Many people who choose to visit Austria fly into some city in Austria and stay there for the duration of their trip, or they travel from city to city without stopping anywhere in between.
While Vienna, Innsbruck, and Salzburg are absolutely marvelous, any traveler who does not take time to visit some of the small towns in Austria will really be missing out on some of the very best parts of this beautiful country.
There are few places in the world that are more beautiful and memorable than an Austrian village. If you take the time and make the effort to explore some of the villages in Austria, you will see such incredible sights and they will stick with you forever.

If the idea of these beautiful places has piqued your interest, then read on. In this post, we’ll tell you all about the best towns in Austria. We’ll tell you how they differ from one another, what there is to do in each of them, and where you should stay, too.
Beautiful Austria awaits you – start planning your trip today!
14 Beautiful Small Towns in Austria
1. St. Gilgen
One of the most famous and picturesque lake towns in Austria is, without a doubt, St. Gilgen.
What’s especially wonderful about this particular Austrian Village is the fact that it is just twenty minutes from Salzburg, making it easily accessible to both native city dwellers and foreign tourists visiting this nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area.
You can take a local bus from Salzberg, or take a car; there’s ample parking in a large parking lot near the cable car station.
The beauty of this place will amaze visitors as soon as they arrive. This village is at the base of Zwolferhorn mountain and on the shore of Lake Wolfgang. There’s a public beach if you feel like going for a dip in the summer; in the winter there’s a perfect Christmas market.
The restaurants are tasty, authentic, and welcoming. Wooden homes and shops with Baroque-style architecture are everywhere and they make this town of 3,700 residents look like something out of a fairy tale.
It’s no wonder St. Gilgen seems like the ultimate alpine town – if you’ve seen the movie version of The Sound of Music, you’ve actually seen it before.
Many of the outdoor scenes in that film were shot in St. Gilgen. This town is famous for that, and also for the fact that Mozart’s mother was born here; his family had many connections to this area.
Things to Do in St. Gilgen
The main thing to do in St. Gilgen is to take a cable car ride up to the top of Zwolferhorn. Once you get to the top, you can simply admire the views and then return, or you can spend some time checking out the many trails at the top.
You also might consider renting an electric boat to explore Wolfgangsee Lake, or taking a boat tour with one of several companies that