Travel To Austria
Austria might be a small country but it's big on things to do and see. In this video clip, we continue our travel series with a profile on Austria.
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Travel To Austria
Austria enjoys a temperate climate with four distinct seasons. Summers are hot with cool nights. In Vienna and other low-lying cities temperatures during the day can get uncomfortably hot over July and August. Winters are cold, below freezing in January and February. The ski season in the Alps runs from December to April but the mountains are also popular with hikers and climbers over the summer when the weather is usually warm and bright.
Austria is a small, predominantly mountainous country which is about twice the size of Switzerland and slightly smaller than the state of Maine.
The Danube River has its source in southwestern Germany and flows through Austria before emptying into the Black Sea. It is the only major European river that flows eastwards.
Three major ranges of the Alps — the Northern, Central, and Southern Alps — run west to east through Austria. The Central Alps are the largest and highest ranges in Austria. They run from Tyrol to approximately the Styria-Lower Austria border and include areas that are permanently glaciated.
Austria has always been a melting pot of creative ideas and various artistic and architectural styles, drawing both from the rich local cultural legacy and a thriving art scene. Throughout its history, Baroque, Rococo, Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles can be found. Vienna’s museum quarter is the world’s 9th largest arts complex, housing several art institutions containing works from some of the Great Masters.
The architecture of churches is dominated by Baroque style with rich ornamentation and frescoes. The palaces and civic buildings of Austria reflect the wealth and power of its past rulers. Belvedere Palace, Schönbrunn Palace, and Melk Abbey are just some of the examples of Baroque styles of architecture in Austria.
In the early twentieth century, Austrian architecture became mostly utilitarian, characterized by the use of un-ornamented industrial materials, like steel, glass, and concrete to make simple buildings. More recently some multicolored, haphazard-looking structures have been erected in Vienna, the work of the maverick artist and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
The cuisine of Austria is often confused with Viennese cuisine. In addition to native regional traditions it has been influenced mostly by Hungarian, Czech, Italian, and Bavarian cuisines. Goulash is one example of the multicultural nature of Austrian cuisine. Austrian cuisine is known primarily in the rest of the world for its pastries and sweets, as well as coffee and beer.
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