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Upper Austria

Unfolding across the gently undulating countryside, this under-the-radar region has a taste of all that is great about Austria. For starters, there's the mighty Danube and a rich musical heritage, old-world coffee houses and castle-topped medieval towns, and resplendent Augustinian abbeys and spas.

Beyond the high-tech museums and avant-garde galleries of Linz lies a land in miniature filled with surprises: from rustic farmhouses serving home-grown Most (cider) to the limestone pinnacles of the Kalkalpen, where the elusive lynx roams and picturesque towns such as Steyr and Schärding are painted in a palette of ice cream–coloured hues. Whether you're among the mist-shrouded hills rippling towards the Czech Republic or wheat fields fading into a watercolour distance at dusk, you'll find these landscapes have a quiet, lingering beauty of their own.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Upper Austria.

  • See

    Augustiner Chorherrenstift

    Rising like a vision above St Florian, this abbey dates at least to 819 and has been occupied by the Canons Regular, living under Augustinian rule, since 1071. Today its imposing yellow-and-white facade is overwhelmingly baroque. You can only visit the abbey’s interior by guided tour, which takes in the resplendent apartments adorned with rich stuccowork and frescoes. They include 16 emperors’ rooms (once occupied by visiting popes and royalty) and a galleried library housing 150,000 volumes.

  • See

    Ars Electronica Center

    The technology, science and digital media of the future are in the spotlight at Linz' biggest crowd-puller. In the labs you can interact with robots, animate digital objects, print 3D structures, turn your body into musical instruments and (virtually) travel to outer space. Kids love it. Designed by Vienna-based architectural firm Treusch, the centre resembles a futuristic ship by the Danube after dark, when its LED glass skin kaleidoscopically changes colour.

  • See

    Mauthausen Memorial

    Mauthausen's status as a quarrying centre prompted the Nazis to site KZ Mauthausen concentration camp here. Prisoners were forced into slave labour in the granite quarry and many died on the Todesstiege (stairway of death) leading from the quarry to the camp. Some 100,000 prisoners died or were executed on site between 1938 and 1945. The camp has been turned into the emotive Mauthausen Memorial, which tells its history, and that of other camps such as those at Ebensee and Melk.

  • See

    Lentos

    Overlooking the Danube, the rectangular glass-and-steel Lentos is strikingly illuminated by night. The gallery guards one of Austria's finest modern-art collections, including works by Warhol, Schiele, Klimt, Kokoschka and Lovis Corinth, which sometimes feature in the large-scale exhibitions. Download Lentos' app from the website, or rent a multimedia guide (€2).

  • See

    Mariendom

    Also known as the Neuer Dom, this neo-Gothic giant of a cathedral lifts your gaze to its riot of pinnacles, flying buttresses and filigree-traceried windows. Designed in the mid-19th century by Vinzenz Statz of Cologne Dom fame, the cathedral sports a tower whose height was restricted to 134m, so as not to outshine Stephansdom in Vienna. The interior is lit by a veritable curtain of stained glass, including the Linzer Fenster, depicting scenes from Linz' history.

  • See

    Mural Harbour

    Street art comes into its own on the graffiti-blasted industrial facades in Linz' harbourside Hafenviertel. You'll find eye-catching, larger-than-life works from the likes of Roa (Belgium), Lords (USA), Aryz (Spain) and a host of Austrian artists. For more insider info, join one of the regular walks, workshops or cruises; combination tours include stencil and spray-can classes (you can also take classes separately). Visit the website for times and dates.

  • See

    Stift Engelszell

    The little riverside village of Engelhartszell an der Donau is home to one of only eight licensed Trappist breweries outside Belgium, and the only one in Austria. At the abbey Engelszell (founded 1293), you can purchase monk-made brews (dark Gregorius, amber Benno, and blond Nivard); the shop also sells apple juice, liqueurs and cheeses produced here by the monks. Adjoining the shop is the abbey's gorgeous rococo church, completed in 1764.

  • See

    Pfarrkirche St Wolfgang

    In the pindrop-quiet village of Kefermarkt, this pilgrimage church’s main claim to fame is its breathtaking Gothic Flügelaltar (winged altar). A masterpiece of craftsmanship, the limewood altarpiece towers 13.5m, with latticework fronds rising towards the ceiling. At the centre are three expressive figures, carved with great skill (left to right as you face them): St Peter, St Wolfgang and St Christopher. The wings of the altar bear religious scenes in low relief. Check the online calendar for concert dates.

  • See

    Pöstlingberg

    Linz spreads out beneath you atop Pöstlingberg (537m), a precipitous 20- to 30-minute ride aboard the narrow-gauge Pöstlingbergbahn from the Hauptplatz. It's Austria's – and one of the world's – steepest adhesion railways (running on electricity alone, rather than cables and pulleys), which is quite some feat for such a low-lying city.