Austria is a country that is suitable for active and active natures, calm and contemplative natures, romantic natures and lovers ... In short, everyone. Because this country is rather modest in size and has a surprisingly diverse landscape, climate and relief. The lakes of Carinthia, the castles of Salzburg and Styria, the brilliant Vienna and, of course, the Austrian Alps ... It is good and comfortable here at any time of the year, because Austria is a European country known for its Italian pomp and hospitality, German purity and punctuality, Slavic openness and sincerity.
Speaking of this country as a tourist attraction, many people mean primarily the Austrian Alps, namely the federal states of Salzburgerland, Tyrol and Carinthia. One figure speaks of the ski tourism industry: the Alps occupy two thirds of the territory of Austria; mountain provinces are divided into 71 ski regions, in which 800 resorts operate from November to May, and 4 of them host skiers year-round. Moreover, not every highly located village can be called a ski resort, but only one that is located in the immediate vicinity of the ski lifts or connected with them by special transport for tourists-skiers.
And, of course, service. European, impeccable, and at the same time unobtrusive, warm at home. Austria's ski hotels are not just cozy and comfortable rooms, but also wonderful halls with fireplaces, saunas where you can relax after a day's skiing, restaurants with sun terraces, ski schools and even kindergartens, where children are looked after by hotel guests for free. And ski resorts provide an opportunity to climb peaks and glaciers in minutes on the saddle lifts or on the cable car.
350 km ski slopes of any degree of difficulty make it possible to slide down famously in the high mountain valleys of Stubaital, Vittal and Intal, on the slopes of the giant Patcherkofel, on the Groser Isidor mountain, on the Dachstein Glacier or on the slopes of the ski resorts Schladming and Filzmoos. And it is not necessary to be able to ski. The Austrian Alps have trails for cross-country skiing, sledding, and dog sledding, and there are comfortable skating rinks for skate lovers. Panoramic snowshoeing is also offered, and for extreme sports enthusiasts - snowboarding, rock climbing, snowboarding, hot air ballooning, parachute descents. Apres ski, that is, after skiing, also has something to do: restaurants and taverns, health spa centers and cinemas, casinos and boutiques - all of them hospitably open the doors and glow with lights.
In the summer, the Austrian Alps are no less amazing. Many kilometers of hiking trails have been developed here. Mountain trails are marked and are designed for easy walking for several hours, and for a serious hike in several days with an overnight stay in special chalet shelters.
No less than vacationers are attracted by summer vacations in Austria on the lakes of Carinthia. There are more than 1,200, large and small, warming well, and in some lakes, according to the authorities, absolutely drinking water splashes. The largest Carinthian lake is Wörthersee. Numerous resorts are located on its shores, for example, Klagenfurt (the capital of this federal state, the city's airport accepts international flights) and Velden.
The tourist infrastructure on the lakes is no less developed than in the ski resorts of Austria: guests are offered sailing on yachts, "bananas", catamarans, a musical laser show on the water with classical music. You can slowly ride along the coast on a bicycle or roller skates, feed ducks and swans, enjoy a trout caught from a lake in the restaurant, enjoy the view of harsh peaks on the horizon. And you want to balk around in the city bustle - forward, to the noisy and cheerful Vienna, to the musical Salzburg and the high-mountain Innsbruck, where 11 churches and 5 monasteries are sheltered in a small space.