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Bread (Brot) is taken very seriously in Austria, and there is usually a wide variety of lovely crusty loaves on display in most bakeries. The standard loaf is Hausbrot, a mixture of wheat (Weizen) and rye (Roggen), often with caraway (Kümmel) or sunflower seeds (Sonnenblumen). Austrian snacks centre on the ubiquitous Würstelstand, or sausage stand, which sells hot sausage (Wurst) as well as a few other things – usually French fries, soft drinks, canned beer and occasionally burgers. Numerous varieties of Wurst are available: Frankfurter, Bratwurst (fried sausage) or Burenwurst (boiled sausage) are the most common, but you could also try a Debreziner, a spicy Hungarian sausage, a Currywurst, which speaks for itself, a Käsekrainer, a sausage filled with blobs of molten cheese, or a Bosna, a thin and spicy Balkan sausage.

For Vienna, the cheapest is via Brussels and Cologne, with a change in both, and an overnight service from Cologne (Köln). For Salzburg or Innsbruck, you need to travel via Paris, from where there’s a direct overnight service to Munich, and connections to Salzburg from there. Although you can simply crash out on the seats on the overnight services, it makes sense to pay the extra (which can be as little as £7) for a couchette. Couchettes are mixed-sex and allow little privacy; for slightly more comfort, you can book a bed in a single-sex two-berth sleeper for around £25 extra one way.

Private rooms and farmhouses Staying in a private room (Privatzimmer), in the house of a local family, is another good option in many parts of Austria. While in many cases you’ll be sharing a bathroom and eating your breakfast with the family, in others you might be in a reasonably selfcontained part of the house. Most tourist offices keep extensive lists of private rooms 37 Accommodation terms BASIC S | Accommodation Komfortzimmer (“comfort room”) rooms that have both en-suite bath/shower (Bad/ Dusche) facilities and TV.