Best time to go: May - June, September for summer activities with less crowds and less heat than July/Aug, or Dec - March for a deep white winter.
Worst time to go: The country is rarely over hot or hideously overcrowded but July, August and Christmas are very busy times, while Oct/November can be miserable - dark, wet and grey.
Length of stay:
Minimum worthwhile stay, not incl. flights: Vienna and Salzburg - 4 days
Recommended: At least 2 weeks to take in Vienna, Salzburg and some country/mountain activities.
Main Festivals in Austria:

mid May- June: Vienna Festival - wide range of arts, especially music, naturally, but also dance and theatre, sometimes challenging pieces, all set in magnificent buildings.
mid July-Aug: ImPulsTanz - a dynamic and diverse dance festival across the whole of lovely Vienna.
End July - end August: Salzburg Festival - opera and concerts. 'Europe's most prestigious summer musical event.' Very large, very expensive. Every year in Mozart's pretty home town.
Dec 31st, Kaiserball - waltzing into Vienna's glamorous ball season is this, the ultimate in smart dances, set in the magnificent Hofburg Palace. No expense spared.
Austria activities guide:
Hiking: The Alps in summertime offer a zillion stunning, well-marked walking routes, open along with the spring flowers in late May. The Zillertal Alps are particularly scenic and leg friendly, and Zell am Ziller is a good starting point. Lifts help the less fit.
Climbing: Plenty of challenging climbs available, with northern Tyrol being especially popular.
Skiing: With all those mountains and snow Austria is a great downhill and cross-country ski destination, tho' not cheap. Tyrol and Vorarlberg are most popular.
Hangliding & paragliding: Due to the excess of high places and affluence of the country, gliding is commonplace and kit can be rented easily from ski resorts.
Rafting /canoeing: Land Salzburg [Salzburg Alps] has superb locations for watersports from quiet canoeing to wild white water rafting. Speed boats are restricted.
Biking: This country is extremely bike friendly, with rental machines available from most railway stations and dedicated tracks everywhere.
The best long route is the Lower Danube Cycle Track, running beside the river from Vienna to Naarn and passing many gorgeous medieval towns on the way.
River Cruises: Lengthy and a bit slow on sights. If your travel time is limited don't bother with the Danube.
Night life: Austria is culturally more about classical music than techno raves, tho' the natives do know how to have a good time.

Austria Star Guide:
Monuments ***
Shopping and souvenirs **
Walkability *****
Food Quality and Variety ***
Value for Money ***
Hotel Prices and Value ***
Beaches no sea!
Wildlife **
Landscape *****
Local People ****
Architecture *****
Safety *****
Nightlife and Clubbing ****
Health Problems none
Museums *****

Cuisine Guide:
This is not good weight-loss country. National dishes tend to be heavy, saucy and meat oriented - hardly surprising for a place with no coastline - while local cheeses, pastries, beers and wines are excellent and too tempting by half.
Street snacks tend to be of the sausage, pickles and chunky bread variety.
About the only thing that will not pile on the pounds is the superb coffee.

Why Travel to Austria?
It's efficient, safe, uncrowded [by locals - total population is about 8m], and has stunning towns and magnificent mountains.
The rise and fall of the Hapsburg dynasty [1278- 1914] and the Austrian Empire is a monumental story, gone but not forgotten by tourists gaping at the mass of gothic, baroque and rococo royal relics or listening to present day concerts by long-dead Vienna inhabitants - Mozart, Strauss, Brahms and Beethoven to name but a few.
Museums offer a lot more than Hapsburg lifestyle samples and cover many topics in great depth and style.
The climate offers a comfortable heat in the summer and acceptable cold in winter, encouraging year-round outdoor activities, particularly summer hiking and winter skiing.
Transport systems are brilliant and road access to other European cities is easy.
Locals are friendly and many speak English.

