Charming old-world towns in Austria off the beaten path.
Less-touristed old-world towns in Austria, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Mauterndorf
A compact Alpine village in Austria's Salzburg region, where traditional timber-and-plaster houses spread across a green valley floor beneath forested peaks,…
Judenburg
Photogenic compact town on the Mur river in Styria's mountain terrain, Judenburg carries a medieval trading history visible in the burgher houses and churche…
Bad Goisern am Hallstättersee
A modest market town in Austria's Salzkammergut region, sitting at the water's edge in mountain terrain with scenic viewpoints in the surrounding hills.
Frohnleiten
A compact Styrian town where pastel-fronted historic buildings and a prominent church rise directly above a broad river, backed by forested hills and served…
Friesach
Claimed as the oldest town in Carinthia, Friesach dates to at least 860 and retains a well-preserved medieval centre — including a town wall and a water-fill…
Kufstein
Kufstein Fortress, first mentioned in the 13th century, dominates this photogenic Tyrolean town on the River Inn, flanked by the Brandenberg Alps and the Kai…
Mondsee
A modest lakeside town in Upper Austria's Salzkammergut region, Mondsee is best known for the medieval Mondsee Abbey, whose church served as the wedding loca…
Murau
Compact Austrian town where a Gothic church and a hilltop manor anchor a dense cluster of orange-roofed buildings along a fast-flowing river, backed by fores…
Persenbeug
Persenbeug sits on the bank of the Danube in Lower Austria, anchored by a listed castle that rises above the river.
Imst
Heritage-dense modest town on the River Inn in western Tyrol, Imst sits close to the mountains with scenic viewpoints in the surrounding area and a café and…
Traunkirchen
This pocket-sized Upper Austrian village sits directly on the Traunsee lake, surrounded by mountain terrain, with several historic churches and a handful of…
Bischofshofen
A little Austrian town in the Salzburg state's St.
Oberndorf bei Salzburg
"Silent Night" was first performed in Oberndorf bei Salzburg in 1818, at the Nikolauskirche, making this tiny Austrian town on the River Salzach a draw for a…
Laxenburg
This compact Austrian village south of Vienna is best known for the Laxenburg castles and their surrounding park, which served as the Habsburg monarchs' most…
Lienz
A heritage-dense medieval town in East Tyrol, Austria, Lienz sits at the confluence of the Isel and Drau rivers with a well-preserved historic centre, an unu…
Deutschlandsberg
A small Styrian town in Austria's southern wine country, Deutschlandsberg sits close to the Slovenian border and a short drive from Graz, with a café and res…
Eggenburg
This compact Lower Austrian town where a broad historic main square, red-tile baroque facades, a twin-towered Gothic church, and rolling vineyard country bey…
Riegersburg
This small Austrian village in the wine country of southeastern Styria, set among hills with scenic viewpoints and a café scene that punches above its size.
Rattenberg
Austria's smallest city sits on the Inn River in Tyrol, and its compact historic centre — dense with listed buildings, churches, and cafés — punches well abo…
Oetz
Modest Tyrolean village at the foot of Acherkogel mountain in Austria's Ötztal valley, Oetz sits alongside the Ötztaler Ache river and offers scenic viewpoin…
Dornbirn
Vorarlberg's largest city, Dornbirn sits in Austria's westernmost state with a walkable centre dense with listed historic buildings, cafés, and churches.
Hartkirchen
Yellow baroque church with a dark onion-dome tower anchors this compact Upper Austrian village, set among gently rolling hills and close to the Danube, with…
Korneuburg
This heritage-dense tiny town on the Danube a short distance northwest of Vienna, Korneuburg pairs a colourful main square — dominated by a neo-Gothic town h…
Matrei am Brenner
This pocket-sized Tyrolean village on the Sill river, south of Innsbruck, with a striking number of churches for its size and scenic mountain surrounds.
