Austria - how much cash to take?

[PumpkinPie2016]

We go to Austria in August and it is some years since we have been abroad so not really used to planning!

I'm trying to decide how much cash we should get? We have debit and credit cards that work abroad so I am thinking just a small amount of cash and use cards for the rest?

What have others done?

Depends on where your going. 2 weeks ago we had consistent 35 degree hot days, no rain. The last week or so it’s been 25-30 until mid afternoon, raining 1-2 hrs around 3pm, then dry again in the evening. It generally always cools down overnight so even on hot hot days, it’s cooler overnight

I've found the weather very very changeable with lots of thunderstorms. Sometimes went from 32C blazing sunshine to torrential rain within 30 mins. Definitely take waterproofs!

The forecast shows lots of thunderstorms for when we're going so good advice!

It depends where you are going.

A lot of restaurants only take cash, but it's usually easy to find an ATM where you can withdraw cash easily, even in villages.

If you are going to the mountains be prepared for all kinds of weather. We often go in August and have experienced 35 degree heatwaves when it was too hot to go outand 16 degrees where I had to buy fleeces for everyone. Sudden heavy rain & thunderstorms are common.

The food is excellent if you recalibrate your expectations. Wonderful mountain cheeses and cured meats, excellent bread (huge range of different types of rolls for breakfast) and amazing cakes and coffee. Learn to embrace dumplings and cheesy noodles - and don't fret about the carbs. Kaisershmarmm - eggy chopped up pancake with apple or cranberry sauce- makes a great lunch for kids. You can top them up with fruit and veg from the shops later.

The Austrian white wine Gruner Veltliner is delicious. And beer, obviously.

And red zweigelt wine is usually always good, it’s often the house wine and even the cheap supermarket version ok.

My Ds lives of cheesey spaetzle when out and about. It’s similar to gnocchi

I'm making notes of all these as I'm sure the OP is! Thank you

Also, look if your area sells a local ‘ area card’. Ours does, it’s about €60-80 and then allows unlimited entry onto boats, cable cars, zoos, public transport, castles, outdoor pools and loads of other attractions. That way you avoid having to have so much cash also as it’s pre paid. They are very good value as a cable car for example can now be €25 a go.

Some tourist areas provide local "Area Cards" free of charge to guests staying in hotels, B&Bs and apartments that participate in the scheme. Saalbach-Hinterglemm has the Joker Card which gives free use of the cable cars, the local outdoor pool, the museum and the local buses. Zell am See has a similar card, as do many other larger resorts. The Joker Card probably saves a family of four about £300 over the week compared with having to buy individual or weekly tickets for the cable cars and other facilities.

@Havanananana - there’s two types here where we are. A smaller local area card you can get free from hotels/ apartments that include but that mainly covered free beach lake access on the paid lido areas and toll roads, plus other discounts. This one can’t be bought and is only if your accommodation provider includes.
The other type that’s €60-80 covers the entire county - ie up to about 3hr drive away. And includes cable cars, boats, zoos, tree climbing, museums etc..

Kase spätzle more like macaroni cheese.

Just caught up on the thread and definitely taking notes 🙂

Our hotel give us an area card that has free local transport plus lots of other attractions so that will be good.

My DS will love Kase Spätzle as he loves mac and cheese at home!

2 weeks today 😁

I’d love to know which resorts you are all going to in summer!

Käsespätzle is much better than that - particularly the "Kasnockn" version found around Salzburg and the surrounding mountain resorts 😋

I'm going to Seefeld. Flying into Innsbruck and out of Munich. 7 nights booked in Seefeld half board which worked out so much cheaper than my original plan to spend 2 nights in Innsbruck then go to Seefeld then 2 nights in Salzburg.

We're going to Zell am See in a lovely hotel. Half board. It looks amazing so we are really excited. Fly 5th August into Salzburg.

Hoping we get some decent weather and can enjoy exploring 🙏

We're going to schladming- driving!

