The most beautiful cities in Austria

Welcome to one of Europe’s most beautiful countries. Austria’s landscapes, regions and townscapes provide almost the full range of European variety in the centre of the continent. Austria is often associated, rightly, with winter sports, but there is so much more on offer. Its alpine areas are rugged and picturesque, but that’s far from being the whole story.

Bregenz

Austria's westernmost city is on the shore of Lake Constance and home of the Bregenzer Festspiele and its annual opera performance on a floating stage. The Seebühne has 7,000 seats. Austria's westernmost city is on the shore of Lake Constance and home of the Bregenzer Festspiele and its annual opera performance on a floating stage. The Seebühne has 7,000 seats. The festival has made Bregenz a hub for the arts as well as being Austria's western gateway to Germany.

The port handles lake cruises and the nearby mountain Pfänder is one of Austria's great lookouts, reached by cable car.

Above the lakeside streets is the Oberstadt, a historical precinct marked by old city walls and the Baroque tower Martinsturm.