Destination AustriaThanks to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Strauss, and many another great composer, you're likely to approach Austria with a song in your heart. Craggy, snowcapped peaks, dense forests, clear blue lakes, and unobtrusive man-made delights such as the charmingly onion-domed parish church of Seefeld ensure that you never stop humming. In fact this historically rich, culturally wealthy, geographically diverse country packs enough spectacle to perpetuate the song long after you've returned home.
ViennaAlong broad, sweeping boulevards like the Ringstrasse, which evoke the imperial era of Strauss, Metternich, and emperor Franz Josef, Vienna seems to move in the measured three-quarter time of its famous waltzes. But all over the city, constraint and license play a constant game of peekaboo, and Vienna's outward face is a study in carefully balanced rhythms. The monuments that punctuate them are at once solid and overbearingly opulent; compared to the magisterial presence of the
Parliament building, its marble trim is as frothy as the Schlag served with Sachertorte at the
Hotel Sacher. In contrast to the unrestrained riot of gilt inside the grand
Schönbrunn Palace, the ruling Hapsburgs' summer retreat in the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian empire and a now a much-treasured museum, the acres of surrounding woods and luxuriant gardens are marshalled into a set piece of Baroque symmetry. Propriety and order rule even at the Fasching balls that mark the season of Mardi Gras and at the
Christkindlmarkt, the Yuletide bazaar. Coffee-drinking is a ritual that every dutiful Viennese observes daily at
Café Hawelka and the city's other coffeehouses -- of which Vienna is said to have more than Switzerland has banks -- as gossip is shared, newspapers are read, and a little business is conducted. Ironically, soaring above this orderly city is the
Stephansdom, an asymmetrical, gargoyle-strewn hodgepodge of a cathedral. It origniates from no one historic period, but it embodies the spirit of Vienna.
Eastern AustriaRespite from hustle and bustle is the draw of this rural region on the Hungarian border. Here the largest city is picturesque Graz; the puszta (steppe) seems to go on forever, gypsy songs still fill the evening air, church steeples remain the highest structures in charming villages such as little
Murau, and vineyards yielding some of Austria's finest wines run right up to the walls of medieval settlements such as
Rust. Near this town, on
Lake Neusiedl, sometimes called the Viennese Sea because of its vastness, exotic sightings can be a surprise: windsurfers, for instance, often find themselves sharing the water with storks, who come to feed along the lake's reedy shores from their nests atop chimneys in the village -- signifying good luck for the locals and bringing glee to travelers lucky enough to come upon the spectacle.
Danube ValleyThe famously blue Danube courses through Austria on its way from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, past medieval abbeys, fanciful Baroque monasteries, verdant pastures, and compact riverside villages. Although its hue is now somewhat less than pristine, the waterway remains one of the most important in Europe, and to traverse its scenic length is to immerse yourself in heady history and culture -- and, of course, to enjoy some pleasant scenery in the process. The storybook Gothic market town of
Steyr is where Anton Bruckner composed his Sixth Symphony. For 10 years he was organist at the neighboring
Abbey of St. Florian, where he is buried, and his organ still fills the high-ceilinged church with rich, sorrowful notes. Richard the Lion-Hearted's spirit also pervades the region; he was once imprisoned in a castle whose ruins loom over Dürnstein, a village so quaint it seems designed by a stage director.
Krems, founded more than 1,000 years ago, is another delightful spot, where wine is the main business of the day. For nonpareil splendor, head to the vast Benedictine abbey at
Göttweig or world-famous
Melk Abbey, best appreciated when the setting sun lights the twin towers cradling its Baroque dome. The magnificent library inside was the real-life setting of Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose.
SalzburgDepending on who is describing this elegant baroque city of gilded salons, palatial mansions, and Italianate churches, Salzburg is alternately known as the Golden City of the High Baroque, the Austrian Rome, and -- thanks to a site astride the River Salzach -- the Florence of the North. What you choose to call the place may depend on what brings you here. Music? Mozart was born here in 1756 on the third floor of a house now cherished as the
Mozarts Geburtshaus. He composed the Salzburg Symphonies in his family home, now known as the Mozart Wohnhaus, and his operas and symphonies still ripple through the air constantly, often in the august venue known as the Festspielhaus, most particularly during the city's acclaimed, celebrity-packed, summer music festival. Art? Explore artists' workshops along narrow, medieval Steingasse. Or zero in on the city's Baroque churches and cloistered abbeys and on rococo palaces such as
Schloss Leopoldskron and, high atop a hill,
Hohensalzburg, the brooding, medieval fortress that towers over the Salzburg Cathedral and the river Salzach, the lavish state rooms inside belied by its grim facade. Drama? If the city's setting amid Alpine peaks and glacial lakes doesn't provide enough, you can attend the annual performances of Jedermann (Everyman) in the city square and take in a show at the famed
Marionettentheater. Of course you need not come to Salzburg with a goal any more ambitious than to relax over a meal of Neue Ku[u]che, updated Austrian cuisine -- a little lighter than traditional fare -- or to take a pleasant walk in a park such as the
Mirabell Gardens. You may even catch a peek of an opera diva as you stroll.
