Things to Do in Austria (2026)

Austria · AT

Doischberg Bergstation

What do a gondola, a world fair in Germany, and a quiet ski slope in the Austrian Tyrol have in common? The answer is the Doischbergbahn, whose little yellow cabins once carried Expo 2000 visitors across the vast Hannover fairground before being packed up, shipped to Fieberbrunn, and re-erected among the Alps in 2001. At the Bergstation — the mountain end of this 8-person cable car, sitting at 1,188 metres — you arrive at a practical ski hub with an unexpectedly layered story, and from there you can drop onto the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn's northern reaches. The station itself is compact and functional: a gondola garage, a small bar, and the gateway onto red slopes that connect to the wider Skicircus network. It is not the showpiece lift of Fieberbrunn — that honor belongs to the newer Streubödenbahn — but for winter skiers who want a quick hop up and a well-groomed intermediate run, the Doischberg delivers exactly what you need without fuss.

Observation deck

Austria · AT

Turm im Gebirge

On a forested ridge above the Styrian town of Seckau, two wooden twin towers rise forty-one metres into the sky, their lattice frames catching the light long before you reach them. Locals call them the Turm im Gebirge — the Tower in the Mountains — and from the valley floor they look like something out of a mountain fairy tale. Climb the 202 steps and the reward is a panorama that sweeps across the entire Murtal valley, the peaks of the Seetaler Alpen, and, on a clear day, the unmistakable curves of the Red Bull Ring racing circuit far below. What makes this spot special is not just the view but the approach. The towers sit at the summit of a network of themed hiking trails — the Seckauer Alpensteig — where over a hundred information boards tell the story of forestry, alpine farming, hunting, and the centuries-old Benedictine abbey that anchors this corner of Styria. You can make the whole outing a half-day experience: walk up through spruce forest and baroque wayside shrines, reach the summit snack station for a plate of regional cheese and smoked meats, climb the tower for the big view, and descend a different loop to see more of the mountain.

Museum

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Peter Rosegger Geburtshaus Alpl

High in the forested Waldheimat hills of Upper Styria, about 1,155 metres above sea level, stands the farmstead where Peter Rosegger (1843–1918) was born and spent his first seventeen years. Today the Kluppeneggerhof at Alpl is a heritage museum that lets you step inside the hard, simple peasant life that shaped one of Austria's most beloved writers—and that he later turned into his famous stories. The birth house, with its smoky kitchen and timber beam dating the building to 1744, together with reconstructed outbuildings, recreates the world behind Rosegger's tales of poverty, festivals and farm labour in the mid-19th century. Reached on a forest walk from the car park and part of the wider Museum Joanneum Rosegger sites, it draws consistently high praise from visitors (rated 4.8) for its atmosphere, setting and authenticity.

Pond

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Libellenteich

Tucked into the rolling farmland where the Waldviertel and Weinviertel quarters of Lower Austria meet, the Libellenteich—"Dragonfly Pond" in English—is a small, unexpectedly charming nature reserve you are unlikely to stumble on by accident. It sits right at the "three-corner" where the municipalities of Burgschleinitz-Kühnring (the 3730 address on your map), Maissau and Straning-Grafenberg come together, so a single quiet pond and its surrounding meadow belong to several villages at once. What makes it worth the detour is the way conservation and folklore are fused together: a pond deliberately dug to rescue endangered dragonflies shares its bank with a centuries-old balancing stone encircled by a Stonehenge-style ring of boulders. Part wildlife haven, part mythical clearing, the site is free to visit at any hour and belongs to that low-key, walkable Lower Austrian countryside where a short stroll can deliver a real surprise.

Mountain peak

Austria · AT

Dürrenschöberl

At 1,737 metres the Dürrenschöberl is an unassuming, largely forested dome near the small mining town of Rottenmann in Styria, Austria. Yet hikers and guidebook writers repeatedly rank it among the best viewpoint mountains in the region. The trick is its setting: it rises roughly 1,100 metres above the Enns and Palten valleys and sits right in the middle of the wilder, far taller limestone ranges of the Gesäuse (Ennstaler Alps), the Totes Gebirge and the Niedere Tauern, with the Grimming and the Dachstein close by. You never quite become a 2,000-metres climber, but from the top you feel as though you are. What makes the Dürrenschöberl special is that a modest, friendly hill hands you a sweeping 360° panorama of some of the Northern Limestone Alps' most impressive peaks, and it can be reached on foot straight from a railway platform. It is the kind of mountain that rewards a half-day effort with a view most 2,000-metres summits cannot match.

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Austria.

Doischberg Bergstation

Turm im Gebirge

Peter Rosegger Geburtshaus Alpl

Libellenteich

Dürrenschöberl

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Austria.

Doischberg Bergstation

Turm im Gebirge

Peter Rosegger Geburtshaus Alpl

Libellenteich

Dürrenschöberl