Why Austria
The country reads in two halves. Vienna and the east are flat, urban and turned towards Hungary and Slovakia — Bratislava is an hour away by train. The west, from the Tyrol to Vorarlberg, is Alpine, and that means another rhythm, another spoken dialect, other prices.
Salzburg and the Salzkammergut sit in between, among lakes and mountains. Graz, in the south, is the second city and the least visited of the three.
Two seasons dominate and the gap between them is hollow. December to March for skiing, June to September for hiking and the lakes. In April–May and November, a large share of the lifts and high mountain huts are closed.
Entry and stay
An EU and Schengen country. An identity card is enough for nationals of the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
For other nationalities, the European Entry/Exit System (EES) has been in service since 10 April 2026 and digitally records every crossing of a Schengen external border, with or without a visa, against the ninety-days-in-a-hundred- eighty allowance. ETIAS, a twenty-euro authorisation for visa-exempt nationalities, is expected in the final quarter of 2026.
Source: France Diplomatie and the European Commission, checked on 22 September 2026.
Getting around
ÖBB covers the country densely and punctually, with fast Railjet services on the Vienna–Salzburg–Innsbruck axis. The Nightjet sleeper trains, run by the same company, link Vienna to much of Europe and have become an Austrian speciality.
In the mountains, side valleys are served by PostBuses timed to the trains. The system works, but frequencies drop out of season.
Vienna has a very complete metro, tram and bus network, and the travel pass is cheap relative to the city.
Money
Euro. Cards work everywhere in the cities, but Austria remains more attached to cash than its neighbours: many small cafés, mountain huts and markets take cash only, Vienna included.
Service is included; rounding up is customary, not obligatory.
Before you go
The Austrian Alpine Club huts must be booked, are often paid in cash, and apply reduced rates to members of affiliated alpine clubs — including the French Club Alpin. A membership taken before departure pays for itself over a few nights.
On Sundays, shops are closed almost everywhere, stations excepted. That is federal law, not a local habit.
Motorway vignettes are compulsory and do come in short formats, unlike neighbouring Switzerland: ten days, two months or the year.