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Best time to visit Austria

Would you please recommend the best time of year to visit Austria.
Thank you

Posted by
32519 posts

Whenever you can go. It is fantabuloso all year long. Big place, though. Where?

Posted by
32171 posts

John, My preference would be either the spring (May / June) or Fall (Sept. / Oct.) shoulder seasons. The weather should be reasonably decent, without the summer crowds. If you have some spare time, you might take a drive to Edmonds and ask the experts at ETBD for their thoughts on the subject. You could also have a look at the Guidebooks in their free Library, to get some ideas on places you might like to visit in Austria. Happy travels!

Posted by
12040 posts

The best time of year would depend on what you wanted to see and do. For outdoor site-seeing and Alpine hiking, late spring through early fall would be best. For winter, let me quote what someone wrote on another thread about Salzburg: "For one thing, during the winter you generally have NO view of the surrounding Alps - it's just too overcast/foggy. I remember being astonished one clear morning in April to see how Salzburg is surrounded by many mountains. Of course, I knew it from the map, but had never seen them." I can easily concur with that. I live about 5 kilometers away from the Odenwald mountains, and from November onwards, its only every few days that I can get a glimpse of them. I'm sure Jo up in Frankfurt hasn't seen much of the Taunus mountains either lately. This point is often missed in travel guides geared primarily towards summer travel (like the Blue Book...). But winter also has it's own benefits. Austria is a world class winter sports destination (you can see the mountains much better when you're skiing down them!). The more professional performing arts organizations (orchestras, opera, etc) are in the middle of their seasons as well. During the summer, you get more student ensembles playing endless renditions of "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" and "The Four Seasons".

Posted by
212 posts

Had a great time in late March last year. Cool but not at all cold. And of course, forget crowds. They do have a lot of Easter markets as well.

Posted by
576 posts

Thanks, Maureen.We will fly into Vienna but will probably use the home exchange home owner's vehicle to drive within Austria. I am wondering if the crowds are significantly lesser in July than in August (when most Europeans all decide to vacation together). I expect salzburg to be busy whenver we visit.

Posted by
1357 posts

We were there in August a few years ago, and the weather was gorgeous. Temps only got up in the mid-70's, but mostly staying in the high 60's during the day. Nice break from summer in Atlanta. As far as the music groups go, if you hit Salzburg during the Festival in August, you get lots of world-class performances. Tickets can get pricey, but you can buy cheaper tickets online in advance. Traffic-wise, though, August can be a nightmare. I think all of Holland packs up in campervans and drives to Austria for the month. And the Italians come up from the south, too.

Posted by
791 posts

It's not just the Dutch, the Germans come down en masse in August as well. I avoid the Brenner Pass and the Fern Pass like the plague in August if I can help it.

Posted by
951 posts

We were in Vienna in the end of Nov 2009. I find Christmas Market time in Europe to be so charming that I am hesitant to visit any other time of the year. Plus I am a budget traveler and for the past 4-5 years, travel at the end of November has been very affordable for me, so that biases my preference. Vienna does a a nice Christmas Market at the Rathaus that we attended 2 out of 3 evenings that we were there. As for other parts of Austria, I can not comment because Vienna is the only place in Austria I have been.

Posted by
813 posts

I've been all over at various times in the year. Late November/December is great for Christmas markets and the cities decorated festively. The ball season is coming up soon, next month, fun to go to parties/balls/concerts in Vienna. Vienna and Salzburg are still beautiful in the grey of winter. Downhill and crosscountry skiing is awesome in Dec-March. Summer is great for cities and the countryside, hiking, etc. Just depends on what you'd like to do.

Posted by
576 posts

I am currently working on arranging a home exchange in Vienna (also visiting other Austrian places, incl. Salzburg). After reading on this thread about the crazy crowdedness of August, I am rethinking this. I want my college daughters to come along, so I don't get to choose the shoulder season. How about July? Is it any better than August as far as crowds?

Posted by
2193 posts

Not sure about July, but our last visit was the first week of June. Salzburg wasn't overrun and was enjoyable, and while there were tourists in Vienna, we breezed right through the Hofburg and Schönbrunn palaces with no lines and no crowds. Not sure if this is typical of early June, but that was my experience. Oh yeah, it was only something like 40 degrees F and spitting a few flurries the morning we left Vienna...it was cloudy, damp, and cold (and fairly unexpected on my part for June).

Posted by
576 posts

We could perhaps do the 2nd two weeks of June. That sounds promising. Thanks!

Posted by
811 posts

late sep is also good time. not cold comfy weather, and if you line up your schedule it's very close to austrian thxgiving. it's a smaller version of oktoberfest with beer drinking and folk dancing in vienna, but plenty fun with locals.

Posted by
12172 posts

My first choice would be September, the wine is being harvested and there are some wine related fests. The weather is generally warm days and cool nights but not extreme on either end.

Posted by
1357 posts

Terry as far as the crowdedness of August, we only noticed it on the motorways (major roads, think autobahn, not smaller roads). Salzburg was easy to get around, even with the festival on. Getting there from Germany and back was a nightmare. Take a train.

Posted by
31 posts

Just to echo what others have already said - it depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. For a general all purpose visit, I'd go the last few weeks in September. The weather tends to be drier than in previous months, especially in the wine country of Lower Austria and Vienna, and the tourists are thinning out. If you're planning to visit Salzburg, good weather can have a large influence on your experience. Salzburg in late May and early June is not typically not crowded, but it's likely to rain on 2 days out of 3. The town starts to fill up with tourists from then on, and you'll contend with large crowds in major attractions. If you're concerned about crowds, avoid July and August, but there are plenty of places where crowds aren't a problem, and its worth going for the music festival alone. And rain? Figure on an average of 4 days/week and hope for less. Buy an umbrella, regardless.

Posted by
3 posts

I traveled to Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) in May and the weather was gorgeous. Clear blue skies, great weather (mid-50s), and no crowds. Be sure to see Shonbrunn Palace in Vienna, the gardens fantastic. If you visit Salzburg, take a lift to the top of the hill above the city. The view of the city, river, and Hohensalzburg castle from this hill is breathtaking.