I will be heading to Austria at the beginning of October. Any suggestions on where to stay or where to eat? I've never been there before.

You're likely to get two kinds of replies to a question like this: a) thos elambasting you, wondering how could you have made plans to go to some place that you don't know what the destinations are or have any idea why people go there and b) some coming to your defense, saying "we were all inexperienced once" and this is just a case of not knowing how to put together a cogent post, combining what you already do know and plan in this trip and what it is you really want to know.

So, I will reply with a hybrid of the two. If you do not have a big, general guidebook about Austria, then you need to get thee hence to the biggest public library or bookstore near you, and learn some of the basics about gateways into Austria (there aren't that many), and the parts of the country you can visit branching out from Vienna, or Salzburg, or Innsbruck, or Graz or Klagenfurt, or the Vorarlberg border with Switzerland and Liechtenstein, or Bratislava in nearby Slovakia (which is promoting its airport and its new low-cost airline, skyeurope.com as the "Vienna East" airport access point, since it's only 45 minutes away from Vienna by shuttle bus). These are really the only (main) ways into the country I can think of.

But I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you have done SOME reading; you just didn't express very well what you already have in mind - - and wanted to see what "off the top of our heads" replies you could get.

Of course, there could be other explanations for why you are planning this and haven't even started any planning. Maybe you are an ex-patriate (could be from any country), currently living in Milan, or London, or Zurich - - and you figure - - this is a trip I can take on a whim, even though I don't know much about what is there.

Whatever the case - - if this isn't sending you back to remedial Austria 101, I'd suggest you start here:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...ion=vienna@165

and here:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...n=salzburg@134

and here:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...=innsbruck@205

and here:

http://travel2.nytimes.com/top/featu...ria/guide.html

(this last one will require you to register, but it's free).

Until I know more about the context of your question(s) or why you <i>think</i> you want to go to Austria, it seems pointless to tell you about places that <i>I</i> happen to personally like.

Best wishes,

Rex

There really isn't a need to call me an idiot. I do have books already and am obviously aware of the fodor links. I just wanted some feed back from travelers who are more experienced than I am. Let me rephrase the question:

Traveling to Austria will be a new experience for me. I am enticed by it's beauty and culture. Any thoughts out there on some specifically wonderful hotels or restraunts? I like to read reviews of others that have been there instead of just relying on guide books. Thank you in advance for your kind help.

Riley,

And there's no need to belittle Rex, who's trying to help you. Your revised question still does not clarify anything. Which regions and cities do you plan to visit? Where are you coming from? What is your budget? If you don't know yet and you want to see reviews from other posters on this board to get ideas, do a search for &quot;Austria trip report&quot; and you'll get a wealth of information. Once you have a rough itinerary planned out, post it here and the experts will help you tweak it and will also help with the specifics like hotels and restaurants.

A few questions:
how much time do you have? Do you want to spend most of your time in cities or would you like to explore the countryside? Do you think you'd be spending all your time in Austria or are you also interested in visiting Budapest and/or Prague? If you're going to Salzburg, would you want to head over the Munich?
For example, if you were a first timer with 10 days to two weeks, I'd say a mix of Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and perhaps a day trip to Prague. I spent two weeks in Vienna in March and will pull up the trip report for you.

Obviously, Vienna should be included, and I would allow for two days minimum in the city. Do not miss the Schoenbrunn castle.
On your way to (or from) Vienna you might pass through the region of Wachau to the West/North West of Vienna. Allow for at least two hours to see the monastery in Krems. Stop in Duernstein and walk through the narrow alleys and enjoy the scenery along the river.
Have some &quot;Gruener Veltliner&quot; white wine with your meals. A good winemaker is the community of &quot;Freie Weingaertner Wachau&quot;, who make some excellent whites with that particular note of pepper. Very refreshing!
If mountains are what you are looking for, the region of Tyrol should be your destination. Innsbruck is the largest city there, but is still charming enough. Salzburger Land around Salzburg, which also is very much worth a visit, also offers nice mountain scenery.

You still haven't said how long you will be in Austria or if that is your only destination.

I lived in Vienna for a couple of years in the early 80's and love Austria. There are many hotel recommendations on Fodors for Vienna, Salzburg, Hallstatt, etc., if you do a search.

I agree that you should spend at least several days, if not more, in Vienna for the music, museums, food, wine and architecture. Also, take a day trip out to Grinzing to one of the heurigers for lunch or dinner. Again, you can find lots of info here if you do a search for heuriger.

I also recommend that you travel to Melk an Durnstein in the Wachau Valley. A lovely hotel in Durnstein is Richard the Lionhearted, but there are a couple of others also that you can probably find here with a search on Durnstein.

Salzburg warrants a couple of days if you have it as well as Hallstatt or one of the other little towns in the Salzkammergut.

If you wish to travel further south, then then Graz and Klagenfurt are also worth exploring.