APRIL 2022

Austria is more than mountains, lakes and grass. If you are culturally interested I highly recommend a visit Vienna or Salzburg (or both). I loved my visit to both cities and made this guide to help you make a decision on which city to visit, in the case that you are short of time.

Pros Salzburg

Salzburg is beautifully located in between mountains, there are many opportunities to climb hills or take an elevator and get beautiful views over the city. The city center of Salzburg is easily walkable and Salzburg is also very bicycle friendly. You can reach all main sights on foot, which is the perfect way to explore a new city. Salzburg only has about 150.000 inhabitants and you can really feel that when visiting. Salzburg feels like a big village, when you walk around you will automatically pass all the highlights. It has the variety in restaurants that large cities have and a few grande squares, but also the small town charms. Near Salzburg you can also visit the mountains. The Grossglockner Hochalpine Strasse is located about 1,5 hours of driving and you can also go skiing in nearby Kaprun and Zell am See in wintertime. Salzburg is famous from the Sound of Music and as the birthplace of Mozart, yet it isn’t completely overrun with tourists. I only found queues to visit the Fortress Hohensalzburg, while it was pretty easy taking the other elevators up and popular restaurants didn’t have to be booked in advance. If you visit the beautiful Mirabellgarten at 8-9AM you will have it all to yourself. And because Salzburg is so hilly you will see the Hohensalzburg Fortress from pretty much each street, giving the perfect backdrop for your pictures.

Pros Vienna

Vienna is a true metropolitan city, having over 1,8 million inhabitants. This leads to Vienna having a spectacular number of sights to see. Schloss Schönbrunn (the Sissi palace) is one of the most popular ones and it has a beautiful flowery garden. The Schönbrunn garden brings the much smaller Mirabellgarten to shame. Vienna also has some of the best art museums in the world. It even has a special area in the city called MuseumsQuartier where you will find some of the most important ones. Because of its size Vienna is super diverse in architecture, near the Danube you will find beach style bars with streetart. In the classical style Hofburg you can visit the Lipizaner horses. The Stephansdom has a roof with colorful tiles, near the Stadtpark you will find hipster vibes and the Hundertwasserhaus transports you back into provo time. The public transport is super efficient, you can take buses and trains everywhere you can think of. If you are looking for a quick getaway from the city you can take the train to the Wachau valley, where you can drink the best Grüner Veltliner in the vineyard and visit cute villages such as Dürnstein by bike. Vienna has an amazing central location in Europe and you can do (day)trips by train to cities such as Bratislava and Budapest.

Which city did I prefer?

I prefer Salzburg to Vienna. Salzburg felt like an open air museum and the nature surrounding the city adds a stunning backdrop everywhere you look. Vienna is more of a big city, you have to do some research to find a good restaurant and not end up in a tourist trap. I also found Vienna a little less cohesive, it is incredibly diverse but therefore it also felt like it has less of a flow. However, both cities are worth a visit and have many great sights. You do not have to get bored one minute as there is so much to do!

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