Salzkammergut, Austria

The village is located on the site of Iuvavum, a Roman settlement. In 696, it was established as an episcopal see, and in 798, it was made the seat of the archbishop. Its primary revenue streams were gold mining, trading, and salt extraction. One of Europe's biggest medieval strongholds, Hohensalzburg, was built in the eleventh century. With the construction of several Baroque cathedrals and monasteries, Salzburg emerged as a focal point of the Counter-Reformation in the 17th century. One of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps is Salzburg's historic core, which is well-known for its Baroque architecture. In 1996, the historic center was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are three universities in the city, and many students attend them.From the Neolithic Period until the present, the city's surrounding territory has been continuously inhabited. It served as the administrative hub for the Celtic Alums in the Kingdom of Noricum during the La Tène era.aFollowing the establishment of the Roman city in the vicinity of the ancient town, the other towns on the Salzburg hills were abandoned following the Roman conquest in 15 BC. For a long time, the early carcass houses, monasteries, and Romanesque and Gothic churches ruled the medieval city. The biggest basilica north of the Alps was the Cathedral of Archbishop Conrad of Wittelsbach. One of the most prominent ecclesiastical gothic structures in southern Germany is the choir of the Franciscan Church, which was built by Stephan Krumenauer after Hans von Burghausen started it. The magnificent halls of the "Hoher Stock" at Hohensalzburg Fortress, Nonnberg Abbey, the Margaret Chapel in St Peter's Abbey, and St George's Chapel were built near the conclusion of the Gothic era.  

Austria's westernmost state (land) is Vorarlberg. It is the state with the second-highest population density (after Vienna), while having the second-smallest population and the second-smallest geographical area. It shares borders with Switzerland (Grisons and St. Gallen), Liechtenstein, and Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg via Lake Constance). Tyrol, to the east, is the sole Austrian state that borders Vorarlberg.While Dornbirn (49,845 residents) and Feldkirch (34,192 residents) have greater populations, Bregenz (29,698 residents) is the capital of Vorarlberg.[5] In addition, Vorarlberg is the only state in Austria where the local dialect is Alemannic rather than Austro-Bavarian; as a result, it shares a lot more cultural characteristics with German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Baden-Württemberg, Bavarian Swabia, and Alsace, as well as with the rest of Austria, with southeastern Bavaria, and with South Tyrol.The majority of Vorarlberg is mountainous, with two-thirds of the state being over 1,000 meters. Forests cover around 37% of its surface, or 97,000 hectares or 240,000 acres.

The capital of Vorarlberg, Austria's westernmost state, is Bregenz. The city is situated between Germany in the northwest and Switzerland in the west on the east and southeast coasts of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe. At the base of Pfänder Mountain, Bregenz is situated on a plateau that descends in a sequence of terraces to the lake. It is where the main routes from the Rhine valley and the foothills of the German Alps meet, and Lake Constance is where cruise ships dock. It is well-known for both the dance festival Bregenzer Spring and the yearly summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele.The majority of Vorarlberg's provincial authorities and institutions, including the department of human resources development (AMS), the school superintendent, the police headquarters, the office for environmental protection, the Chamber of Labor, the Economics Chamber, the Chamber of Agriculture, the Chamber of Pharmacists, the military garrison, one of the province's major hospitals (Landeskrankenhaus), a sanatorium, the farmers' health and social insurance office, and VLV (Mutual Fire Insurance Institute), are based in Bregenz.Bregenz is home to the honorary consulates of Belarus, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, and Switzerland in addition to the consulate-general of Turkey. Nearby Lauterach is home to the honorary consulates of Finland and the United Kingdom, while nearby Hard is home to the honorary consulate of Brazil.

The fifth-largest city in Austria and the capital of Tyrol is Innsbruck. In 2018, there were 132,493 people living on the River Inn at the intersection with the Wipp Valley, which leads to the Brenner Pass 30 km (19 mi) to the south. Innsbruck, a world-renowned winter sports venue, is situated in the wide valley between high mountains, the so-called North Chain in the Karwendel Alps (Hafelekarspitze, 2,334 meters or 7,657 feet) to the north and Patscherkofel (2,246 meters or 7,369 feet) and Serles (2,718 meters or 8,917 feet) to the south. It was the site of the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976 as well as the Winter Paralympics in 1984 and 1988. In addition, it hosted the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 and will host the Winter Deaflympics in 2027.As a university city, Innsbruck is home to numerous colleges and universities in the area. The "Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck" is the oldest grammar school (Gymnasium) in Western Austria, and it is located in Innsbruck. The Jesuit order established the school in 1562, and it served as the model for the university that was established in 1669. Innsbruck hosts several universities. The most renowned are the Innsbruck Medical University, the University of Applied Sciences MCI Management Center Innsbruck, and the University of Innsbruck (Leopold-Franzens-Universität).One of the busiest train stations in Austria is Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof, which serves as the main hub for Innsbruck and Tyrol. The Brenner line, which runs through the Brenner Pass to link northern Italy and southern Germany, the Arlberg line to the west, and the Lower Inn Valley line to Germany and eastern Austria all serve it. The Innsbruck S-Bahn has been running suburban services since December 2007.