Tamsweg
At over 1,000 metres elevation, Tamsweg is the highest-situated district administrative centre in Austria — a little market town in the Salzburg Lungau regio…
Gmunden
Lakeside town in Upper Austria's Salzkammergut region, Gmunden sits on the northern shore of the Traunsee with mountain views, a walkable centre dense with l…
Jenbach
A compact Tyrolean market town of red-tile rooftops and a prominent church spire, Jenbach sits in a broad Alpine valley with upland country close at hand and…
Mariazell
Austria's most significant Catholic pilgrimage site, Mariazell is a small Styrian mountain village whose Basilica of the Nativity of Mary houses a lime-wood…
Fulpmes
Small market town in Austria's Stubaital valley, Fulpmes has served as the iron-working centre of the valley for generations and sits at the base of the Schl…
Bad Aussee
This spa town at the confluence of the three source streams of the Traun River, Bad Aussee sits at the heart of the Styrian Salzkammergut in the Austrian Alp…
Retz
A compact Austrian market town in the Weinviertel wine region, Retz centres on a broad cobblestone square dominated by a tall baroque clock tower, surrounded…
Schwaz
A heritage-dense little town in Tyrol's lower Inn valley, Schwaz was Austria's second-largest city after Vienna during the Middle Ages, when silver mining dr…
Garsten
This small Upper Austrian market village on the water is best known for the former Garsten Abbey, a heritage landmark that now serves as a prison — an unusua…
Niederottensheim
A compact Austrian market town on the Danube, its broad main square framed by colorful historic facades, a Gothic church with a tall spire, and a Marian colu…
Rehberg
A compact Austrian village in a forested valley, with vineyard rows in the foreground, a church tower rising above red-tile rooftops, and the ruins of a hill…
Laa an der Thaya
This broad market square dominated by an ornate historicist town hall with a clock tower and colourful tiled roof gives this Lower Austrian border town a civ…
Rottenmann
Rottenmann is a small Styrian town in the Rottenmanner Tauern mountains with a historic old town core, several castles and manor houses, and a church tower t…
Telfs
This Tyrolean market town just west of Innsbruck sits close to the mountains with a walkable centre of cafés, restaurants, and historic churches.
Radstadt
A heritage-dense modest town in Austria's Salzburg state, Radstadt sits close to the mountains and carries an unusual concentration of cafés, restaurants, an…
Wolfsberg
A compact Austrian town along a river, where a baroque church tower and a hilltop castle overlook red-tile rooftops, forested slopes, and a walkable centre w…
Absam
This little Austrian town in Tyrol with an unusual concentration of churches for its size, Absam is a pilgrimage stop on the Camino de Santiago (Jakobsweg) w…
Mauerbach
A modest Austrian town on Vienna's western edge, Mauerbach is anchored by a striking pink Baroque church complex set against forested hills, making it a rewa…
Birkfeld
This compact Styrian market town where a baroque church tower rises above red-tile rooftops, surrounded by densely forested hills and close to upland walking…
Althofen
One of the oldest continuously inhabited mountain settlements in Austria, Althofen is a compact spa town in Carinthia's Sankt Veit an der Glan district, with…
Weitra
Small town in the Gmünd district of Lower Austria, Weitra sits on the water with scenic surrounds and carries the byname Kuenringerstadt — a reference to the…
Lambach
Lambach Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1056, anchors this small Upper Austrian market town where the Ager and Traun rivers meet.
Trofaiach
A compact Styrian town where red-tile rooftops and a white baroque church tower spread across a valley floor, with snow-capped Alpine peaks rising dramatical…
Oberalm
A compact market town in the Hallein district of Salzburg state, Oberalm sits on the water with scenic surrounds, a concentration of listed historic building…
Kapfenberg
This steel town on the Mürz River in Styria, Kapfenberg has been shaped by iron and steel production since the 15th century, when proximity to the Styrian Er…
Reichenau an der Rax
A small Austrian market village at the foot of the Rax mountains on the Schwarza river, Reichenau an der Rax is recognised as a health-climate spa resort.
Gloggnitz
Gloggnitz is a small Austrian mountain town in Lower Austria, sitting at the foot of the Semmering and flanked by two of the region's highest peaks, Mount Ra…
Hohenems
Home to the Schubertiade, a music festival dedicated to Franz Schubert that has made this Vorarlberg town internationally known, Hohenems also holds a 16th-c…
Gars am Kamp
Heritage-dense village on the Kamp river in Lower Austria's Waldviertel region, with several historic churches and a little but real café and restaurant scen…
Neunkirchen
A walkable central square anchored by a Baroque plague column, ornate sgraffito-decorated facades, and a town-hall tower gives this Lower Austrian district c…
Eisenerz
Old iron-mining town in the Styrian mountains, Eisenerz is shaped by centuries of ore extraction from the Erzberg — a mountain worked since at least the 12th…
Reutte
This compact Tyrolean town on the Lech River serves as the administrative centre of Austria's Ausserfern region, with a heritage-dense streetscape, an unusua…
Traismauer
This pocket-sized Austrian wine-country town on the water in Lower Austria traces its origins to a Roman settlement, with some Roman structures still standing.
Stainz
A pocket-sized Styrian wine-country town in Austria's Deutschlandsberg district, Stainz is associated with Schilcher wine and anchored by Schloss Stainz, a f…
Schalchen
A compact Upper Austrian village whose central square is anchored by a tall yellow baroque church with a green onion dome, set against forested hills with a…
Gobelsburg
Schloss Gobelsburg, a castle and winery in Lower Austria's Kamptal wine region, has been producing wine since 1171, making it the oldest winery in the Danube…