Austria Custom Tour Packages

We recommend booking most cultural performances on your own. We do offer tickets to certain frequent concerts, such as in Salzburg’s Mirabell Palace and St. Peter's Baroque Hall, or in a Kursalon in Vienna, and these are listed alongside tours and excursions in proposals. However, as many cultural performances sell out well in advance, and cultural venues, especially in Vienna, often have many different price categories, it’s best to compare different seats and offers yourself. However, we are happy to provide links and advice, which you will find in your Guest Page once your trip is booked. We can also arrange tickets for events for a small handling fee.

Unless you’re in Austria to ski in and around Innsbruck, or to see the country’s charming Christmas markets, we recommend visiting between late March and mid-October. As May and September are peak season, we recommend visiting before or after these months. Winters are relatively dry, but quite cold, while summers are relatively cool, with highs generally in the mid 70s to mid 80s in Vienna and a bit cooler elsewhere, although air conditioning is uncommon, especially in 3-star hotels.

Austria is considered one of the world's safest countries, although travelers should keep an eye out for pickpockets in touristy areas.

Austrian cuisine alternates between heavy and sweet. Austria’s Imperial heritage is clear in its food, with its influences ranging from the Balkans and Bohemia, to Italy and Hungary. Food tends to be hearty, such as Leberkas: finely ground meats cooked in a bread pan; Gemusecremesuppen: creamy vegetable soups; Frittatensuppe: strips of omelette in broth; Wiener Schnitzel: veal or pork slices coated in breadcrumbs; Wiener Gulasch: beef stew garnished with lard, onions and paprika; and Tafelspitz: stewed beef with a radish, apple, and spring onion sauce. Austria is especially known for its cakes and pastries, such as Sachertorte which is a chocolate cake filled with apricot jam. Other specialities include Kipferl cakes filled with jam and custard, strudel served with cream or custard, Salzburger Nockerl (a sweet souffle), and Kaiserschmarrn, a sweet shredded pancake. Recent years have seen a renaissance in Austrian gastronomy, with local and organic produce and regional specialties coming to the fore, so expect to be pleasantly surprised as chefs go beyond the old classics in their pursuit of modern Austrian cuisine.

It’s not just the cuisine that is much improved, as Austrian wine is fast developing its own stellar reputation. Austria is mostly a country of white wines, which you can explore via several of our excursions, especially to the Wachau Valley upstream from Vienna. As well as producing a surprising volume of wine, Austria is also known for brewing some excellent beers, which like its cuisine, are linked to its imperial past. There are a few distinct styles of beer you’ll find in the country, some of which are based on Bavarian and Czech traditions. Austrians are fond of schnapps (brandy made from a wide variety of fruits) as well as Stroh, a powerful rum made from sugarcane and often used in punch and hot drinks. Austrian tap water is some of the purest in the world, and often comes straight from mountain springs, even in Vienna.

Transportation in Austria is high quality, and trains are an effective way to get between cities. There are regular high-speed trains between Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and some neighboring countries. As local car rental agencies tend to charge steep fees for drivers picking up a car in one country and leaving it in another, and Austrian city centers are rarely designed for traffic, we recommend against renting a car in Austria. Although visitors rarely need to use public transport to get around Innsbruck, Kufstein, Graz, or Salzburg, Vienna’s “U-Bahn” subway system can be used to get to the Schönbrunn Palace.

While credit cards are widely used, it's best to have some cash on hand. We recommend having about 20 EUR/person per day on hand, just in case (especially if you visit Germany). It's best to use an ATM in the entrance to a bank, but you can also change US dollars at any exchange office.