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Home to adventure! Here the mountains built the setting for fantastic mountain passes and irresistible tours. As small as Austria is, its diversity is gigantic. The quarter around the Inn has to offer many things for tourists. We like to raise special attention to the silver-and-orange colored building in the small village of Mattighofen. The birthplace of the Adventure-Bikes from KTM lies here. At this place one can watch how they grow, become bigger and finally get started on the road. If you can finally tear yourself away from this experience, you can devote yourself to the other beauties Austria has to offer.
There is the Salzkammergut for example - a region coming for a picture book. Besides the idyllic villages there are ancient salt mines and remains of Celtic settlement to be discovered. Styria is the most popular holiday area for Austrians, if they spend their holidays within their country. The reasons? Wonderful valleys, gentle hill, wine and tons of possibilities for wellness-stays. Burgenland however is flat just as the bordering Hungaria. The mild climate attracts to tour around the Neusiedler Lake. The Wachau is a tempting target in Lower Austria. It is a narrow valley, through which the Danube pushes its way. On the sunny southern sides of the valley the wine ripens and bread-and-dripping can be savored just as much as the wonderful sights one can enjoy while taking a break at one of these picturesque villages.
Carinthia, Austria’s lake county, is situated in the south. It is sunny and hidden against the wind. Salzburg on the other side is the country of wild mountain streams and raging waterfalls. Here Europe’s highest waterfalls, the Krimmler waterfalls, plunge down deeply. The Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße leads up close to the glaciers. Many farms along the small roads of Tyrol’s valleys offer fresh milk and cheese. Juicy meadows and alpine pastures offer a wonderful setting for the tour, just as mountains do. Their peaks often carry a white bonnet still even during warmer seasons.
Heart pieces of Vorarlberg are the Lake of Constance, Bregenzer Forest and the farmers. You can experience their work while riding along the "cheese-road".
A trip to Vienna is an absolute contrast program to that. On right shore of the Danube lies the old part of town, new Vienna lies on left side. The typical Austrian coziness can surely only be found on the shore of the Danube. On a culinary level the Alps Republic is formed by many influences. Typical specialties are Wienerschnitzel, Schweinebraten (pig roast) with sauerkraut and bread dumpling, Krapfen (dough pockets filled with sweet or hearty fillings), bacon- and cheese bread, sour sausages and of course sweet things like Kaiserschmarrn, Palatschinken (crepès with marmalade, quark or ice cream), Scheiterhaufen (loaf from apples), apricot- and plum dumplings and Buchteln (yeast bread) with vanilla sauce.
Vienna’s coffee house tradition has filled many books. Coffee can be ordered in many different variations, e. g. lengthened (with cold milk in a pot), Vienna Mélange (with milk foam), large and small brown (espresso with milk). The Heurige (Austrian wine) is just as famous. It is the wine from the last vintage from exactly that place, it is served.
Some geography:
The Alps Republic covers an area close to 84,000 qkm wide and has more than 8 million inhabitants. The predominant language is German, minorities speak Slovenian and Croatian. Many Slovenians and Croatians fled to Austria during the civil war at the Balkan region. Catholicism is the predominant religion. Austria celebrates its national holiday on 26th October. On that day in 1955 the neutrality law was passed. |
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