It's Austrian National Day! So revel in the best the country has to offer (and then start wishing you were there and not in the office).

1. It has the world’s most “liveable” city

Vienna is the greatest city on Earth to call home, according to consultants Mercer (for the record, the Economist reckons it’s Melbourne and PwC says London). Why? It scored highly for “political, social and economic climate, medical care, education, and infrastructural conditions such as public transportation, power and water supply.” Are you still awake? Of greater interest to travellers is “recreational offers”, which also got top marks. There are grand palaces and galleries (the Kunsthistorisches Museum, with seminal work by Rubens, Titian, Velasquez and Vermeer, is a must), it is the birthplace of cafe society (nowhere has the art of relaxing over coffee and cake been elevated to such height), and is an unrivalled classical music capital (what else would you expect of the city that gave the world Mozart and Beethoven?).

2. And underrated Bregenz

This small city on the shores of Lake Constance is best known for its spectacular summer music festival – which features an enormous "floating" stage. But Bregenz is worth a visit any time, thanks to its “medieval streets for strolling, cafés for lingering and the Pfänder mountain behind for oh-wow views” (so says Kathy Arnold). The rest of Vorarlberg, tucked away in the country’s far west (on the borders with Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany), is also worth exploring. “It’s one of the country’s smallest but most charming regions,” she adds. “Between the 3,000m peaks and the blue waters of Lake Constance are lovely valleys, rich pastures and pretty villages. Don’t miss the postcard-pretty village of Schwarzenberg, which each summer hosts the Schubertiade festival, dedicated to Franz Schubert.”

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3. Linz is lovely too

Austria’s third biggest city (linztourismus.at) spent 2009 as one of the European Capitals of Culture and maintains an educated atmosphere eight years on. Ars Electronica (aec.at) is a fascinating science museum which explores weighty topics like space and the digital world, as its exterior walls rotate through a rainbow of colours. The Lentos Kunstmuseum (lentos.at) is a modern art hotspot whose glass shell is as striking as the sculptures within. Then there is the setting. Both institutions preen themselves alongside the Danube.

Gorgeous Linz is also underrated Credit: © Chris Robbins / Alamy Stock Photo/Chris Robbins / Alamy Stock Photo

4. It’s heaven for skiers

Peter Hardy, our skiing correspondent, says Austria is cheaper - and more welcoming - than fashionable France. He recommends pretty Alpbach for beginners, St Anton for experts, and Obergurgl for families. Kitzbühel stands out for its beautiful setting, meanwhile, and Ischgl is renowned for its nightlife.

Try saying "Obergurgl" after one too many schnapps

5. And has the world’s most expensive chalet (probably)

If you want to ski in luxury, however, it’s got to be Lech. Princess Diana was its most famous patron and other past visitors include the Jordanian royal family, the Dutch royal family and Monaco’s Princess Caroline. Properties there, and in neighbouring resorts, regularly feature in Telegraph Travel’s Luxury Chalet of Week feature. And none cost more than Chalet N. How much? Up to £385,000 a week.

That's £385,000 please

6. You can even ski in August

On the Hintertux glacier, inside which is Nature’s Ice Palace, a subterranean lair of stalactites and giant crystals that’s bound to mesmerise fans of Disney’s Frozen.

7. They have some cracking Christmas markets

Our Teutonic friends have truly perfected the art of the Christmas market. Among the best places to go for Glühwein, gingerbread and pointless wooden toys is Innsbruck, where the Altstadt, lined with medieval houses, is transformed into a kitsch winter wonderland. “At dusk, trumpeters play carols on the 500-year-old Golden Roof,” says Paul Wade, in his guide to Europe’s best festive markets. “At weekends, ride the funicular up Nordkette mountain to Hungerburg. After tasty treats at this little market, continue your journey to the top of the Hafelekar for views of twinkling city lights and snow-tipped peaks.”

8. But it’s fantastic in summer too

There’s no better Austrian tourism commercial than the Sound of Music. To see it for real, head to the city of Salzburg, and the sunny alpine meadows that surround it.

“For director Robert Wise, Salzburg was one big open-air set,” says Paul Wade. “From the horse fountain on the Residenz Square to the Mozartsteg footbridge across the River Salzach, the city’s sights played important parts in the film. A starring role went to the formal Mirabell Gardens for the climax of the ‘Do-Re-Mi’ sequence. Locals are long used to groups of tourists prancing past the fountains, patting a stone gnome on the head and hopping up and down the stone steps.”

Mild alternatives to the Med (for summer without the sunburn)

Mirabell Gardens

9. It has the world’s most beautiful painting

Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, of course, and that’s the verdict of Telegraph Travel’s Ben Ross. See it at Vienna’s Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.

Klimt's finest

10. There’s the wine

“Austria makes fine white from many varieties, but grüner (for which it has the majority of the world’s plantings) is its calling card,” says Hamish Anderson, writing for The Telegraph. “The wines range from rich and powerful bottles that benefit from ageing to grassy, green pepper- and peach-tinged varieties that are immediate and refreshing.” Enjoy them at the Wine&Spa Resort Loisium Hotel, a bizarre, cube-shaped aluminum-clad building designed by US architect Stephen Holl.

11. It’s peaceful - and safe

Austria is the fourth most peaceful country in the world, according to a report, issued earlier this year, by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Only Portugal, New Zealand and Iceland have less conflict, political instability and terrorism.

The World Economic Forum, meanwhile, rates it as the 14th safest place on the planet.

12. You can tackle one of Europe’s great drives

“There’s little wonder that sports car and motorcycle enthusiasts head to the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse – High Alpine Road, which passes through the Hohe Tauern National Park – in their droves,” says David Williams, The Telegraph’s motoring correspondent. “It’s not just the stunning, seemingly limitless views over the range of 37 mountains as the road climbs to 2,504 metres that draw them in, but a series of 36 challenging, tyre-squealing hairpin bends too.

“Fortunately there’s plenty of variety to keep passengers happy as the road soars through an ever-changing landscape of flowering or pine-clad hills, dramatic, barren, rocky cliff faces, verdant meadows, lakes and glaciers as well as penetrating the mountain peaks of the Alps.”

13. And visit the Rolls-Royce Museum

Here’s a trivia question for you: where is the world’s biggest museum of Rolls-Royce cars? Somewhere in the American Midwest? In one of the United Arab Emirates? In Britain? Wrong, wrong and wrong again. The answer is a quiet mountain valley in Austria, close to Lake Constance.



14. It’s got the world’s best hotel room

Want to live like royalty (if only for a weekend)? Vienna's Schönbrunn palace offers a Residence Package including overnight accommodation in the palace suite and breakfast in the adjacent Parkhotel Schönbrunn, from a surprisingly reasonable (it is a palace, after all) £549 per person per night. Situated in the East Wing of the Unesco-listed palace, the apartment spans no less than 167 square metres, with two cavernous bedrooms and a warren of supporting parlours, corridors and salons.

Not too shabby Credit: www.sebastianreich.com/Mag. Sebastian Reich

The views are decent, too

16. And nine more World Heritage Sites

Including the spectacular Semmering railway and the city of Graz, packed with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, a mix of historic taverns and hip bars, and a thriving arts scene.

17. You can sleep in a sewage pipe

Who would have thought concrete could be comfy? The Das Park Hotel’s renovated sewage pipes are, thankfully, clean and sit on the banks of the Danube, near Linz.

50 of the world's most unusual hotels

Well, why not?

18. It’s good enough for Bond

The recent 007 adventure SPECTRE was shot in the Austrian resort of Solden. Be sure to visit the Ice Q restaurant - it's got evil villain lair written all over it.