna.
Belvedere Palace, situated in a stunning park.
Burgtheater (National Theatre), situated in the 1st district.
Danube Tower & Danube Island, the "Concrete needle" offers perfect views being 352 meters high.
Haas House, refrectiing St. Stephen's Cathedral.
Hofburg, a medieval castel.
Karlskirche, the biggest cathedral in Baroque style north of the Alps.
Naschmarkt, with vegetable markets.
Ring Boulevard, being 4km long with circles in the city centre.
Prater, for its fun fair.
Schönbrunn Palace, a cultural monument with huge park.
Schönbrunn zoo, the only aroque and oldest zoo.
Spanish Riding School, the oldest and last riding school for pure dressage.
St. Stephen's Cathedral, in the centre of the Vienna.
Vienna Opera House, in the 1st district of Vienna.

Currency: Euro , €

Austrian Transport
Austria's Railways, the national railway system being the Österreichische Bundesbahnen, or ÖBB, cover over 6,000km, standard gauge of over 5,000km 1.435-m gauge and narrow gauge of almost 500km (13 km 0.600-m gauge, 468 km 0.760-m gauge - 94 km electrified, and 3 km 0.600-m gauge).
Austria's Motorways cover a total distance of 100% paced 200,000km. These motorways are:
A1 (Westautobahn)
A2 (Südautobahn)
A3 (Südostautobahn)
A4 (Ostautobahn)
A5 (Nordautobahn, planned)
A6 (Nordostautobahn, under construction)
A7 (Mühlkreisautobahn)
A8 (Innkreisautobahn)
A9 (Pyhrnautobahn)
A10 (Tauernautobahn)
A11 (Karawankenautobahn)
A12 (Inntalautobahn)
A13 (Brennerautobahn)
A14 (Rheintalautobahn)
A21 (Wiener Außenringautobahn)
A22 (Donauuferautobahn)
A23 (Südosttangente)
A24 (Verbindungsspange Rothneusiedel, planned)
A25 (Welser Autobahn)
A26 (Linzerautobahn, planned)
Austria's Ports (accessable from Danube) and Waterways include:
Enns
Krems
Linz
Vienna (via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands)

Towns and Cities of Austria are (descending from most- to least populated):
Vienna
Graz
Linz
Salzburg
Innsbruck
Klagenfurt
Villach
Wels
Sankt Pölten
Dornbirn
Steyr
Wiener Neustadt
Feldkirch
Bregenz
Wolfsberg
Leoben
Klosterneuburg
Baden
Krems
Traun
Amstetten
Kapfenberg
Leonding
Mödling
Lustenau
Hallein
Braunau am Inn
Spittal an der Drau
Schwechat
Kufstein
Eisenstadt
Newaustria

The Travel-Informed Team

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