Austria Guide
Upper Austria
Upper Austria (Oberösterreich; 
www.oberoesterreich.at ) shares a great deal, both politically and geographically, with neighbouring Lower Austria. The landscape is largely characterized by rolling farmland, generally overlooked by those drawn to Austria's mountainscapes. Visitors are concentrated in the rugged south of the province, in the lakeland known as the Salzkammergut. Fewer make it to the neighbouring Kalkalpen national park, which embraces the Sengsengebirge mountains and Austria's largest area of protected forest. Austrians themselves regard Upper Austria as a rural backwater, the Land capital Linz overlooked because of its industry. Yet Linz has a fine Altstadt, one of Europe's most innovative museums, Ars Electronica, and has been selected as European City of Culture 2009, so perhaps perceptions will change.
Upper Austria is replete with monasteries that were transformed into Baroque showpieces during the Counter-Reformation. St Florian is the best known thanks to its associations with Anton Bruckner, but the Rococo masterpiece of Wilhering, and Kremsmünster, with its remarkable fish basins, art collection and observatory, are equally stunning. All three are within easy reach of Linz. So is Austria's most notorious concentration camp, Mauthausen.
Highlights
1 Ars Electronica Linz Interact with our high-tech future at this exceptional museum.
2 Stift St Florian Austria's most celebrated abbey, thanks most famously to the attentions of Anton Bruckner.
3 KZ Mauthausen Sobering and moving, a visit to this concentration camp is an unpleasant but important experience.
4 Freistädter Bier One of several traditional local brews to try as you travel around, this beer comes from a brewery that's been communally owned since 1777.
5 Steyr A beautiful town with a magnificent central square and an excellent industry museum.
6 Stift Kremsmünster This huge abbey is off the beaten path but worth the trek particularly for its Baroque fish ponds and observatory.
7 The Danube Cycleway One of Europe's most rewarding cycle-touring routes, it's suitable for all abilities and levels of experience.