Austria is full of rich cultural offerings and traditions, many dating from when Vienna was the seat of a powerful empire. There's plenty of music, too. This is the country of Mozart and Johann Strauss, music festivals in Alpine settings, and the original setting of The Sound of Music.

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Austria also offers fairy-tale castles and skiing, spectacular scenery and Sacher torte. The grandeur of Vienna's imperial buildings matches Austria's huge romantic streak and its passion for rituals.

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Whether in the coffeehouse, the church or the grand ballroom, Austrians seem to blend a kind of Italian romanticism and charm with a Germanic love for order. You can experience that romanticism with something as simple as a hike through the mountains of the Tirol—or as spectacular as a visit to Vienna's Spanish Riding School, where you can see the magnificent Lipizzaner stallions perform their gravity-defying "airs above the ground."