Austria

Alpbach in Tyrol, Austria's most beautiful village, preserved by 1953 building rules requiring Tyrolean wooden architecture. Base for Ski Juwel and European Forum.

Dürnstein's ruined hilltop castle once held Richard the Lionheart prisoner in 1192, on his return from the Third Crusade.

Gmunden on Austria's Traunsee, home to Schloss Ort island castle and one of Europe's oldest ceramics manufactories, active since 1492.

Hallstatt has lent its name to an entire prehistoric era — the Hallstatt culture — after Iron Age salt-mining artifacts were uncovered in the mountain above the village.

Heiligenblut at 1,291 m marks the southern start of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria's Hohe Tauern National Park.

Rattenberg in Tyrol, Austria's smallest city by area, is a medieval glass-engraving town pressed between the Inn River and a cliff-top castle ruin.

Rust on Austria's Neusiedler See, a Royal Free City since 1681 and UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for Ruster Ausbruch wine and spring stork nests.

St. Wolfgang on Austria's Wolfgangsee houses Michael Pacher's 1481 altarpiece and the Schafbergbahn steam cog railway, climbing to 1,783 m since 1893.

Weißenkirchen in der Wachau is a Danube wine village in Austria's UNESCO-listed Wachau Cultural Landscape, known for its fortified church and cable ferry.

Spitz an der Donau is an Austrian wine village in the UNESCO-listed Wachau valley, overlooked by the Tausendeimerberg vineyard and Hinterhaus ruin.