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By : Martin G. Jones
First stop on our 10 places to visit is the Spanish Riding
School in Vienna. Even if you not really into horses you'll be
amazed at how the riders get their mounts to perform. While in
Vienna you must visit the Schönbrunn - Austria's most popular
tourist attraction. This massive baroque palace was originally
built as a summer residence for the imperial family of the
Habsburgs, but is now a museum that also features a park and a
zoo.
Austria has produced some of the best ever classical composers,
and in 2006 the city of Vienna celebrated the 250th anniversary
of the birth of one of its most famous residents - Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart. You can still visit some of the places he
frequented in the city, as well as similar for a whole host of
dead composers who chose to reside in Vienna such as Beethoven,
Haydn and Schubert. Getting to Vienna, the city that claims to
be the capital of classical music, is now even easier thanks to
the abundance of cheap flights to Austria. Once there try
another bit of Viennese culture, the somewhat quirky
KunstHausWien, created by noted Austrian artist Friedensreich
Hundertwasser and built in 1991. The architecture is distinctly
different with uneven floors and odd-shaped rooms with the
interior and exterior all in garish and bright colours. You can
even get married there for a wedding that no one will forget in
a hurry.
Next up, not just one place but a whole selection - the Sound of
Music locations in and around Salzburg - the city known as the
"Rome of the North", to which you can also buy cheap flights. If
you do visit Salzburg you must see the Eisriesenwelt Caves; the
world's largest ice caves which are found just south of the city
and are a truly awe-inspiring sight.
Austria with its beautiful mountainous scenery is rightly
renowned for its skiing. Innsbruck, which has hosted two Winter
Olympics, continues to be extremely popular and is well worth a
visit even in the summer months. Here you will find the amazing
Swarovski Crystal Walk Visitor Centre where you can marvel at
the stunning crystal on display. For the more adventurous, jump
on the aerial gondola ride up to the two-mile high Stubai
glacier also just outside Innsbruck; it's so high that while
riding the gondola you will be rubbing shoulders with skiers,
even in summer!
For the last in our ten places to visit you'll have to get on
the road. Either get on a bus or get behind the wheel yourself
and steer your car up the Grossglockner Alpine Road. Since 1935
an estimated 50 million visitors have taken in the spectacular
views on this most famous of Alpine roads, which leads to the
3,798 Grossglockner Mountain; home to the largest glacier in
Austria.
Wherever you decide to go in Austria, you'll find that as well the
ten places we've listed there are also many other fantastic places
to see. Getting there is easy and most airlines operate
cheap flights to Salzburg and
Vienna from major and regional airports throughout the UK.
About the author:
Martin G Jones has been writing articles for just over 1 year
now. He has a fond passion for travel.
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