Austria Travel Guide

A 28-page Austria travel guide built from our own 9-day trip across Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstatt, and Innsbruck.

One honest note upfront: Vienna, Salzburg, and Hallstatt are entirely firsthand — everything we did, ate, booked, and got wrong. Innsbruck we only passed through on a connecting train. The Innsbruck itinerary in this guide is the one we've built for next time: researched properly, routed carefully, but not personally walked. We've flagged it clearly inside so you always know what you're reading.

What's inside:

🗺️ Full day-by-day itinerary — 9 days and 8 nights, mapped out from arrival in Vienna to departure from Innsbruck, with a clean west-bound route and no backtracking.

🚆 Transport, sorted before you fly — how to book ÖBB trains early, seat reservations, and exactly how to get from Vienna Airport into the city.

🎟️ Which pass is actually worth it — a side-by-side comparison of the Wiener Linien Network Pass and the Vienna City Card, plus the Salzburg Guest Mobility Ticket, Salzburg Card, Innsbruck Welcome Card, and Innsbruck Card. We tell you which one we chose and why.

🏨 Where to stay in all four cities — luxury, mid-range, and budget options, plus the Airbnbs we actually stayed in across Vienna and Salzburg.

🍽️ Honest reviews, including the misses — Café Central, Figlmüller, Café Diglas, Pizza Randale, Casa Antonio. And the places we'd skip: the Schönbrunn restaurant, Seewirt Zauner in Hallstatt.

🏰 Schönbrunn done properly — which pass to book, what's worth your time inside, and what's skippable.

⛰️ The Hallstatt day trip, step by step — the exact Salzburg → Bus 150 → Bad Ischl → train → ferry route, what it cost us, alternative routes, and the two things we wish we'd known before we went.

🚠 Our "Next Time" Innsbruck plan — Altstadt, the Golden Roof, Nordkette, Patscherkofel, Swarovski Crystal Worlds, and Bergisel. Fully researched and ready to slot into your trip.

⏳ "If We Had More Time" sections — for Vienna, Salzburg, and beyond, including day trips to Graz, Wachau Valley, St. Gilgen, Alpbach, Kufstein, Baden bei Wien, and Zell am See.

🗣️ Practical extras — useful German phrases, emergency contacts, packing reminders, and SIM card advice.

🎬 Linked reels — watch the days we've filmed as you read.

Written from experience, not research. If we didn't do it, we say so.