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The most helpful backpacking books on the planet, Austria

Austria is primarily known for two contrasting attractions - the fading Imperial glories of Vienna, and the variety of its Alpine hinterland. Vienna is the gateway to much of central Europe and a good place to soak up the culture of Mitteleuropa before heading towards the Magyar and Slav lands over which the city once held sway. Less renowned provincial capitals like Graz and Linz provide a similar level of culture and vitality. The most dramatic of Austria's Alpine scenery is west of here, in and around the Tirol, whose capital, Innsbruck, provides the best base for exploration. Salzburg, however, between Innsbruck and Vienna, represents urban Austria at its most picturesque, an intoxicating Baroque city within easy striking distance of the mountains and lakes of the Salzkammergut to the east.

Hostels and student accommodation

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Youth hostels (Jugendherberge or Jugendgäste-haus) are fairly widespread in Austria, with around 100 in all. Standards vary from the hearty, basic rural variety to the well-appointed (but crowded) hostels of the larger cities. Rates are öS140-220, normally including a nominal breakfast. Sheet sleeping bags are obligatory, although the cost of renting one is often included in the charge. Many hostels serve other meals besides breakfast for öS50-75. Austria's hostels are administered by two separate organizations (both HI-affiliated) and for full lists and addresses you'll have to write to both of them: Österreichisches Jugendherbergswerk, Helferstorferstrasse 4, 1010 Wien (tel 0222/533 18 33), and Österreichischer Jugendherbergsverband, Schottenring 28, 1010 Wien (tel 0222/533 53 53).

Places to See

The Habsburgs' summer palace Schönbrunn, in the outer suburbs of Vienna, is without doubt the most ornate of the country's imperial palaces. Its grounds contain the city's Tiergarten or "zoo", Palmenhaus , a glasshouse full of tropical ferns, and Schmetterlinghaus, or "butterfly house".

The fine palaces of Vienna's Belvedere are home to the Österreichisches Galerie, which sweeps through the nation's art history – from Baroque pieces by painters such as Rottmayr, leader of the early eighteenth-century Viennese school, to an astounding collection of works by Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka.

The most photogenic section of the Danube is the Wachau between Krems and Melk, and the best way to see it is on one of the frequent boats that ply between the two from April to October.

Innsbruck's proximity to the high Alps makes it an ideal base for outdoor pursuits year-round, whether you're skiing, multi-day hiking, or simply keen to suck in some fresh mountain air.

At the heart of Salzburg's Altstadt runs the pedestrianized Getreidegasse, the city's busiest thoroughfare, lined with expensive boutiques and famed for its wrought-iron shop signs.

The jewel of the lakeland district of Salzkammergut is Hallstatt, a village dramatically set on the lake's edge at the base of a precipitous cliff. It's renowned for its Fronleichnahm (Corpus Christi) procession, held annually in May, when the whole of the town takes to the water in boats.

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