Regarded as the pearl of Europe, Austria - Ă–sterreich in German - is a real treasure chest for lovers of nature and skiers. In winter one often goes skiing or snowshoeing, in summer one goes hiking and relaxing. There are hundreds of attractions in the country and more than 250 ski slopes. Although Austria is not the largest country in Europe, you should be aware of its geography when you get there. Therefore, we have collected the most important maps to show the country of brothers-in-law through them.
In our current article, we want to reproduce our highly successful writing, Maps of Slovenia. As it turned out, it’s hard to gather the information you need from different sites on the internet, so we set out to make it easier to plan your trip!
In our presentation we present Austria through the following 7 maps:
- Topography map of Austria
- Provinces map
- National parks of Austria
- Austria climate map
- Austrian motorway map
- Austrian wine regions
| Austria | Quick infos |
| Form of State | Republic |
| Capital | Vienna |
| Official currency | Euro |
| Official language | German |
| Territory | 83,879 km² |
| Population | 8.8 million (2017) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 |
| UN membership | since 1955 |
| European Union membership | 1955 |
#1 Map of Austria
It is bordered to the north by Germany and the Czech Republic, to the east by Slovakia and Hungary, to the south by Slovenia and Italy, and to the west by Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Austria has no coastlines. Most Austrian holidaymakers drive to Slovenia, Italy or Croatia if they want to splash around.
#2 Terrain map of Austria
Half of Austria's territory is covered by high mountains, a third by medium mountains, while the core area is covered by valleys and lower hills.
- Highest point: Grossglockner, ie the GroĂźglockner (3798 m) in the High Tauern, Central Alps
- Lowest point: Lake Neusiedl, ie Neusiedler See (115 m)
Austria's most important river is the 350 km long Danube (Donau), its catchment area covers 96% of the country. The Danube enters Austria at Passau and then continues in the west-east direction.
You will find five regions in Austria:
- Vienna Basin
- Austrian granite plateau
- Northern Burgenland
- Eastern Alps
- Styrian Prealps and the Eastern Styrian hills
Vienna basin
Surrounded by the northern limestone mountains of the Carpathians and the Eastern Alps, the deep-sunk ancient crystalline rocks in the Vienna Basin are covered with ??? and Tertiary marine sediments. Its southern border is the hilly landscape of the Wechselgebiet and the Bucklige Welt, and the Steinfeld. The Danube divides the landscape into a northern agricultural area and a southern industrial area.
Austrian granite plateau
The area north of the Danube is occupied by the southern part of the Bohemian Massif, the Austrian granite plateau, which consists of ancient crystalline rocks (granite, gneiss). It stretches south to the line of the Danube, crossing it in places. At an average altitude of 300–600 m, forests alternate with fertile agricultural landscapes. Its two well-known regions are the Weinviertel, home to wines, and the Waldviertel, a region of forests.
Northern Burgenland
Directly connected to the Alps, here lies the Lake Neusiedl, surrounded by tiny saline lakes.
Eastern Alps
Austria's largest landscape, characterized by wide and proportionate west-east ranges. The Eastern Alps consist of several zones: the Northern Limestone Alps, the Central Alps, and the Southern Limestone Alps.
Styrian Prealps and the Eastern Styrian hills
The alpine ranges are accompanied from the north by Tertiary hills. This is the Pre-Alps. The moraine cover deposited by the former glaciers was torn up by the tributaries of the Danube into undulating hills. This region was formed by the Rába, the Mura and the Drava into diverse hills.
Source: Wikipedia
#3 Provinces of Austria
Austria consists of 9 federal states (Bundesland). The province is administered by the provincial government (Landesregierung), headed by the provincial governor (Landeshauptmann).
In Vienna, the provincial governor is also the mayor of the city and the provincial government is the city senate. The leaders of the municipalities are called mayors (BĂĽrgermeister).
- Burgenland (seat: Eisenstadt)
- Carinthia (seat: Klagenfurt)
- Lower Austria (seat: St. Pölten)
- Upper Austria (seat: Linz)
- Salzburg (seat: Salzburg)
- Styria (seat: Graz)
- Tyrol (seat: Innsbruck)
- Vorarlberg (seat: Bregenz)
- Vienna (seat: Vienna - Wien)
#4 National parks of Austria
Surprisingly, there are only six national parks in the green country. Half of the six national parks, ie three, protect alpine areas, while the remaining three protect wetlands. The largest park is the High Tauern, which is also the largest national park in Central Europe!
List of national parks:
- High Tauern
- Neusiedler See - Seewinkel
- Danube - Floodplains
- Kalkalpen
- Thayatal
- Gesause
In addition to national parks, there are numerous reserves and nature parks in Austria.
