Countries > Austria

Regions

Cities

.................Vienna

Orientation: Vienna is structured in a fairly logical way.

The centre of Vienna is the First District (Innere Stadt, "Inner City"), encircled by the Ringstraße ("ring street" metro lines U2 and U4, tram lines 1 and 2), which has different names at different parts, like Schottenring or Parkring, but always ends with -ring. Most of the main tourist sights are in this area (e.g. St. Stephan's cathedral, the Opera, the Hofburg, the Parliament building, the Town Hall, the University and the Votiv church).

Important streets run out from the centre, numbers of houses increasing the further you get away from the centre. The Gürtel ("belt", metro line u6 and tram lines 6 and 18) is the main street that encircles the inner districts from 1st to 9th with the exception of the 2nd. Westbahnhof and Südbahnhof (main stations for long distance trains) are along the Gürtel. The Gürtel, like the Ring, has different names in different sections (e.g. Mariahilfer Gürtel, Lerchenfelder Gürtel). In all streets that run parallel to Gürtel and Ring, houses are numbered increasing clockwise.

More info on Vienna: http://www.wien.gv.at/stadtplan/suche.asp?lang=en http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Tourist_Information_Vienna http://wikitravel.org/en/Vienna http://www.hitchwiki.org/Vienna

Others

Innsbruck

great for mountain sports, winter and summer, stay at my (hans) house and walk from there to an Alm and enjoy the view on Innsbruck :-) you can also ski-jump IN town, at Bergisel-hill.

Graz

Cultural capital 2003, the 2nd biggest city in Austria, part of Obersteiermark/Gorna Śtayerska/Upper Styria, the official website says: "The Styrian capital of Graz is famous for its high quality of life and stands out as a vital business location and as a center of science, research and culture. Here at Graz Info you can get all the basic information about our "Murtropolis". "

Mur is the river that divides up-town (postal-zip 8010) from trench-town (postal-zip 8020); this still reflects into city-planning until this day: whereas the Old City, University and upper-class living districts are on the east side of the river, the west side districts along the river are higher density working-class, experiencing gentrification and increase in rent, a process supported by mid-scale reconstruction and a youthful "creative industry" emerging car-industries (Magna Steyr) decreases air-quality, and a planned dam for a power-plant may put it further at risk, if realised.

Graz was home-town to ex-patriate governour of California, Arnold Schwarznegger (who precisely comes from a nearby village, Thal) and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, founder of a Masochism-movement.

The modern low-bohéme slapstick-comedy "Die unabsichtliche Entführung der Elfriede Ott" takes place in Graz. There is also a well-known, award-winning documentary about Marihuana-use in Graz, called "Zustandwechsel".

Linz

http://www.bewelcome.org/places/AT/Upper%20Austria/Linz

3rd biggest city in Austria, and cultural capital of Europe in 2009. Despite being a city of only 190 000 inhabitants, which means life is a lot more relaxed than in bigger cities, Linz has a lot to offer. You would never expect this in a city of the size of Linz. Churches, museums, a lot of cultural and traditional activities during the year, a beautiful assemble of houses in the city center and its old part as well as a lot of nature in and around the city make Linz the perfect retreat for your stay in Austria. If you are into sports activities: Why not row on the danube, cycle along it even a little further: to France (via Rhein) or the black sea, most of the time on reserved cycling paths. Climb on our demanding indoor climbing wall before going out to explore the mountains in the lake district of Upper Austria (aprox. 45min to 95min from Linz depending where You want to go). Why not join Linz marathon or our national hiking day. A lot of things are possible in Linz! If you are interessted in knowing more about Linz, pleae join our local group:

http://www.bewelcome.org/groups/643

or contact me: thyfriend

Other Destinations

Getting there

Getting around

the austrian railway: http://www.oebb.at If you travel longer trough austria, and you are less than 26 years old, you should by the "vorteilscard", you get 45 % off trains, and it costs you only 20 € per year! (and even in most europe, like germany, you still get 25 % off)

an "einfach-raus"-ticket enables up to 5 people to take regional trains for appr 25 € for the WHOLE DAY! - maybe you can take someone with you... !?

What to do

People

Eat and Drink

Accommodation

easy in Graz: profile: karlrt

Learn more

good for longer travelinfo: http://wikitravel.org/en/Austria detailed infos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria