Austria - Österreich

Austrian Resorts

Walking Easy in the Swiss & Austrian Alps
Chet & Carolee LiptonThis US book covers day walks in Alpbach, Kitzbühel, Neustift, Seefeld, Wagrain, Zell Am Ziller, Bad Gastein, Zell am See, Kaprun, Wengen, Grindelwald, Mürren, Meiringen, Lenk, Adelboden, Lötschental, Lucerne, Saas-Fee, Engadine,  Zermatt, Arosa, Appenzellerland,
There is also a chapter on getting to and about Austria & Switzerland, what to take, and information about Austria & Switzerland.

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“Walking Easy in the Austrian Alps”
Chet & Carolee LiptonThis US book covers day walks in Alpbach, Damüls, Kitzbühel, Neustift, Seefeld, Tschagguns - Schruns, Wagrain, Zell Am Ziller, Wien (Vienna). Walks are graded as ”Gentle”, “Comfortable”, and  ”More Challenging”.There is also a chapter on getting to and about Austria, what to take, and information about Austria.

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Austrian Pastries and Desserts (Hardcover)
by Maria WiesmullerThis Kompass Book is in English has recipes of Austrian dishes illustrated with colour photos.

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mayr Holiday Map of Tirol with Panorama  and guide on back.

Travel to Austria

You can travel to Austria by Air, Road (Coach or Car) or Train.

See Travel for details.

Travel operators to Austria include: Inghams, Thomson.

Walking Holidays include: HF Holidays, Ramblers.

The Rough Guide to Austria
(Rough Guides)Maps, Ski & snow boarding slopes, restaurants, Mozart, accommodation, highlights

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Austria

In Austria, there are a number of towns and villages that have the same names. For example, there is a Ramsau in Niederösterreich, one in Oberösterreich and one in Steiermark. One way to uniquely identify the village is to use the name of the province or a nearby landmark like a lake or river (Zell am See and Zell am Ziller). Another way is to use the postcode.

Poster Alpen - Adria Panorama

Poster Die Alpen Panorama - H.C. Berann

mayr
191

mayr
195

Size: 98 x 69 cm

Size: 85 x 50 cm

Das Große Alpen-Panorama Sommer, size / plano 214,5 x 60,6 cm

By Hans Oberacher. View from north to south - Blick von Nord nach Süd.

Wien / Vienna                                                             Rhöne

  Zagreb                                                                   Marseille

There are nine provinces in Austria: 

English Name; (German Name)	Postcode starts
Burgenland; (Burgenland)	7XXX
Carinthia; (Kärnten)	9XXX
Lower Austria; (Niederösterreich)	2XXX east 3XXX west
Upper Austria; (Oberösterreich)	4XXX
Salzburg; (Salzburg)	5XXX
Styria; (Steiermark)	8XXX
Tyrol; (Tirol - Nordtirol & Osttirol)	6XXX Nord 9XXX Ost
Vorarlberg; (Vorarlberg)	6XXX
Vienna; (Wien)	1XXX

Tourist Information

In Austria, the main Austrian Tourist Board details are:

The Austrian National Tourist Office Vienna
Margaretenstr. 1
A-1040 Wien
Phone: +43 (0)1 588 66-0
Fax: +43 (0)1 588 66-20

There are Tourist Information Offices in most resorts.

Airports (Flughafen)

There are several airports serving Austria:

• Innsbruck (Austria) for resorts in the west. Charter and some scheduled flights.
• Salzburg (Austria) for resorts in the centre and west. Charter and some scheduled flights.
• Munich (Germany) for resorts in the west. 
• Friedrichshafen (Germany) for resorts in the west (Vorarlberg province)
• Zurich (Switzerland) for resorts in the west (Vorarlberg province).
• Graz (Austria) for resorts in the east.
• Linz (Austria) for resorts in the east.
• Vienna (Austria) for resorts in the east. Scheduled and charter flights.

Rail Stations

Most trains are run by Austrian Railways. For train and bus timetables, click here ÖBB (English).

Buses

There are lots of bus companies in Austria. They co-operate to provide bus services which integrate with the trains. For bus and train timetables and other information, click here ÖBB (English). You will find Postbus in most places, and in Tirol buses also operate as VVT (Verkehrsverbund Tirol) - also has train information.