High Tauern
The park is named after its largest high mountains, the High Tauern Mountains. In the young chain mountains, the mountainside is steep, and the deeply incised valleys are cascading, with many waterfalls.
- Province: Salzburg, Tyrol, Carinthia
- Area: 1856 km2
- Sights: Grossglockner
Neusiedler See - Seewinkel
The national park is located on the shores of Lake Neusiedl. Together with the neighboring Hungarian Fertő-Hanság National Park, the Fertő / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape  has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
- Province: Burgenland
- Area: 97 km2
Danube-Auen
The park stretches along the Danube from Vienna to the Slovak border, to the mouth of the Moravian River, where it is located next to the Dunajské luhy Protected Landscape Area. The 38 km long national park covers one of the largest untouched floodplains in Central Europe.
- Province: Vienna, Lower Austria
- Area: 93 km2
Kalkalpen
The exciting and romantic Kalkalpen National Park, next to the Styrian border, includes the Sengsengebirge (alpine habitats) and the Reichraminger Hintergebirge (Austria's largest contiguous forest area and the longest stream system in the Eastern Alps). The park is also becoming more and more popular among Hungarian tourists.
- Province: Upper Austria
- Area: 208 km2
Thayatal National Park
The so-called shared park is located in the northern part of Austria. Part of the protected area is located in the Czech Republic, where you will find it called PodyjĂ National Park.
The smallest Austrian national park is famous for its particularly rich flora in the valley of the river Thaya, which stretches for 26 km. This small area is home to half of Austria's flora. Thanks to the meanders of the river, the varied composition of the soil and the microclimate of the mountainside, a rich flora developed.
- Province: Lower Austria
- Area: 13 km2
Gesause
It is located in the northern part of Styria, in Styria. The park is the youngest national park in Austria, named after the river Enns, as Gesause means roar. It is the third largest national park in the country in terms of size. The core of the protected area is the river valley itself.
- Province: Styria
- Area: 111 km2
#5 Austria weather
Austria's climate is determined by the mountain range of the Alps and the greater distance from the Atlantic Ocean. Almost 2/3 of its surface is encompassed by the Eastern Alps, where a varied mountain climate has developed, but due to the greater distance from the ocean, features of the terrestrial climate are becoming more and more prominent. These are intensifying in enclosed basins.
In the Alps, there is often a dry, warm downwind wind. It is most characteristic in winter, in this season it can cause a warming of up to 15-20 ° C in a few hours, which is accompanied by a sudden melting of snow and the formation of avalanches.
South of the Alps – compared to other alpine regions - summers are drier and warmer and winters are milder, which is why many people like to spend their holidays by the Carinthian lakes. The eastern part of the country has a temperate climate, and Burgenland has a Pannonian climate.
Bottom two images: January mean temperature, July mean temperature
Precipitation
At the northern edge of the Alps, there is a transient, Central European climate: rain falls every month here, often with cool summers and cold winters. Inside the Alps, there is less rainfall, summers are often hot and dry, winters are long, snow-rich, and in winter the lower areas are often covered with fog.
Annual rainfall usually varies between 1000 and 2000 mm, but in the north-east and east, and in some places in the Inn Valley, there is much less annual rainfall, 600-700 mm.
#5 Austria highway map
The approx. The 2,233 km long Austrian highway also covers the country. To use the constantly expanding system you have to pay tolls, ie buy stickers. The prices are not outstanding, but the roads are of good quality and with their use you can easily get almost anywhere from Hungary.
Austria is at the forefront of highway construction across Europe. The first highway was built in 1938. There are currently 1703 km of highways and 477 km of expressways here. The names of Austrian highways are marked with the letter A and those of expressways are marked with the letter S.
The speed limit on the highway is 130 km / h. On expressways, it is 100 km / h, except for the few sections where you can drive at 130 km / h.
#5 Map of the Austrian wine regions🍇
I don’t consume much wine myself, but if you like good wines, you might be interested in the upcoming wine region map. The wine region on the eastern side of Austria covers 4 provinces: Vienna, Burgenland, Styria, Lower Austria.
Although Austria is mostly famous for its white dry wines (70% of production), you can even taste sweet wines in the Neusiedlersee region.
Fortunately, the Austrian wine region is located close to Hungary, so a wine tour can even fit into a one-day trip (or a weekend in Vienna). If you’ve never heard of Austrian wines before, it’s worth a taste while skiing or hiking, and you can even bring them home.
Fun fact: One of the most expensive wine glasses in the world, the Riedel brand, is made in Austria.
Be it skiing or a holiday, or a sightseeing tour that takes you to Austria, I hope that with the above collection of maps we have managed to make planning easier.