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.

Salzburg

Everyone has heard of the beauty of Salzburg, but it's not one of Europe's best known cities. Crowded into a narrow riverside space, the old town is a network of laneways surrounded by a postcard mountain landscape, the palace now occupied by the DomQuartier, the ancient abbey of St Peter and the churchyard, providing access to the ancient catacombs.

All this represents history reaching back into the darkest era of the post-Roman age, when the church pioneers laid the foundations of a powerful Christian city-state. Above it all sits Hohensalzburg, the extraordinary medieval and Renaissance castle of the Salzburg prince-archbishops, perched above their cathedral and palace complex.

In Salzburg, culture is almost everything. The city is keenly aware of its links with the young Mozart and stages one of Austria's great culural festivals, the Salzburger Festspiele. A wide variety of churches merit at least a short visit.

But it's important not to miss the other elements that help make Salzburg a fascinating city for travellers. Follow the narrow winding medieval Steingasse under archways, and the Imbergstiege stairs that lead uphill to the tiny St Johannes am Imberg church wedged into a hillside space. Stefan-Zweig-Weg nearby passes cross stations through the Felixpforte. Above this, peaceful walking paths lead past the Kapuzinerkloster monastery and around the old defensive walls and provide perhaps the best views of the castle and old town.
See also the decorated Baroque Pferdeschwemme, where the court horses were washed and groomed, and the quirkier figures that make up the Zwerglgarten.

Check out the 14-page Salzburg travel guide from Raven Travel Guides Europe.