Top 3 Cities or Towns in Austria to visit
 

I will be traveling in Austria in late December...what are the best places to go...any recommendations on hostels?
I have never been and am really excited!!
Any further thoughts on skiing for a day or two?

How late in December?

Vienna for the sights. (There's a nice Christmas market at the Rathaus)
Salzburg for the kitsch and charm.
Innsbruck for the skiing.

I've never been to Austria in winter - - and it would be hard to argue against Innsbruck for skiers.

But Graz is a delight.

Best wishes,

Rex

Depending on your preferences, what you are looking for...

For my tastes... Vienna, Salzburg, Graz.
But I don't ski, for which the most obvious place is Innsbruck.

You may want to read my trip report for Austria, where I visited the 3 cities mentioned above.

Here it is (Swaying on the Rhythm of the Danube)

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34857818

Vienna, Salzburg and, for skiing, Dachstein.

Ditto Graz.

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You don't have to go to Innsbruck to ski. We have based ourselves in Salzburg twice and drove 30 minute to the Amade triple ski resort: Flachau, Wagrain, St Johann im Pongau. The Amade ski resorts have been groomed with various new lifts for the upcoming Winter Olympic. You can also drive further to reach Schladming (known for its parties along the slopes which starts around 3-4pm)). There are plenty other resorts in the area. You can rent ski equipment at the resorts but don't forget to bring gloves & goggles as we did, the store owner ended up lending me his own gloves.

If you drive from Salzburg, the closest resort is Flachau (30 minute drive & plenty of parking))which has a super large bowl dotted with food/bar huts serving great beers & Austrian food. From there you can connect to the other two Amade resorts. You'll be skiing past the local church, barns etc. The view & the change of atmosphere are wonderful to discover.

If you take the train from Salzburg, you can get off at St Johann in Pongau (major tourist village) and connect to the other two resorts (Wagrain & Flachau). We really enjoy it because we can explore/tour different areas and the ski lifts are very unique, barely two are the same in style.

We enjoyed Salzburg as a base because at night we can go to a beer brewery in old town or just wander around. It is also a lot more attractive than Innsbruck. The ski resorts around Innsbruck can be reached by the ski bus which takes an hour or more to get to the slopes.

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