Destination: AUSTRIA
Things To Know
The Land
The Habsburg Legacy
Crossroads of Europe
Proud Traditions
Environmental Issues
Sauerkraut and Strudel
Summer and Winter
The Last of the Knights


St. Stephen's Cathedral towers above shoppers and sightseers in Stephansplatz

© AA Photo Library
The Land

Austria is the most mountainous country in Europe, with more than 70 percent of the land occupied by the Alps and Alpine valleys. This section of the eastern Alps is characterized by massive mountain chains with sheer rock faces and jagged ridges broken by deep valleys. The Tyrol region, bordering the Swiss and Italian Alps in western Austria, is renowned for its stunning scenery and is a popular skiing and hiking area. Below the tree line the mountains are heavily forested, giving way to lush Alpine meadows, grazed in summer by gentle-faced cattle and carpeted with vivid wildflowers.

Picturesque villages sit amid the pastures and along the valley bottoms, each with distinctive churches, clusters of traditional shuttered houses and wooden farm buildings. The Danube (Donau) river dominates northeastern Austria, and most of the country's people inhabit the rolling terrain around the river. The flat fields of the Vienna basin are intensely cultivated, producing grain, fruit and vines.

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