@pumpkimpie2016
we stayed in Kaprun a short drive from Zell. Zell is beautiful - very very busy. We sort of wished we stayed in Zell am see as lots more restaurants. we had the summer card which we used to see the kitscteinhorn ,the krimml falls( fab) the wildlife zoo / park which was very good and had a lovely outdooor restaurant. its beside a toll for the grossglockner alpine rd.- a bucket list for porsce drivers and bikers. top gear have featured it BUT the highlight of our holiday for my 2 kids was the little fun fair attached. everything is 1-2 euros but so so fun- they are 11 and 14 and loved it!!
Kaprun has the alpine Rollercoaster also great and direct cable cars up to the glacier- went with my summercard which says on its own brochure its free up to the glacier.from kaprun its free half way. if we went up at Kaprun it would have been another 150 euro. The lady at the booth said we had to drive to another spot to go up for free which we did. on the glacier kids were tobogganing- my 11 yr old DS said he didnt have the right clothes on He was in shorts Ah gosh I said have a go!!so next time id bring some trousers and gloves with me. We were there for 8 nights 2 weeks ago.

@pumpkinpie2016
Also the outdoor pool at piesendorf is v nice but think zell am see has similar. ENJOY

try to find a 'sommerrodelbahn'

great fun.

have been to a ski jump simulator near bischofshofen. it's basically a zip wire but you ski down a ramp and then zip until you land.

Ooooh we head to Munich, Salzburg and Vienna on 2nd Aug.
Any restaurant tips or “must do” would be good. Especially for vegetarians!
Will take more Euros than planned but do most places in these cities take cards?

For the folks heading to the Zell am See/Saalbach/Hinterglemm area - there is a summerrodelbahn (toboggan/roller coaster on rails) at Kaprun next to the Maiskogelbahn lift. There is also one at Saalfelden, and a very small one at the top of Asitz in Leogang.

Salzburg is my favourite place of all. We embraced the whole Sound of Music vibe and watched the film then had massive fun seeking out the location shots, going on a Sound of Music bus tour and to a puppet show like the one in the film. Salzburg is stunning

When in Salzburg centre we love this little traditional tavern type place for eating. They have a nice hidden inner courtyard seating area also away from crowds.

https://www.alterfuchs.at/

Hi! Austrian here. Yes, definitely take cash if you can. It's widely accepted everywhere and many smaller businesses prefer that over card. Food prices have gone up quite a bit so a sit-down meal is around €60-€80 for three people. When you want to tip, the typical way of phrasing is it "Auf €_ bitte", which is basically "Round up to €_ please". So if the bill is €18.30, then you would say "Auf €20 bitte" which is the amount they should give you change for. Tips are expected but do not have to very high, 10% or €1-3 is usually enough. €5 tip would only be expected if the bill is well over €80. Check the menu for the word "Gedeck" which means they already include a service fee for the table setting, bread basket etc. Most nicer restaurants do this, hence why high tips are not the norm.

The average quality of food is not that great, especially in tourist trap restaurants or street food places. Your hotel half-board is probably going to be just as good if not better than the average restaurant. Strongly recommend checking Tripadvisor, Google ratings or asking the hotel for recommendations before going anywhere. If you walk into a random restaurant then chances are it'll be terrible. Even as locals, we never go into restaurants on a whim and have to research beforehand. There is incredible cuisine in Austria but you need to make sure you're going to the right places.

Another tip if you want a really quick and cheap lunch is to walk into any supermarket (Billa, Spar) with a deli counter. Pick whatever sausage/ham/salami you want and they'll slice it for you and add it into a freshly baked bread roll (Semmel). The most popular one is "Extrawurst Semmel" which is sliced sausage similar to baloney with an optional slice of pickle (Gurkerl). Costs around €1.50 and you're sorted.

I know this is about cash, but the weather forecast looks awful