Austria in the summer

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Hi. I’m toying with the idea of a summer holiday in Austria. 2 adults, no kids, relatively healthy budget. Is it a good idea without a car? We don’t drive.

Will there be enough to do for adults who enjoy museums, walking, boat trips, food and people watching? Is it likely to rain?

Currently looking at Zell am See but open to ideas.

We’re also looking at Slovenia and Kefalonia.

We had a wonderful time at Zell. We do drive but didn’t hire a car for more than a day or two of it.

There are trains to Salzburg and really good buses. There’s an amazing gorge and top of Salzburg is good as long as you don’t hate cable cars!

Salzburg is great to visit for a couple of days and the Red Bull museum outside of town is free to visit (and you can arrive near there on the bus; from there its just a short walk on level ground to the museum).

We often go to Austria in the summer. Now we go to Kinderhotels but before them we used to go to normal resorts. The best type are called some variety of Nature/Active resorts, and are 4*S (superior) rated. They include all (excellent) food and have a full activity programme you can take up if you like (guided walks etc). They also usually have excellent spas and other exercise facilities. Rooms are large and luxurious. The room prices are on the higher side but considering all they include it's very reasonable.

Most regions are competing for tourists so have extensive summer programmes on in the villages, plus free public transport throughout the region and cable car passes, and discounts on other activities. I particularly like Achensee, easily accessible from Innsbruck (and munich) via public transport. And it is easy once you reach a larger city to take a train to other places like Salzburg. Weather is often excellent in summer too.

Also been to Slovenia many times and Kefalonia twice and both are great too!

Austria in the summer is fabulous.

There’s a good train network and usually regional buses outside towns and cities (often free to tourists). It’s beautiful, with amazing walking, and a profusion of lakes to swim in and do other water sports. It has big tourist areas so plenty of attractions. The cities have museums and art galleries.

The weather is usually warmer than the UK but rarely very hot, other than in some of the heat waves we’ve all seen recently. You will get thunderstorms in the mountains but that’s part of the fun.

You’ll find relatively few UK tourists, and they are missing out.

For accommodation you’ll find even cheap hotels are generally high standard in terms of cleanliness and food provided, as there is a real culture of offering good hospitality.

And I’d agree the Achensee is a good option. It isn’t that well known here compared to Zell am See for example but is a big favourite with German and Austrian tourists.

Love Seefeld and Mayrhofen. Easy by train via Innsbruck / Munich.

Thanks so much for these.

Keep em coming! I'll have a proper browse now too.

We’re going to Grobming.

We have just book zell am see and also saalbach for August. We won't be driving but using public transport (pretty much free with various summer guest cards). Really excited!

Innsbruck is an interesting city with plenty of history and good access to mountains nearby. Lots of areas in Austria and South Tyrol offer summer cards with free public transport, access to cable cars and other offers.

Thanks again.

It all looks lovely, although I fear Zell might be overcrowded in August, perhaps?

We were in Zell last August and it was busy but not overcrowded and you could easily get onto the lake or into the mountains where there were fewer people.

Also looking at this for next summer but a bit put off by the amount of rain likely in July/august. Has anyone had experience of an Austrian wash out?! Likely to couple it with Italy afterwards where we hopefully wouldn’t get rained on!

We’ve had summer storms but it’s no more common there to have sustained rain as it here I wouldn’t have thought? The thunder storms in the mountains are amazing tbh. We always enjoy them.

We did Slovenia and Austria this summer ( Saalbach and Zell ) . One of our best trips ever . Slovenia was stunning . We did gorge walking, lake swimmimg , zip lining, white water rafting . Loved it .
When in Saalbach the forecast never looked good but we walked and swam every day . It only ever rained a little and was completely fine . Obviously not if you are a sun worshipper but we were trying to avoid the heat ...
Could not recommend more.
Fabulous B and B to recommend in Slovenia ( https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g274863-d21133877-Reviews-Veldes_B_B-Bled_Upper_Carniola_Region.html)

And this hotel was wonderful . www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g608663-d482577-Reviews-Alpinresort_ValSaa_Sport_Spa-Saalbach_Hinterglemm_Austrian_Alps.html