Country Information

Viennese cuisine is strongly influenced by southeast European cuisine, notably that of Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Dalmatia. Austrian desserts and cakes are particularly renowned. Gourmet culture is evident in the cafés, where coffee-drinking has been raised to a high art.

Things to know: The main meal of the day is lunch. All restaurants have waiter service, as do most bars and coffee houses. Bills are settled with the arrival of drinks.

National specialities:
• Wiener Schnitzel (a traditional dish of breadcrumbed and fried veal escalope).
• Tafelspitz (boiled beef) is regarded as Austria's national dish.
• Palatschinken (Austrian pancakes).
• Apfelstrudel (apple strudel).
• Mehlspeisen is the national term for cakes and puddings. There are around 60 varieties of Torte, which is often consumed with coffee.

National drinks:
• Local wines (often served in open carafes) are excellent and cheap: most of the wines are white; Riesling and Veltliner are particularly well-regarded.
• Obstler (fruit schnapps) is usually very strong, well-flavoured and cheap.

Legal drinking age: 16 (for beer and wine); 18 (for spirits).

Tipping: On restaurant bills, a service charge of 10 to 15% is included, but it is usual to leave a further 5%. Attendants at theatres, cloakrooms or petrol pumps, expect to be tipped Euro0.15-0.25. Railway and airports have fixed charges for portering. Taxi drivers expect Euro0.25-0.50 for a short trip and 10% for a longer one.

Austria enjoys an enduring reputation for music, literature and the arts; visitors are just as likely to find Alpine New Wave punk-rock as they are yodelling. Nightlife is versatile, offering laid-back taverns, beer gardens and excellent après-ski, trendy clubs and dance venues. Viennese nightlife offers something for every taste: opera, theatre and cabaret as well as numerous bars and nightclubs. There are cinemas of all types, some of them of architectural interest, showing films in different languages. A good way to spend a summer evening is in one of the beer gardens found all over Austria, and the wine-growing area around Vienna features wine gardens (Heurigen) where visitors can sample local wines in an open-air setting.

High-quality goods such as handbags, glassware, chinaware and winter sports equipment are the cream of specialist items found in Austria.

Shopping hours: Shops and stores are generally open from Mon-Fri 0800-1800 (with a one- or two-hour lunch break in smaller towns) and Sat 1200-1700. Big stores and shops in tourist resorts now open Mon-Fri 0800-2100 and Sat/Sun 0800-1800.