Cable Cars / Chair Lifts

Most resorts have one or more cable cars or chair lifts. They normally do not operate in Spring (April - early June) or Autumn (Mid September - October). See Resorts for details.

Die Österreichischen Seilbahnen

Walking / Hiking in Austria

The walking / hiking in Austria varies from short walks round lakes to strenuous hikes above 2000m staying in mountain huts. See Resorts for details.

There are a number of long distance walks across Austria and adjoining countries:

• 01 Nordalpenweg (North Alpine Way) 1000km
• 02 Zentralalpinweg (Central Alpine Way) 1100km
• 03 Südalpenweg (South Alpine Way) 500km
• 04 Voralpinweg 1000km
• 05 Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 700km (Atlantic, Alps, Adriatic) Obergurgl
• 06 Mariazellerwege 1100km
• 07 Ostösterreichischer Grenzlandweg (East Austrian Borderland) 700 km
• 08 Eisenwurzenweg 600km
• 09 Salzsteigweg 470km
• 10 Rupertiweg 640km

Austrian Maps and Guide Books

A good map of Austria is useful for finding you way round on the trains, buses or roads.

For walking / hiking maps there are several map companies that make suitable maps:

• Kompass
• mayr
• freytag & berndt
• Alpenvereinkarte
• BEV - Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen: ÖK Karten

Kompass, mayr and freytag & berndt offer ranges with scales of 1:25000 to 1:50000 depending on the resorts and surrounding areas. The Alpenvereinkarten range from the Austrian Alpine Club (Oesterreichischer Alpenverein [OeAV]) or the Deutscher Alpenverein are more detailed but only cover part of Austria. The BEV ÖK maps are similar to the Alpenvereinkarten maps but covers the whole country.

Some maps have co-ordination systems marked (Long & Lat; UTM) or include booklets with GPS information.

For use with a PC / GPS receiver, Digital Maps allow you to plan your walks on your PC  and upload the track to your GPS receiver. You can also download track from your GPS receiver and view them in 3D on your PC.

See Books & Maps for general information, and Resorts for details of maps suitable for the resort.

Austrian Public Holidays

These are the main public holidays in Austria.

Holiday
New Year's Day - Neujahr	1 January
Epiphany - Heilige drei Könige	6 January
Easter Friday - Karfreitag	varies
Easter Day - Ostersonntag	varies
Easter Monday - Ostermontag	varies
Labour - May Day - Tag der Arbeit	1 May
Ascension Day - Christi Himmelfahrt	varies
Whit Sunday - Pfingstsonntag	varies
Whit Monday - Pfingstmontag	varies
Corpus Christi Day - Fronleichnam	varies
Assumption Day - Mariä Himmelfahrt	15 August
National Day - Nationalfeiertag	26 October
All Saints' Day - Allerheiligen	1 November
Immaculate Conception - Mariä Empfängis	8 December
Christmas Day - Weihnachten	25 December
St. Stephen's Day - Stephanstag	26 December

Emergencies Phone Numbers

The Europe wide emergency number is 112. In Austria you can also use the number 144. For mountain rescue the number is 140.

Shops

In general, shops are open Monday - Friday 09:00 to 18:00, closing for lunch. Food shops and supermarkets stay open on some weekdays until 19:30 and Saturdays until 17:00. In tourist areas some shops may also open in the evenings and Sundays.

Electricity

Two pin continental plugs are needed on electrical items. Following “European Voltage Harmonisation” in 1995, the nominal voltage is 230 volts at 50 Hz. (It used to 220 V but products marked 220V, 230V or 240V should work correctly). You may need a travel connector adapter.

If you have any 110V items that cannot be set to 230V, you will need a travel voltage converter.

NOTE: Most hotels do not allow travel kettles to be used in hotel rooms.

Bike Hire

Sports shops in resorts hire Mountain Bikes and City Bikes. Some train stations also hire them and it is possible to return them to another station, click here ÖBB (English).

Excursions

Local coach companies offer a range of excursions.

European Union

Austria is a member of the European Union (EU).

Currency and Credit / Debit Cards

The currency used in Austria is the euro (EUR) and eurocent.

Credit and debit cards are not as widely accepted as in the UK. Check that the shop or restaurant takes them before you buy.

Most resorts have Automated Teller Machines (ATM) inside the bank branch or outside that will take Visa, Mastercard or Eurocard.

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