Vienna culture
Vienna's reputation may not suggest the gritty underground of eastern cities such as Warsaw or Berlin, but its unique position as a cultural intersection between east and west has given rise to a myriad of thriving subcultures that lend the city an unexpected edge.
Urban art forms, for example, are particularly well represented by a generation of young, spontaneously inclined artists whose spray-painted interventions can be found hogging wall space in every corner of the city. A number of annual festivals have emerged. At the recent Black River Festival (blkriver.at), Italian stopmotion superstar Blu (blublu.org) created an oversized new mural at the Alberner Hafen (Molostrasse 1, 1110). And at Escape 2010 (on until 23 October at Vordere Zollamtsstrasse 3, 1030; escape2010.at) another of street art's more recognised names, Nomad, redecorated the interiors of the former strip bar Morrison Club (Rechte Wienzeile 2A, 1050).
These works aren't restricted to the urban environment either. Street styles have begun to migrate into galleries such as the Kunsthalle Wien (Museumsplatz 1, 1070; kunsthallewien.at) in the heart of the former imperial stables at MuseumsQuartier – just one of the many galleries (also see Layr Wuestenhagen, An der Hülben 2, 1010; layrwuestenhagen.com) offering the kind of cutting-edge programming you will find as standard in the vibrant contemporary art scene.
The city's nightlife also has plenty to boast about, especially in the area around Praterstern, which is a pretty safe bet for a wild weekend. The dancefloors at clubs like the Pratersauna (Waldsteingartenstrasse 135, 1020; pratersauna.tv) and Fluc, with its bunkeresque and altogether more anarchic downstairs space, Fluc Wanne (Praterstern 5, 1020; fluc.at), overflow with hedonistic crowds of beat-seeking twentysomethings.
It's certainly no secret to its inhabitants that Vienna is a paradise for those with a taste for the avant garde. The undercurrent goes way beyond the superficial, and the strange or original receive the support and opportunities – courtesy of some strong government initiatives – to flourish.
Simon Harris, managing editor of Unlike.net, a website dedicated to Vienna's culture and nightlife
Music
The once so sleepy Vienna has a flourishing club scene – the new generation definitely knows how to party, and electronic music is thriving. In the past few years a new generation of electronic acts has arrived and, together with more established names such as Kruder & Dorfmeister, Patrick Pulsinger and Fennesz, they ensure that the clubs are jumping. The Loud Minority organise hip-hop, dubstep and funk parties in various clubs around town. If you're staying in Vienna, have a night out at Cafe Leopold, Roxy or Planetarium. The legendary Flex club is home to Vienna's techno and worldclass drum'n'bass scenes.
Urbs, a Vienna based DJ and producer (g-stoned.com, facebook.com/gstoned)
For classical music, our Bregenz Festival in western Austria (20 July-21 August 2011; bregenzerfestspiele.com/en), with opera on a floating stage on Lake Constance, is very famous, but music lovers should also come for the Schubertiade (schubertiade.at), the most significant and most distinguished Schubert festival in the world, with events all summer and autumn in the nearby town of Hohenems and the hill village of Schwarzenberg (1,600 inhabitants).
David Pountney, artistic director of the Bregenz Festival
Design hotels and spas
Think of Austrian hotels and the images that spring most readily to mind are the yellow pine interiors of a cheap ski chalet, or the creaking turrets of some gothic castle. But the country's hotel stock is on the up with the arrival of two hotels designed by world-renowned architects.
In 2006, Pritzker Prize winner Hans Hollein retrofitted 45 cone-shaped guest rooms into his postmodern masterpiece, the Haas Haus, next to St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, to create the Do & Co hotel (doco.com). The same year saw American architect Steven Holl complete the Wine & Spa Resort Loisium Hotel (loisiumhotel.at), a modern aluminium-clad building inspired by crumpled wine foil, atop 900-year-old vaults in the winegrowing town of Langenlois. The spa offers Aveda treatments using grape and wine products.
Austria's centuries-old spa culture has evolved into the cutting-edge of medical tourism. Spa resorts such as Mavida Balance Hotel & Spa (mavida.at) in Zell am See, and Life Medicine Resort (lifemedicineresort.com) in Bad Gleichenberg combine the latest preventive and holistic treatments with warm yet contemporary designs that feel anything but clinical.
