What To Try

Austria is famous for a lot of reasons other than music in the hills, and here’s a short list of a few of the tasty treats you’ll not want to miss!

Here Are The Top 5 Foods You Must Try In Austria

The Sacher Torte

This chocolate ganache torte, is available all over Austria, but in my opinion, is best had at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna.

2. Buchteln (sweet yeast buns)

There’s a little variety in the way these are made, but are typically very soft pillowy buns served with a vanilla custard sauce.

3. Kaiserschmarrn (Scrambled Pancake)

I’m sure that it sounds weird, but this dessert has the texture of an eggy crepe, and is oh so good!

4. Punschkrapfen (rum soaked cakes)

This little cuties come in a variety of mouth-watering fillings that are all easy on the eyes.

5. Wiener Würstel

Leave all of your preconceived notions of hotdogs and sausages at the door, because it’s a whole other ballgame in Austria. The variety of sausage in profound, and possibly even more mind blowing than the meat offerings, is the bread they put it in. There is basically no similarity between what we call a “bun” and the perfection of toasted loaf, that they use. I ordered a chicken sausage, and what I saw was shocking… the cook grabbed what looked to be an entire loaf of uncut bread, shoved it down on what looked like a hole punch, and then shoved the condiments and sausage down the newly made bread tunnel. Each and every bite was heaven.

Souvenirs To Buy In Austria

The philosophy of what to purchase will differ from person to person, and I would never encourage anyone to buy things they don’t need or necessarily want. However, the criteria that I attempt to follow when making my souvenir purchases are as follows:

Is the item actually from the place I’m visiting (i.e. is this made in China and intended as a cheap souvenir)?
Can I purchase the same item back home, or is it unique to the area (i.e. is it commonly available back home due to export?).
Is this something I can use or display?

What We Purchased in Austria and What I Wish We Hadn’t

As mentioned above, we try to stick to a limited list of criteria when making purchases, but sometimes you can still get swept up in the vacation frenzy might result in you lugging home a few things that don’t.

What We Bought And Love

Holiday Decorations - Christmas and the decorations that go with it are on a level that I had not previously experienced. It seemed to me that every surface of Austria (both indoor and outdoor), was adorned with beautiful ornaments or garlands, most of which were natural (organic matter) and handmade in Austria or at least within Europe. I purchased several of these natural wall garlands and can not wait to display them this coming year.
Market mugs - Many outdoor festivals offer reusable mugs from the drink vendors that are filled with your beverage of choice for a flat fee (which includes a deposit for the mug itself), and are refundable upon return of the mug, or keep it as a souvenir. We opted to keep two of these mugs for this exact reason.
Books - I typically make it a point to purchase a “classic” children’s book from each country we visit in either the language of the area or translated to English. In this case, I purchased an English translation of classic Austrian fables.
Cultural Outfit - This one is controversial for several reasons and could easily be placed on the "love" or "hate" list, depending on how you approach it. However, in our case, it’s also important to note the cross-cultural significance of the traditional outfit of both Austria and Germany, which is also the cultural background of both my husband and myself. Further, "costume" versus "quality" construction also impacts the value of making a cultural outfit purchase. My husband and I each opted to make these purchases but with differing reasons behind our choices.
Art - We always purchase at least one piece of art from each country we visit because art is typically going to be of a flat, paper, or fabric item making it easy to transport. Bonus is that art is something that we can see and enjoy long after we have returned home from said trip. On this occasion, we purchased a watercolor cityscape of Salzburg.

What I Wish We Had NOT Purchased

I'm happy to report that the list of regrets is short but still worth mentioning as a mental note for next time.

Novelty signage - Frankly, I’m still surprised that we made this purchase, but in hindsight, I think we were both missing our dog when we fell victim to this cliche. One particular day, we came across a souvenir vendor selling novelty signage of Cocker Spaniel dogs with German language sayings printed on them. These signs were mass-produced, heat transfer signs (It will never be hung on our wall at home), and while we should have enjoyed the giggle and saved our money, at that moment, we somehow decided to purchase one (plants palm on face).
Novelty liquor - I’m sure you’ve seen them in gift shops, novelty-shaped bottles of people or buildings filled with generic whiskey or vodka, or who knows what. The ONLY time these expensive little bottles are appropriate to purchase is when it’s a gift shop for someplace that makes the liquor or the bottle it comes in. PERIOD, full-stop. To haul liquid in any quantity across the ocean to give to someone that wasn’t on the trip is a waste of luggage space because the liquor will not be good, and the gift is not personal. Save your money, save your luggage space, and let them go and have their own experience of the place.