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Top 10 Places
to Visit in Austria by Martin G. Jones
 First
stop on our 10 places to visit is the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
Even if you not really into horses you'll be amazed at how the riders get
their mounts to perform. While in Vienna you must visit the Schönbrunn
- Austria's most popular tourist attraction. This massive baroque palace
was originally built as a summer residence for the imperial family of the
Habsburgs, but is now a museum that also features a park and a zoo.
Austria has produced some
of the best ever classical composers, and in 2006 the city of Vienna celebrated
the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of its most famous residents
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. You can still visit some of the places he frequented
in the city, as well as similar for a whole host of dead composers who
chose to reside in Vienna such as Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert. Getting
to Vienna, the city that claims to be the capital of classical music, is
now even easier thanks to the abundance of cheap flights to Austria. Once
there try another bit of Viennese culture, the somewhat quirky KunstHausWien,
created by noted Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and built
in 1991. The architecture is distinctly different with uneven floors and
odd-shaped rooms with the interior and exterior all in garish and bright
colours. You can even get married there for a wedding that no one will
forget in a hurry.
 Next
up, not just one place but a whole selection - the Sound of Music locations
in and around Salzburg - the city known as the "Rome of the North", to
which you can also buy cheap flights. If you do visit Salzburg you must
see the Eisriesenwelt Caves; the world's largest ice caves which are found
just south of the city and are a truly awe-inspiring sight.
Austria with its beautiful
mountainous scenery is rightly renowned for its skiing. Innsbruck, which
has hosted two Winter Olympics, continues to be extremely popular and is
well worth a visit even in the summer months. Here you will find the amazing
Swarovski Crystal Walk Visitor Centre where you can marvel at the stunning
crystal on display. For the more adventurous, jump on the aerial gondola
ride up to the two-mile high Stubai glacier also just outside Innsbruck;
it's so high that while riding the gondola you will be rubbing shoulders
with skiers, even in summer!
For the last in our ten places
to visit you'll have to get on the road. Either get on a bus or get behind
the wheel yourself and steer your car up the Grossglockner Alpine Road.
Since 1935 an estimated 50 million visitors have taken in the spectacular
views on this most famous of Alpine roads, which leads to the 3,798 Grossglockner
Mountain; home to the largest glacier in Austria.
Wherever you decide to go
in Austria, you'll find that as well the ten places we've listed there
are also many other fantastic places to see. Getting there is easy and
most airlines operate cheap
flights to Salzburg and Vienna from major and regional airports throughout
the UK.
About the Author
Martin G Jones has been writing
articles for just over 1 year now. He has a fond passion for travel. |
