Rick Steves' Vienna, Salzburg, and Tirol

by Rick Steves

Travelers can count on Rick Steves to tell them what they really need to know when traveling in Vienna, Salzburg, and Tirol. Self-guided walking tours lead visitors to the Hofburg Castle and the magnificent gardens in Salzburg. Experience the culture like a local with a bike ride in the countryside or indulge in Viennese chocolate at Demel's Café. With up-to-date advice on which sights are worth your time and money and suggestions on good-value hotels and restaurants, Rick Steves helps travelers get the most out of every day and every dollar.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

436 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2009

About the author

Rick Steves is an American travel writer, television personality, and activist known for encouraging meaningful travel that emphasizes cultural immersion and thoughtful global citizenship. Born in California and raised in Edmonds, Washington, he began traveling in his teens, inspired by a family trip to Europe. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in European history and business, Steves started teaching travel classes, which led to his first guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door, self-published in 1980.
Steves built his Edmonds-based travel company on the idea that travelers should explore less-touristy areas and engage with local cultures. He gained national prominence as host and producer of Rick Steves' Europe, which has aired on public television since 2000. He also hosts a weekly public radio show, Travel with Rick Steves, and has authored dozens of popular guidebooks, including bestselling titles on Italy and Europe at large.
Beyond travel, Steves is an outspoken advocate for drug policy reform, environmental sustainability, and social justice. He supports marijuana legalization and chairs the board of NORML. He has funded housing for homeless families and donates to anti-hunger and arts organizations. In 2019, he pledged $1 million annually to offset the carbon emissions of his tour groups.
Steves is a practicing Lutheran with Norwegian ancestry and continues to live in Edmonds. He has two adult children and is in a relationship with Reverend Shelley Bryan Wee. Despite health challenges, including a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2024, Steves remains committed to his mission of helping Americans travel with greater purpose, empathy, and understanding of the world. His work reflects a belief that travel, done right, can be both transformative and a force for peace.

Reviews

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent guide to Austria - while for me Rick Steve's guides have been hit or miss (loved Spain but preferred others for Switzerland and the Low Countries) as they are quite opinionated and it depends if your opinion agrees - this one was extremely useful in the recent week-long trip to Austria, maybe because I visited exactly the places the book focuses on (Salzburg, Innsbruck and Vienna); the one notable miss, the excellent mountain road of Grossglockner (near Salzburg) is due to the author focusing on travel by train/bus rather than car in his guides and the road leads nowhere, just to the highest peak of the Austrian Alps at 3750m (the road goes to about 2750m but it is a fairly easy and comfortable as mountain roads go with many scenic stops, restaurants, hiking possibilities and great views everywhere - on par with the Rocky Mountain national Park road in Colorado)

anyway the book gave us lots of ideas (Salzburg card - very useful if one spends a day in Salzburg and wants to visit a few sights as it saves good money, restaurants in Salzburg, Innsbruck and Vienna which were all excellent and reasonably priced, and the one in Vienna being in a very go left, right, left on narrow streets kind of location we wouldn't have found on our own, while the one in Salzburg attracted my attention but being just near Mozart house I thought it would be a tourist trap until i saw Rick Steves rec to it, same to the one in Innsbruck which is also very central), sights prioritization etc (though I have to say that the opera house looks awesome from outside but inside it is nice but not on par with the Musikverein Golden hall of the Philharmonic or Barcelona's Palau de Musica, but the House of Music is just superb and worth spending lots of time as it has something for any music lover or even someone curious about the physics of sound)

highly recommended as a complete travel guide to Austria

[Marilyn Sue Michel]

Very thorough information, I was most interested in Vienna. My great-great grandfather, Albert F. Meissner, was born in Breitenau, Austria in 1876. The area is called "Wienerwald." Looking up your ancestors can be funny sometimes.

[Karin Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Rick Steves and his recommendations. I used this for Vienna on my Kindle. It was handy!

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will always recommend Rick Steves’ travel books. His city walks make any trip memorable.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly helpful! He gives a lot of good historical info too, which is great if you are not on a tour.

[Rosemary Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to prep for a trip to Austria... Outlines the best places, how to get discounts, etc.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Preparing for a solo adventure to the land of wine, classical music and chocolate cake. Yes, please. As always, Rick has my back.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are considering taking a trip to this area and I wanted to look over Rick Steves guidebook. As usual, it was very informative and provided good guidance for things to see in this area.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kindle Edition will be helpful as a quick reference/resource.

[Pinky Chang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good guide to Austria however the map needs refresh.

[Adam Floridia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful in planning my 45 hours in Vienna.