Best small adventure towns in Austria
By: Troy

 Steyr

Steyr is a town in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria, located at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns. 

Steyr marked its 1,000th anniversary in 1980, undergoing extensive restoration of its historic architecture made the city one of the best preserved old towns in Austria. Steyr is famous for its historic town center around the "Stadtplatz" (town square), which has been very well preserved for several hundred years, and which was largely restored following World War II. Its best-known piece of architecture is called The Bummerlhaus which is considered one of the finest pieces of Gothic architecture for its size in Central Europe.

The city is very attractively situated, with two rivers the Steyr and the Enns flowing through it and meeting near the town centre in the shadows of Babenberg castle "Lamberg" and the church of St. Michael.  

To the south of city, rises a series of hills that climb in altitude and stretch out to the Alps. To the north, the hills roll downward towards the confluence of the Enns and Danube rivers, where the city of Enns is situated.

Villach

It is a railway gateway to most parts of Austria as well as the Italian border. In Austria Villach is well-known for its carnival which is broadcast on public television throughout Austria. Villach is quite an old city with roots back in Roman times (when the city was called Santicum).

A great part of the castle was destroyed by a fire in the 19th century, but some parts are still there and a few halls can be visited. There is also a restaurant, and every Tuesday evening there is a special "medieval" dinner served by waiters dressed in period costumes. The view from the castle is wonderful. From here you can see Villach and the valley of the river Drau with its lakes, and the Slovenian Alps on the other side of the valley.

Bregenz

Bregenz has about 28,000 inhabitants and has roots back to Roman times. The city was originally founded by the Romans in 15 BC, when it was known as Brigantium.

Bregenz is located at the northern edge of the Alps, between Lake Constance (the Bodensee) and the Pfänder (1064m). To the west lies the Rhine delta, a huge valley dividing Switzerland and Austria. To the south lie the mountains of Switzerland and southern Vorarlberg. To the north, overlooking Lake Constance, are the hills of the Allgäu of Baden-Württemberg and Bayern in Germany.

Bregenz is the capital of Austria's most modern province. The shore of Lake Constance, one of the biggest lakes in Europe, meets with Downtown! It is highly advisable to go down to the lake in the evening and check out the beautiful sunset. Austria is the only country to have free access to the lake, a privilege that the inhabitants of Vorarlberg are very proud of and that shapes their way of life. Inhabitants of Vorarlberg are said to be much more friendly and open than the rest of Austria.

Sankt Pölten

The oldest part of the city is built on the site of the ancient Roman city Aelium Cetium that existed between the 2nd and the 4th century. In the year 799, it was called Treisma. Sankt Pölten became a town in 1050 and officially became a city in 1159. Until 1494 Sankt Pölten was part of the diocese of Passau, and then became property of the state. A Benedictine monastery was founded in 771. In 1081 it hosted the Augustinian Chorherren and in 1784 their Kollegiatsstift closed. Since 1785, this building has hosted the cathedra of Sankt Pölten. The city replaced Vienna as the capital of Lower Austria with a resolution by the Lower Austrian parliament on July 10, 1986. The Lower Austrian government has been hosted in Sankt Pölten since 1997.

Innsbruck

Innsbruck is the provincial capital of Tyrol. Its 110,000 residents make it the fifth largest city in Austria. It was one of the eight host cities in the 2008 European Football Championships. It has twice hosted the Winter Olympics making it not only an interesting and beautiful situated city but the "largest ski resort in the alps". It is located both close to Munich and northern Italy making it a must see alpine destination.

Köflach

Köflach is a small town in the district of Voitsberg in Styria, Austria, at the foot of the Stubalpe mountain. The town has a population of roughly 10,000 and contains a federal stud in the village of Piber that supplies the Lipizzaner horses to the famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

The main attractions are "Bundesgestüt Piber" (Piber Federal Stud) with its famous white Lipizzaner horses and the thermal bath "Therme Nova" which is supplied from mineral spring in Piber.

Also a point of interest is the House of Art and Culture which holds exhibitions, mostly of local artists.

Sankt Johann im Pongau

A dramatic gorge called Liechtensteinklamm lies within St. Johann's city limits. This gorge is approximately 4 km long and can be explored via walkways first built by Johann II of Liechtenstein in 1875. This gorge lies on the south end of the city.

St. Johann was also the location of a POW camp operated by the Nazis during World War II. This camp principally held Russian prisoners. A monument to this camp is located on the north end of the city.

About 20 km north of St. Johann, a small portion of a picnic scene from The Sound of Music was filmed on a hillside, in the Pongau town of Werfen. Julie Andrews and crew filmed the opening shots of the "Do-Re-Mi" sequence with the Burg Hohenwerfen in the background.  Werfen was also the location for some filming of Where Eagles Dare.