A gap year in Austria
Gap years in Austria
The more we hear about Austria, the more we want to pack our bags. This unassuming European country has the glamour of Paris; better architecture than Prague; and more classical culture than you can shake a baton at. Highly rated for ‘quality of living’, famous for beer and chocolate cake, and packed with ski resorts seeking friendly hosts, Austria really is the perfect place to begin a European gap year.
So book your
train ticket and throw the diet books in the bin – fried wieners, here you come.
Gap Year Opportunities
Ski resort jobs are big business in Austria. Brave the cold as a ski or snowboard instructor – or take a cosy job managing chalets or catering for the après-ski events. Work contracts typically last one season and include benefits – look for employers offering accommodation and a ski pass! Canny backpackers eat in-house and save their wages for exploring Europe next season.
If you have a decent command of German and plan to fund your year with temporary work, make sure you apply for a Meldezettel within three days of arrival. You can apply from the UK since many of the newspaper career sections and job-searches are online these days. You’ll find living in Austria very pleasant: with a wealth of culture, good economy, and reasonable costs of living, it’s perfect for backpackers.
Getting Around
By far the best way to travel, in and beyond Austria, is on a
train. Swift and efficient, the rail network is a backpacker’s dream. It offers great connections to Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany and Switzerland – and prices start at just £12 (Vienna>Prague RTN).
About Austria
Economic growth is excellent, and Austrian society is highly civilised. Lovers of fine art, music, literature and gourmet food will appreciate all the country has to offer. The food culture, in particular, is very distinctive: fried wieners, potato salad, apple strudel and Danish pastries clamour for your attention. And just how long will it take you to taste all 360 types of own-brewed beer?
What to see in Austria
Vienna is the jewel in her country’s crown. A ‘quality of living’ survey ranked the city 4th in the world (after Zurich, Geneva and Vancouver) and this peace of mind is tangible. Vienna looks like the set of a Julie Andrews musical, lined with astoundingly beautiful architecture and traditional sacher shops. (Stop for a slice of “the world’s most famous cake” at the Sacher Hotel – a dense chocolate cake with a layer of apricot beneath crackable chocolate topping.) No wonder the Viennese are such a happy clan.
Fancy a culture hit? In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Vienna was the world centre for classical music – and not much has changed. The city that nurtured Mozart, Brahms, Haydn, Strauss and Beethoven is the perfect spot to discover classical music for yourself. If you’ve never quite ‘got’ it, book a ticket at the Musikverein – society for friends of classical music – and educate your aural palate. Today Austria has its own modern music forms, like yodelling and Schrammelmusik – perhaps the golden days are over.
When your ears are tired, you’ll find the city is equally rich in visual art: the work of Austrian-born artists such as Gustav Klint and Egon Sciele, and architects Johann Lukas von Hildebrand and Gottfried Semper attract thousands of tourists, and even the non-artistic can appreciate some of the world’s finest Baroque and Art Deco architecture.
Salzburg is Austria’s tourist city, but look past the ‘Mozart Balls’ and umbrella-toting guides to uncover its interesting facets. Learn about historical anti-Semitism (the beginnings of a story that could lead you to the concentration camp at Mauthausen); tour the 120-year-old Müllnerbräu Brewery; or, if you must, take a Sound of Music tour…