The best time to visit Austria
depends on whether you're aiming
for urban or rural parts. Most of
the mountain resorts, for example,
have
two distinct tourist
seasons , one for winter
sports enthusiasts, the other for
summer hikers. In between times,
you may find many of the tourist
facilities closed. More urban
centres, however, act as
year-round
tourist destinations , with
the number of visitors swelling
during peak holidays and annual
festivals - Vienna pulls in crowds
over Christmas, New Year and, of
course, Fasching (the ball
season), while the Salzburg
Festival ensures a steady stream
of well-heeled visitors in July
and August.
For the best of the warm
weather, plan to go between April
and October - Austrian
summers, in particular, are
reliably warm, but not
overpoweringly so. If you're
skiing, you can pretty much
guarantee a good covering of snow
from November onwards to April
. Away from the ski resorts,
winter travel can't really be
recommended, since the weather can
be pretty wet and miserable.
Weather conditions vary only
slightly across the country, with
the alpine regions decidedly
cooler, the lowland regions in the
north and east enduring more
continental conditions of colder
winters and hotter summers, and
the southeast of the country
enjoying longer, warmer, almost
Mediterranean summers. Be aware
that whatever the season, if
you're at a high altitude, the
weather can change quickly and
dramatically. The possibility of a
thundery shower exists at any time
of the year.
