Luxury holidays to Austria | Tailor-made tours and holidays

An Expressions tailor-made holiday to Austria gives travellers the chance to explore and experience this historic and diversely beautiful country. Crowned by the fading imperial glories of Vienna, with central Europe beckoning out along the Danube to the east, and a stunning, chocolate-box Alpine hinterland to the west, Austria is an unbeatable Mitteleuropa beauty. Throughout its eventful history, Austria has retained a penchant for indulgence, opulent aestheticism, and the cultivation of the higher pleasures in life. Visible in the rolling green pastures that cover the lands between the Alps, and in the grand architecture of the cities, this side to Austria still prevails. Inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age, Austria holds a wealth of dramatic and dynamic history within its fertile valleys. Former seat of the Habsburgs, the Austrian capital of Vienna is strewn with architectural riches. Provincial capitals Linz and Graz are now large, cultural towns with vast open squares, beautifully lit fountains, and hilltop castles, but they still retain their cobbled town centres. Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, is smattered with stunning baroque churches, and has an Alpine backdrop straight out of the Sound of Music. The wide turquoise River Salzach separates the modern buildings of recently-built Salzburg from the peaked roofs of the older parts of town, which circle the hill on which the stunning Hohensalzburg Castle is perched. Small boats disappear down the river into the lush green valley beyond, where wooden chalet-style houses climb the riverbanks. With ground-breaking cultural figures peppering Austria's history - Freud, Mozart, Strauss, Schubert, and Klimt, to name but a few - the country is awash with important galleries, concert halls, museums, and opera houses. In fact, you won't need to go in search of culture, in Austria it all but waltzes straight up to you. Coupled with spectacular Gothic churches and baroque cathedrals, this makes Austria a fascinating country to explore, with beautiful old coffee houses and cafes almost every step of the way. Beyond the towns, the Tyrol is a hiker's Promised Land, Innsbruck is the radiant, ethereal winter capital, with an array of ski resorts just a step away, and charming old stone village guest-houses. In summer, cowbells tinkle in flower-filled meadows, gluhwein is forever warming over the fire, and whole holidays can be spent just exploring the lakes, forests, summits, and valleys, without setting foot in a bustling, lively town.

Single-centre holiday

Choose between the grandeur and elegance of our city hotel, and the rustic charm of the rural chalet-hotels. Single-centre holidays encourage guests to become very well acquainted with the beauty of the area of Austria that interests them most.

Two centre recommendations

Holidays to Austria work well when combined with Switzerland, perhaps as a rail holiday through the Alps and lakes. Many of our rail holidays combine Austria with Switzerland, though it is possible to venture further south into Italy to spend a final few days enjoying the Tuscan sun, or to travel through France on your way back to the UK.

Alpine Peaks

Stay at two different hotels to mingle both the cultural city life with the peaceful countryside. Alternatively, plan to stay at two Alpine retreats on your two-centre holiday to see both the old-worldy picturesque villages and the sublime Alpine lakes. Our multi-centre tours usually incorporate rail travel to ensure that our clients can take in as much of the passing scenery as possible. The Austrian railways offer some of the most spectacular rail routes in Europe and make it possible to enjoy every aspect of Austrian life in one extended stay. Though fly-drive options are available on request, rail continues to be our favourite way to travel to this part of the world.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

● Single centre or multi-centre
● Long or short stays
● Combine a number of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Austria and within Austria, combining flights, hire-car, rail and private transfers

Our special interest holidays to Austria

● Wine-tasting for individuals
● Cultural tours for individuals
● Visits to local music festivals
● Private guided sightseeing
● Walking holidays
● City breaks
● Spa breaks
● Family holidays