Ski lodge chic has arrived in Austria in the form of Lech's Aurelio (aureliolech.com), a no-expense-spared boutique property owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, where the walls are clad in "flash roasted" pine, complemented with the finest French fabrics and Asian furniture.
The country's hotel scene will reach new heights when Sol Meliá's new hotel brand ME takes up residence in Vienna's DC Tower 1 (solmelia.com), one of two skyscrapers by French architect Dominique Perrault, which will be the tallest buildings in Austria upon completion. United Designers, the team behind hotels such as the Metropolitan in London and Dolder Grand in Zurich, are handling the interiors.
Other quirky finds include the Pixel Hotel (singles from €107 a night; pixelhotel.at) in Linz, a unique concept that features different, seriously innovative rooms dotted around the city. For example Pixel in the Courtyard has a bed and a vintage caravan in a large warehouse space, while Pixel on the Water is a drag boat floating in Linz's harbour.
Matt Turner, editor of hotel design and architecture magazine Sleeper (sleepermagazine.co.uk)
Great outdoors
There are many things to see and do in the lesser known parts of Austria, beyond the ski slopes and hiking trails. One of my favourite areas is Styria, where you can ride the Mur cycle route beside the Mur river (see radtouren.at for ideas). The south is known as the Austrian Tuscany because of the vineyards and wineries found among some of the country's most stunning mountain scenery. And at this time of year I'd be sure to spend a weekend at the pumpkin farms, where you can take a guided tour and stock up on delicious pumpkin oil. There are spas and cycle-friendly inns to stay at, and the region's capital, Graz, has amazing architecture, including the Kunsthaus museum of modern art.
If I was looking for a place for a romantic weekend away, there is nowhere more fitting than the little holiday homes developed by Landlust (landlust.at), from converted granaries in eastern Styria.
Dieter Scharf of the Austrian National Tourist Office (austria.info)
The extraordinary richness and diversity of each valley within the Vorarlberg region, not only in terms of its flora and fauna but also in terms of its human populations, is what makes the area so exciting for me. I love the fierce independence of the people in the upper valleys. Schröcken, the high valley, has its own wonderful secret feeling; around Widderstein and Grimselpass it's more open, exposed and rocky. The road from Lech to Zug is calm and friendly; Albona is more exposed. What I love about this region is the subtle but absolute difference in the feel of the valleys and the people who live in them.
Antony Gormley, artist, whose sculpture Horizon Field features 100 different cast iron figures arranged in the landscapes of Vorarlberg
Food and drink
I love to go to Burgenland, especially the region of Lake Neusiedl around Illmitz, because of the regional gastronomy, the excellent wines from dedicated vintners, and the simple fact that the whole region is very charming.
Christian Petz, gourmet chef who now operates the Holy Moly restaurant on the Badeschiff (a boat on the Danube in Vienna with a bar/restaurant, a club and a swimming pool on the deck; badeschiff.at)
Austria is a treasure trove for visiting wine lovers. Hundreds of small wineries within 90 minutes' drive of Vienna are open daily and welcome visitors. Head to the wine-growing areas along the Danube towards Krems for zesty fresh whites. If you like your reds, go south to the Burgenland area near Lake Neusiedl, and if you like your whites, the beautiful hilly Styria on the border with Slovenia is a must, where visitors should pair a Styrian sauvignon blanc with a plate of charcuterie on the veranda of a Buschenschank (rural cafe).
Josef Schuller, director of the Austrian Wine Academy (winesfromaustria.com)
Vienna's open-air markets are like international food festivals. Don't think grandma with her wicker shopping basket on the hunt for potato salad and Wiener schnitzel. Think fine wines, curries, fresh seafood, homemade pasta.
The oldest market, the Naschmarkt, spans a mile-long stretch in the heart of downtown, where Turkish merchants hawk falafel, sweet potatoes and blindingly bright chilli peppers, Italians sell olives the size of golf balls, and Austrians peddle their now famous strom – young wine that packs a serious punch. On Saturdays, the Naschmarkt rolls out a bit further to accommodate a funky fleamarket. Or go headlong into the hip Yppenplatz Markt in a Croat-Turkish neighbourhood, a big draw for the "bobos" – the bourgeois bohemians who like to be seen sipping local beer at some of the colourful outdoor cafes.
Patti McCracken, a freelance travel writer based in Austria
