Luxury Vacations in Austria

It can be difficult to waltz clear of the clichés in Austria. Those Sound of Music hillsides, the Viennese shadows of The Third Man, strudel and schnitzel. The thing is, Austria does those things very well, particularly lakes and mountains, full of opportunities for wholesome fun in terrific landscapes: the turquoise blues of Lake Fuschl; the panoramic views from Kitzbuhel, the slow roll of the Danube.

Austria is known for its winter sports – snowboarding and schussing down the pristine slopes of the Tyrolean Alps – but summertime is just as active, for cycling and hiking past waterfalls and through wildflower meadows. Its villages seem to compete for sheer prettiness: the timber chalets of mountain-high Alpbach; lakeside Hallstatt, deep in the Salzkammergut region, one of 2024’s European Capitals of Culture. Its towns – Mozart’s Salzburg, Graz and Innsbruck – are baroque masterpieces in miniature, while operatic Vienna is one of the most liveable cities in the world, criss-crossed by trams and green spaces with coffee houses to press pause in.