Vienna & Salzburg

Start with the Hofburg complex and the Kunsthistorisches Museum - one of the best painting collections in Europe (the Bruegel room alone justifies the ticket). Schönbrunn, the summer palace, deserves a half day including the gardens and the Gloriette walk.

For turn-of-the-century Vienna. Klimt, Schiele, the Secession: do the Belvedere (The Kiss), the Leopold Museum and the Secession building with Klimt's Beethoven Frieze. The MuseumsQuartier ties several of these together and is a good place to sit.

Music is not optional here. The Staatsoper sells standing-room tickets for a few euros on the day; the Musikverein is the golden hall you've seen at New Year. Both need planning ahead for seated tickets.

Then slow down: a Viennese coffee house (Café Central, Sperl, Hawelka) is an institution, not a caffeine stop. Order a Melange and stay an hour.

Salzburg's old town fits into a walkable bowl under the Hohensalzburg fortress - take the funicular up for the view over the domes to the Alps. Mozart's birthplace, the Residenz and the Mirabell gardens are the standard circuit; Hellbrunn's trick water fountains are better fun than they sound.

The city is also a base. Hallstatt and the lakes of the Salzkammergut are an easy day trip (go early. Hallstatt is tiny and overwhelmed by midday). The Eisriesenwelt ice caves at Werfen and the Berchtesgaden/Königssee area over the German border are both under an hour away.

In late July and August the Salzburg Festival takes over the city: extraordinary if you have tickets, expensive and crowded if you don't.

Beyond the obvious Wiener Schnitzel (veal, at Figlmüller or a neighbourhood Beisl), look for Tafelspitz, Backhendl and the pastry canon. Sachertorte, Apfelstrudel, and in Salzburg the soufflé-like Salzburger Nockerl. In Vienna, the Naschmarkt and the wine taverns (Heurigen) on the hills at Grinzing are worth an evening.

Christmas markets are a genuine reason to come in late November and December: Vienna's Rathausplatz and Spittelberg, Salzburg's cathedral square, mulled wine and a cold that makes it work.

April–June and September–October are the most comfortable: mild, green, and lighter on crowds. December is for markets and concerts. July–August is warm and busy, and Vienna empties of locals.

Trains do everything here - Vienna to Salzburg is 2h20 on the railjet, and both cities are compact enough to need no car. Bring one only if you're heading into the Salzkammergut or the Alps.