Downside:
- Food is heavy and dedicated to carnivores. Vegetarians may have a hard time finding suitable body fuel.
- German is more a language of command than conversation.

Austria's main attractions:
***Vienna, a superbly walkable, beautiful, interesting city. See Vienna Travel Guide or Vienna Pictures.
**Salzburg. Mozart's home is a pretty little town - well, the old bit is - but heavily travelled and without much space to permit tourists to relax and enjoy its rampant baroquery properly.
The castle towering over Salzburg is sturdily interesting, as is the cathedral, the Residenz [palace] and the nearby graveyard/catacombs, but the focus is more on where Wolfie the Wonder Boy grew up or Sound of Music locations.
It's a very long day trip from Vienna so stay over and visit the 16thC town of Krems, magnificent Melk Abbey and Hellbrunn Palace on the way.
Also worth a look, 48km from Salzburg, are the ice caves of Eisriesenwelt, near Werfen. Dramatic, elaborate shapes and frozen waterfalls line the 42km of explored caverns, tho' not all is open and guides may be necessary. Fascinating but cold and slippery so not suited to very young or old travellers. See Salzburg in Austria Pictures.
***Salzkammergut is a vista-overload resort area of mountains, lakes and charming towns just east of Salzburg. In the summer it offers walks and water sports, in winter skiing. Key towns are Bad Ischl [fashionable spa resort], St. Wolfgang [on Wolfgangsee Lake] and Hallstatt.
***Grossglockner Road. If you have wheels and it's May-November then this stunning 50km mountain/glacier route will really honk your horn. Start the tortuous tour from Zell am See.
*** Innsbruck [Tyrol]. A lovely, partly medieval city surrounded by spectacular peaks, it functions perfectly as a summer resort or winter sports base, though it doesn't have immediate access to slopes.
Nearby is Seefeld, a prime ski resort that offers more than just slopes and Mutters, 'the most beautiful village in Tyrol' and romantic in any weather.
**St Anton am Arlsberg [Tyrol]. Near Switzerland this is another picturesque Tyrolean town with some of Europe's best skiing at reasonable prices.
The Blue Danube?
Not likely, muddy green at best. There is an explanation for the name however...
Napoleon had never lost a battle when he came across the white coated Austrian army at Aspern, around the Danube, in 1809. The French, in blue coats, lost, and their bodies were thrown into the Danube. Due to poor dye quality the colour ran into the water, turning it temporarily blue. Strauss remembered the great victory in 1867 by calling his latest waltz, 'The Blue Danube.'
EU citizens and nationals of USA, Australia and New Zealand do not need visas for visits up to 90 days.
Electricity:
Electric sockets are 230v and take 2 round pin plugs.
Safety:
Crime is rare and more likely to be opportunistic theft by transient East Europeans rather than locals.
Language:
German is the native language but most Austrians under 50 speak excellent English.
Money:
The currency is the Euro and prices are fairly high. ATMs are plentiful and most Traveller's Cheques accepted.

contents: AUSTRIA VIENNA FESTIVAL SALZBURG MOZART.. Austria Travel Guide.Why Travel to Austria Cuisine Guide. Austria activities guide.Main Festivals in Austria.When go to Austria. Austria's main attractions Innsbruck Vienna St Anton am Arlsberg Grossglockner Salzkammergut, Vienna Melk Abbey and Hellbrunn Palace, Vienna Mozart, Strauss, Brahms and Vienna Beethoven Hapsburg Vienna Werfen walks and water sports, in winter skiing Wolfgangsee Vienna Lake Rafting /canoeing Vienna Biking Danube Shopping and souvenirs Vienna Wildlife Vienna Landscape Vienna Architecture Vienna Nightlife and Vienna Club Vienna Museums, pastries beer and wines sausage, Street snacks pickles and chunky bread variety Vienna waltz ImPulsTanz Kaiserball waltzing into Vienna dances and theatre dance, Salzburg Festival Wattens Crystal World