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Call us on 01392 441245

Highlights of Austria

The idyllic pathways along the Danube set the scene for romantic afternoon or evening walks, passing either the city or the hilly green countryside dotted with old castles. Seek out the wine estates and cellars of Grinzing, in order to sample some of the best of Austrian produce in a location beyond compare across Europe. The beautiful, cobbled old town of Innsbruck will introduce you to the indescribable atmosphere of the quaint smaller towns of Austria, and act as your gateway into the untamed, rugged landscape of the Alps. The Bregenz Forest forms one of the main regions in Vorarlberg, and is home to the idyllic villages, tinkling cow bells, and alpine dairies that have become both iconic for the region and synonymous with Austria. The Grossglockner Road is a fantastic 30-mile drive that extends through epic glacial mountain scenery, climbing more than 8,000ft to Austria's highest peak, Mount Grossglockner. The phenomena at Krimml Falls include Europe's highest waterfall, which crashes down from mossy green cliffs over jagged brown rocks. For more of Austria's surprising natural beauty, visit the salt mine and ice caves of Hallstatt, a town of simplistic quaint churches and wooden-panelled houses that cling to the banks of the Hallstatter See. Head back into another of Austria's beautiful cities to see the baroque splendours of Salzburg, before climbing the hill of the Hohensalzburg Castle, the city's crowning glory. Krems an der Donau is a charming university town filled with Heuringen, or traditional wine taverns that seem to blend the iconic Italian love of wine with the rustic, homely establishments of the Alpine countries. The hip town of Linz is full of contemporary architecture, including the gravity-defying Voest Steelworks, which points out towards the undulating horizon. Austria's second city, Graz, has a lovely medieval centre with a buzzing cultural scene. Finally, on every stay in Austria, we would recommend soaking up the peace and serenity available at each of our Austrian hotels; the same peace and serenity that continually makes Austria such a fulfilling holiday destination.

Cultural highlights of Austria

Perhaps begin by exploring Vienna's handsome Gothic churches and the baroque cathedral, which look out over the atmospheric, cobbled streets, the most beautiful of which are situated around the University area of Schottentor. Then stop-off for lunch or a light afternoon snack in one of Vienna's coffee houses, or take one of the trams, straight out of the Third Man, which are a wonderfully romantic way to get about town. Admire the vast imperial facade of Schonbrunn Palace, former seat of the Habsburg Empire, and soak up the sunshine beside the Neptune Fountain in the palace gardens, with the charming arches of the Gloriette as your backdrop. For a taste of the city's intellectual culture, visit the Freud museum or the Kunsthistorisches museum, which houses several paintings by Gustav Klimt. Moving and memorable performances can be watched at Vienna's Spanish Riding School and the Boys’ Choir.

Austria travel information

Austria is reached very easily from the UK by air and rail. We can arrange for you to travel by train with overnight stops. Some clients choose to take their own car all the way.

By air

Austrian Airlines and Aer Lingus fly direct to Vienna from London; British Airways flies to Vienna, Innsbruck and Salzburg. The flight to Salzburg takes around 2 hours, and to Vienna it takes around 2 hours 20 minutes.

Car hire

Hire car will always be a cost-effective, flexible way of travelling around Austria. Should you choose to fly into Austria, a car can be collected from the airport, or, if you have arrived by train, a car can be collected from one of the companies in the larger cities. With a hire car you are at your leisure to venture as far out from the hotel as you will, but we cannot guarantee the quality of the more rural roads or the accessibility of the hotel.

Rail travel

Because the rail links between the UK and Austria are so convenient and well-developed, it is possible to reach both Vienna and Salzburg from London within a day. Alternatively, the Eurostar train will get you to Brussels in an afternoon, where you can catch another train to take you the rest of the journey, or, the Thalys train will take you as far as Cologne. You may wish to travel to Zurich on the Eurostar and the TGV in one day and take a further train the next day (after a night in one of our Swiss hotels), to Innsbruck. For the full range of combinations and possibilities that best suit your preferences, contact one of our sales team, who will be able to advise you further. Transport systems in Austria are highly developed and generally very efficient, with reliable information often available in English. Individual bus and train Fahrplan (timetables) are readily available, as are broader, helpful annual timetables. Austria's main rail provider is the Österreiche Bundesbahn (ÖBB; Austrian Federal Railways; www.oebb.at), which has an extensive countrywide rail network. This is supplemented by a handful of private railways. Wherever trains don't run, a Postbus (www.postbus.at) usually does. Timetables and prices for many train and bus connections can be found online at www.oebb.at. Most provinces have an integrated transport system offering day passes covering regional zones for both bus and train travel. In Vienna, trams are an excellent, enchanting option.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

Our special interest holidays to Austria

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Capital Vienna

Airports Vienna is the main transport hub for Austria, but Graz, Linz, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Innsbruck all receive international flights.

Currency Euro

Size 32,000 sq. miles

Population 8 million

Average temperature Winters are often sunny but cold, with extensive snow in the Alps; summers are warm with occasional showers and cool nights. Average summer temperatures range between 20 °C and 35 °C, while winter temperatures range between 1 °C and 4 °C.

Call us on 01392 441245

Here you will find a map of Austria showing the locations of the hotels that we offer

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

Our special interest holidays to Austria

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Capital Vienna

Airports Vienna is the main transport hub for Austria, but Graz, Linz, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Innsbruck all receive international flights.

Currency Euro

Size 32,000 sq. miles

Population 8 million