Things to do in Austria

Vienna, the capital on the Danube, is a city of Habsburg palaces such as Schönbrunn and the Hofburg, grand museums including the Belvedere with Klimt's The Kiss, and coffeehouses where an afternoon disappears over cake. Concerts of Mozart and Strauss and the State Opera keep its musical tradition alive.

West of Vienna, Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, sits beneath its fortress on the Salzach River, and the lakeside village of Hallstatt and the lakes of the Salzkammergut are postcard-perfect. The Wachau Valley along the Danube is lined with vineyards, castles and the great abbey of Melk, and Innsbruck is ringed by Tyrolean peaks.

Wiener schnitzel, goulash, apple strudel and Sachertorte are the classics, with crisp white wines and the young wines of Vienna's Heuriger taverns. Winter is Vienna's ball season and the time for skiing in Tyrol, while summer brings the Salzburg Festival of opera and drama and hiking among the Alpine lakes.