Austrian mountain villages off the beaten path.
Less-touristed mountain villages 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,…
Admont
Admont Abbey, a monastery founded in 1074, anchors this little Styrian village set in the valley of the Enns River within Gesäuse National Park.
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.
Ladis
A small Tyrolean village in Austria's Landeck district known since the Middle Ages for its sulphur and sour springs, Ladis also draws visitors for ski touris…
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…
Mayrhofen
This well-known ski resort in Austria's Zillertal, Mayrhofen sits in the Ziller river valley in Tyrol and serves as the main base for alpine skiing across th…
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.
Wattens
Wattens, a little market town in Tyrol's Innsbruck-Land district, is best known as the home of Swarovski, the Austrian crystal glass company.
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…
Liezen
A modest district capital on the River Enns in Styria, Liezen serves as the economic and administrative hub of Austria's largest district by area.
Zell am See
Sitting directly on the shores of a deep alpine lake in the Austrian state of Salzburg, Zell am See pairs year-round mountain sports — anchored by the Zell a…
Sillian
This tiny market town in Austria's East Tyrol sits in the upper Pustertal valley near the western edge of the region, at over a thousand metres elevation, an…
Ybbsitz
Village in Lower Austria's Amstetten district, Ybbsitz sits along the Niederösterreichische Eisenstraße — the historic Iron Road — and carries a long traditi…
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…
Trautenfels
A tiny Austrian hamlet in Styria's upland country, with flower-draped timber houses, a white church steeple rising against cloud-wrapped peaks, and access to…
Landeck
Small Tyrolean city at the confluence of mountain rivers in Austria's Upper Inn Valley, Landeck sits at the gateway to one of the country's most tourism-inte…
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…
Scharnitz
This Tyrolean village on the German border that serves as the western gateway to the Hinterau valley, where the river Isar has its source.
Virgen
A mountain village in the Virgen valley of east Tyrol, set within the High Tauern National Park and repeatedly recognised as the most beautiful municipality…
Dornbirn
Vorarlberg's largest city, Dornbirn sits in Austria's westernmost state with a walkable centre dense with listed historic buildings, cafés, and churches.
St. Gilgen
This lakeside village on Lake Wolfgang in Austria's Salzkammergut region draws visitors with mountain views, a strong café and restaurant scene for its size,…
Zell am Ziller
A little Tyrolean village in Austria's Zillertal with a notably dense café and restaurant scene for its size, several churches, and a strong visual profile a…
Nauders
High-altitude village in the Austrian Tyrol where mountain terrain, scenic viewpoints, and a notable cluster of churches make it a compact but rewarding dest…
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.
Ellmau
This year-round resort village in the Wilder Kaiser mountains of Tyrol, Ellmau sits within the Ski Welt skiing area and offers hiking, mountain biking, and c…
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…
Wenns
A village in Austria's Pitztal valley, Wenns sits along the Pitze river and is home to the oldest farmhouse in Tyrol — the Stamserhaus, around 700 years old.
Kennelbach
This small village on the water in Vorarlberg's Bregenz district, Kennelbach sits close to mountains and scenic viewpoints, with vineyards nearby and a handf…
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…
Schruns
This little Austrian market town in the Montafon valley of Vorarlberg sits alongside water with mountain scenery on all sides, including the Zimba peak to th…
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…
Pfunds
Tiny Tyrolean village in Austria's Landeck district, Pfunds sits at the water's edge close to the Swiss border and the tripoint with Italy, with scenic mount…
Wörgl
Known internationally for the "Miracle of Wörgl" — a 1930s local currency experiment credited with reviving the town's economy during the Great Depression —…
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…
Spittal an der Drau
A modest Carinthian town in western Austria where several alpine valleys converge — the Drau, Lieser, and Möll among them — Spittal an der Drau has a café an…
Schoppernau
A modest winter-sports village in the Bregenzerwald region of Vorarlberg, Austria, set along the Bregenzer Ach river in the upper reaches of the valley.
Aldrans
A compact Tyrolean village set on a green plateau above Innsbruck, with a white-spired church, traditional Alpine houses, and a dramatic wall of bare limesto…
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…
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…
Knittelfeld
A small Styrian town on the Mur river with a café and restaurant scene that is unusually rich for its size, Knittelfeld also carries a place in Austrian poli…
Mieders
Tiny Tyrolean village in the Stubaital valley south of Innsbruck, Mieders sits alongside the river with mountain scenery in the surrounds and scenic viewpoin…
Schladming
Well-equipped winter sports town in Styria's Enns valley, Schladming has twice hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships — in 1982 and 2013 — and also he…
Ferlach
Austria's southernmost town, Ferlach sits on the water in Carinthia's Rosental valley, with a small café-filled centre and scenic mountain surrounds.
Bezau
This compact village in the Bregenz Forest region of Vorarlberg, Austria, Bezau sits among mountain terrain and draws visitors year-round for skiing and hiking.
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…
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…
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…
Feldkirchen in Kärnten
Tiny Carinthian town in mountain terrain with vineyards nearby and water close at hand, Feldkirchen in Kärnten has an unusually lively café and restaurant sc…
Lofer
A small mountain village in Austria's Salzburg state, Lofer sits along the Saalach river in the Pinzgau valley with scenic viewpoints in the surrounding peak…
Nassereith
A pocket-sized mountain village in the Tyrolean district of Imst, Nassereith sits alongside the Gurgl brook and offers a modest café and restaurant scene alo…
Lilienfeld
Lilienfeld Abbey anchors this little Lower Austrian town in the Traisen River valley, south of St.