Austria: Regions, Cities & Travel Guide

What is Austria known for?

Austria is known as a landlocked, German-speaking country in the heart of Central Europe. The Alps dominate its west and south, drawing skiers in winter and hikers in summer. Vienna serves as the capital and stands among its nine federal states.

Mountains define the nation.

Where is Austria?

Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, set in the Eastern Alps. Eight neighbours ring it. Germany lies to the northwest and the Czech Republic to the north; Slovakia sits to the northeast and Hungary to the east; Slovenia and Italy border the south; and Switzerland and Liechtenstein close the west. The mountains rule the land.

The Eastern Alps fill much of the west and south, rising in high peaks and deep valleys, while the ground eases toward flatter, lower country around Vienna. This is the heart of Central Europe, with no coast of its own. A federation of nine states spreads across the terrain, from Alpine valleys to the eastern lowlands.

Vienna, the capital, is one of the nine. The high country of the Alps gives Austria its defining shape, a landlocked republic of high mountains and open plains.

What is the history of Austria?

Austria took shape as a republic in 1918, the year the modern state emerged. The country that followed was built as a federation of nine states, bound together across the Eastern Alps. Its language stayed German.

From the mountains to the eastern plains, the new republic drew together lands long shaped by their Alpine setting in the heart of Central Europe. Vienna became its capital. The city, itself one of the nine states, took the political weight of the whole federation.

Borders settled Austria among its many neighbours, from Germany and the Czech Republic to Italy and Switzerland. A landlocked republic had taken shape, German-speaking and Alpine, holding the high middle ground of the continent as one federal state among the countries around it.

What is Austria like?

Austria holds a German-speaking culture shaped by the Alps and the historic towns of Central Europe. Winter defines much of it. The country stands with its neighbours as a winter sports centre of Europe, its Alpine slopes filling with skiers in the cold months.

In summer the same mountains draw walkers into high scenery, while the historic cities and villages fill with visitors. Nine states give the nation strong regional character, each with its own traditions within one German-speaking federation. Vienna anchors the cultural life of the whole.

From mountain valleys to the eastern plains, Austrian life is bound to the land, to the seasons of the Alps, and to a shared language that runs across every state.

What is the climate of Austria?

Austria has a temperate, continental climate that turns Alpine in the high country. Winters bring heavy snow to the mountains of the west and south, the base of the ski season. Summers are warm and green below.

Weather shifts sharply with height. The Alps can stay cold and white long into spring, well after the eastern plains have turned green again.

How do you get to Austria?

Austria sits landlocked at the centre of Europe, reached overland from every side. Rail and road cross in from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Vienna is the main point of arrival for long-haul travel.

Mountain passes thread the Alps to the west and south, while the eastern approaches run flat and open. No coast means no ships.