Vienna works best when you group visits by neighbourhood. Give Schönbrunn its own half-day, keep the old centre and Ring together, and leave time for a café or market away from the palace circuit.
Austria travel guide
Choose Vienna for museums and music, Salzburg for a small city with hills on its doorstep, or Innsbruck for mountain days. Graz and the lake villages need their own place in the route; fitting everything into a week leaves little time outside trains.
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Pick a route that fits your week
For a first visit, use three nights in Vienna and three in Salzburg, with the remaining time for travel. Add Innsbruck when mountains are the reason for the trip. Graz lies on a different branch of the rail network, so it fits more naturally with Vienna and a journey towards Slovenia. Hallstatt is a lake village, not a quick stop between platforms.
Choose your arrival and departure cities before booking rooms. Our seven-day Austria plan runs west from Vienna through Salzburg to Innsbruck. The ten-day plan adds Graz and Hallstatt instead; it gives the lake stay room to breathe.
Put the big costs on paper first
The daily figures on this site are starting allowances. Replace the accommodation line with a quote for your dates, including tax, then add intercity journeys and any major visit. A cable-car day can cost more than a day spent in city parks. A private-room allowance represents the room, so two people sharing should divide that line rather than the whole daily total.
Transport benefits vary by place. Overnight guests in Salzburg province receive a Guest Mobility Ticket through their accommodation. Around Innsbruck, the Welcome Card requires at least two nights at a participating property. Neither is a general Austrian rail pass. Ask the host what your booking includes before spending more. Salzburg ticket, Innsbruck Welcome Card.
Buy a journey, then choose the fare
On the Vienna–Salzburg corridor, compare departure stations as well as prices: WESTbahn and ÖBB do not use identical services. A cheap ticket tied to one train is a different purchase from a flexible ticket. For Hallstatt, allow for the boat or bus from the railway to the village. Search the whole journey in ÖBB's planner before reserving an attraction at the far end.
Leave space for ordinary days
A morning market, a riverbank lunch and an unhurried neighbourhood walk deserve time too. Try Vienna's Brunnenmarkt, Salzburg's small food passages or Graz's morning farmers' markets. Check menu prices and opening days instead of assuming that every market stall or traditional café is inexpensive.
Airport arrangements in Vienna changed in September 2026. Use the current Vienna arrival guide, especially if older travel notes send you straight to Wien Mitte by S7.
Where to look for better value
Compare Graz with Vienna for a city break, and look beyond the historic centre in Salzburg. For Hallstatt, price rooms in Obertraun and Bad Goisern alongside the extra journeys. No town is always the cheapest.
Where costs can rise
Salzburg festival dates, ski holidays around Innsbruck and lakeside rooms in Hallstatt can change the cost of a trip. Price accommodation first if your dates are fixed.
Ways to save in Austria
Ask your accommodation about included local transport before buying a pass. Compare the exact ÖBB and WESTbahn departures, then pay for the attractions you actually want. Allow separately for airport travel and mountain lifts.
City guides in Austria
Salzburg is small enough to explore on foot but hilly enough to reward a slower pace. Two nights give you time for the fortress, the river and the lanes on both sides of the Salzach without treating every stop as a timed attraction.
Innsbruck lets you combine a walkable centre with a proper mountain outing. Give the mountains the clearest day of your stay and keep the old town, cafés and museums for weather that makes a summit ticket less appealing.
Graz gives you courtyards, markets and a hilltop view within a compact centre. It suits a two-night pause between Vienna and the south, especially if you enjoy food shopping and smaller museums more than a packed list of major sights.
Hallstatt is best approached as a lake stay or a carefully planned day trip. The railway station is across the water from the village, and the mine visit takes a separate block of time. Leave enough room to enjoy the shore between those journeys.