Explore other destinations on Earth Austria Budget Travel Guide


  Europe Budget Travel Guide EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel Guide UNESCO World Heritage Sites  Compare Hotel Room Rates from different Booking Sites
Millstatt, Carinthia, Austria
Millstatt, Carinthia, Austria
Author: Joadl (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)



Austria Budget Travel Guide provides useful travel information for people planning a trip there. On this page I want to describe this beautiful, landlocked country to you, and introduce you to its principal cities and tourist attractions. Also listed are the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Austria.

About Austria

Austria is a small, landlocked country in Western Europe. It shares a border with Germany in the northwest, the Czech Republic in the north, Slovakia in the northeast, Hungary in the east, Slovania and Italy in the south, and Switzerland and Leichtenstein in the west. The country is very mountainous. As much as 68% of Austria is located over 500 meters (1,640 feet) above sea level. Its tallest mountain is 3,797 meters (12,457 feet) tall. While German is the main language spoken in Austria, it also recognises Slovene, Croatian and Hungarian as regional languages.

Visitors to Austria will find that it has something to occupy them any time of the year. In winter you can go skiing at its many ski resorts, while at other times of the year you can explore its beautiful cities and countryside. Vienna is the music capital while Salzburg is simply gorgeous, with its baroque churches. In Innsbruck, you can get panoramic views of the Austrian Alps.


The Deutsche Kirche at Dobratsch is the highest church in Europe
The Deutsche Kirche at Dobratsch is the highest church in Europe
Author: Markus Steiner (public domain)

Fast Facts about Austria

  • Official Name: Republic of Austria
  • Capital: Vienna (Wien)
  • Population of Austria: 8,037,000 (2003)
  • Currency: Euro
  • Languages spoken: German
  • Religions: Roman Catholic 78%, Protestant 5%, others 17%
  • Size: 83,858 sq km (32,377 sq miles)
  • Continent: Europe



  • Franzikanerkirche, Salzburg
    Franzikanerkirche, Salzburg
    Author: MatthiasKabel (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0)

    Budget Travel to Austria

    Austria is a member of the Schengen Agreement, so visitors from EU and EFTA only need to carry an ID card to enter the country. Everybody else needs to bring his passport. Those from Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, United States, Uruguay, and Vatican City do not need a visa to stay for not more than three months in half a year.

    By Plane
    The main international gateway to Austria is the Vienna International Airport (VIE), located 18 kilometers from downtown Vienna. It receives flights from all over the world. The other international airports are located in Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz and Salzburg. You can also fly to Munich and take a train or bus to Austria.

    By Train
    There are train services connecting Austria with all its neighbors. High-speed ICE (Inter-City Express) and RailJet trains connect Austrian cities with Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Passau and Budapest.

    Budget Travel within Austria

    The most practical form of transport is the train. They are comfortable, moderately priced, and can get you can practically any city or town in Austria. The train tickets are sold by the Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB), the Austrian Federal Railways. Through their website you can purchase your ticket online and print it out yourself. The fare is calculated according to distance travelled.


    Weissensee in Carinthia, Austria
    Weissensee in Carinthia, Austria
    Author: multi_panel (public domain)

    Principal Cities of Austria

    List of Austrian cities with estimated population for 2010.
    1. Vienna (1,700,000)
      Capital and biggest city in Austria.

    2. Graz (260,000)
      Second largest city in Austria. One of the best preserved cities of Central Europe.

    3. Linz (190,000)
      Third largest city in Austria. Located near the Czech border, on both sides of the Danube.

    4. Salzburg (150,000)
      City famous for its baroque architecture, setting for The Sound of Music and birthplace of Mozart.

    5. Innsbruck (120,000)
      State capital of Tyrol, located in a valley between high mountains.

    6. Klagenfurt (90,000)
      State capital of Carinthia, located on lake Wörthersee and the Glan river.

    7. Villach (60,000)
      Second largest city in Carinthia, with evidence of human habitation going back to 3500 BC.

    8. Bregenz (28,000)
      Austrian city on the shores of Lake Constance, the third largest lake in Central Europe.

    9. Eisenstadt (12,000)
      Former seat of the Eszterházy Hungarian noble family.

    Austria's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

    1. Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg

    2. Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn

    3. Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape

    4. Semmering Railway

    5. City of Graz - Historic Centre

    6. Wachau Cultural Landscape

    7. Fertõ / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape

    8. Historic Centre of Vienna



    Return to Europe Budget Travel Guide


    Find lowest price for your Hotel Room

    Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?

    The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!



    Flight Checker

    Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.

    Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.





    Return to EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel Guide

    My message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM


    Bookmark and Share   Follow EarthDocumentary on Twitter

    EarthDocumentary and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye.


    EarthDocumentary logo © copyright Timothy Tye 2007-2010. Content and articles in EarthDocumentary are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, EarthDocumentary disclaims responsibility for its use. Text in EarthDocumentary is available under Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike License meaning you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make derivative works, as long as you attribute your resulting work and apply it under the same, similar or a compatible license. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Wikipedia and Wikitravel are cited as among the sources of references. Photographs appearing in EarthDocumentary are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs supplied by Panoramio are governed by the Panoramio API terms & condition, are for display only, and may not be downloaded for use. Photographs belonging to the author are the copyright of Timothy Tye and may not be reused without prior written permission from the author. Contact the author for permission and licensing of the photos.