Austria - Green Travel Guide

A journey among culture and nature, a green holiday in the heart of Europe: this is Austria.

Austria is a small but rich country with a great attention to the environment, a green holiday here is within everyone's reach and everyone can find what they seek. Austria is made of light and colors, the green of forests and the blue of rivers and lakes, the perfumes of grass and vineyard, the flavors of apricots and chocolate of a Sacher Torte, the sounds of nature but also of great musical works of Austrian composers.

The country is predominantly Alpine: over two thirds of the territory consists of mountain ranges, while the rest is occupied by the Danube basin, the protagonist of the landscape and the history of Austria, around which there are the main centers of the country. And so the land becomes, depending on the season, paradise of climbing, snowshoeing, hiking, skiing and mountain biking.

East Tyrol - Trekking on Schobertrek

Schober, beautiful mountain range of Austria — Schober mountains, photo by pilot_micha via Flickr

We walk slowly in the woods and we follow the mountain trails excellently equipped.

We venture into the National Park Hohe Tauern, in the Schober group to conquer the high peaks and gaze at the magnificent show of the Krimml Waterfalls.

One of the three jumos of Krimml falls — Krimml falls, photo by François Philipp via Flickr

Vienna, city of music, art and eco-fun

We arrive by train in Vienna to discover its charm made of imperial buildings, museums and gardens.

On top of Vienna — Vienna, photo by Miroslav Petrasko via Flickr

In summer we can relax and have fun in the Danube Island: one of the largest recreation areas in Europe made of 70 hectares of meadows, 180 of forest and 1.8 million trees and kilometers of beaches, where we can rent a small boat to navigate the river or bike to visit the island and the city.

Danube Island, green recreation area of Vienna along the river — Danube Island

In the evening we discover the concert halls of the city that is also the world capital of music and we let ourselves be carried away by an unforgettable sound experience through the notes of the best orchestras in the world.

The amazing Lech and its via ferrata

The characteristic Lech, alpine location covered in snow — The characteristic Lech

Thanks to the excellent Austrian services we can live a long holiday without a car, without losing any of the attractions of the country. And so we head to Lech, a nice village nestled in the mountains, where the more adventurous of us will experience the Karhorn via ferrata.

Innsbruck with a thousand faces

In winter we walk in the busy Innsbruck, between boots and high heels: in a few minutes you can reach beautiful ski slopes before returning to the restaurants, musics, theaters and shopping.

Innsbruck, photo by Philip Roeland via Flickr

Discover its beautiful Christmas markets, sipping mulled wine in the shadow of the beautiful Golden Roof, the city's symbol.

The most beautiful peaks: Gamskarkogel and the Grossglockner

We leave for a challenging mountain hike to conquer the highest turfy mountain of Austria, the Gamskarkogel (2467M). Through a climb with a 1400m drop we can enjoy breathtaking views of the mountains of Salzburg, the Dachstein and the Grossglockner, the highest peak of Austria, and perhaps the most beautiful one.

Grossglockner, the highest peak of Austria (3798m), photo by Pavel Matejicek via Flickr

Along the streets of the musical genius

We walk the streets of the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeo Mozart: Salzburg. We admire the Hohensalzburg fortress overlooking this charming city of art and culture.

VView of Salzburg, photo by Brandon Burns via Flickr

The pearl of ice in Tyrol

In Tyrol, we can not miss the charming ice cave in the Stubai Glacier.

Stubai Glacier, Austria, ph. by Sonja und Jens, via flickr

The places to see, to savor the landscapes are too many to list them all, our advice is to leave immediately for this wonderful country, forget the car and rely on trains and especially on your feet to slow down and have a greater perception of the nature and of yourself. A trip to Austria, with its music, its history, its river, its mountains, can only enrich you.