The Atlas Obscura Guide To Austria

136 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Austria

Updated October 23, 2023

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Unusual Attractions in Austria

The library lobby

Vienna, Austria

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library)

The beautiful baroque library of the Hapsburg empire.

Vienna, Austria

Stephansdom Crypt

The crypt of the imposing Stephensdom holds royal intestines and thousands of skeletons.

Vienna, Austria

Habsburg Imperial Crypt

The final resting place for the remains of 143 Habsburg royalty.

Vienna, Austria

Schmetterlinghaus: The Imperial Butterfly Park

A tropical paradise just a short trip from the opera house is filled with beautiful winged creatures.

Augustinian Friar's Astrological Clock - one of the hands takes 20,000 years to revolve.

Vienna, Austria

Clock Museum

A small museum filled with over 1,000 clocks, and one particular clock calibrated to run until the year 9999.

Apotheosis of St Carlo Borromeo

Vienna, Austria

Karlskirche (St. Charles's Church)

Built to give thanks for the passing of a plague epidemic, this cathedral is a one-of-a-kind architectural hybrid.

Mummified head of a murderer with blond hair

Vienna, Austria

Kriminalmuseum

Macabre museum devoted to historical Viennese murders.

Anatomical pathology collection

Wien, Austria

The Narrenturm

This former insane asylum now holds a pathological anatomy museum.

See All 136 Things To Do in Austria

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Austria

Vienna, Austria

Palmenhaus

Dine amidst exotic plants at this former royal greenhouse.

Starkenberger

Tarrenz, Austria

Starkenberger Beer Pools

Where beer lovers can literally immerse themselves in beer.

The interior of the cafe.

Vienna, Austria

Justizcafe

A rooftop restaurant hides in plain sight atop Vienna's Palace of Justice.

Omas and Opas at work.

Wien, Austria

Vollpension

Visiting this café is like visiting the Austrian grandma you wish you had.

See all 8 Places to Eat in Austria

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Museums And Collections 19

Art 15

Sacred Spaces 14

Churches 13

Architectural Oddities 12

Collections 11

Memento Mori 11

History & Culture 10

Catacombs And Crypts 9

Water 7

Statues 7

Outsider Architecture 6

Places To Stay 4

Unique Restaurants & Bars 3

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Stories About Austria

A handstein, circa 1740 from Hungary, in the German Mining Museum in Bochum.

The Raw Ore Centerpieces That Turned Grueling Labor Into Cutesy Dioramas

Handsteins were beloved of 16th-century princes because they affirmed the social order.

A 14th-century painting of Saint Corona by the Master of Palazzo Venezia Madonna.

Is Saint Corona a Guardian Against Epidemics?

Well, she might be now, at least.

by Matthew Taub

The world's largest wine bottle held 1,590 liters of Austrian red wine—until recently.

The World's Largest Bottle of Wine Just Spilled in Austria

We're gonna need a bigger napkin.

February 20, 2020

Archaeologists found these Late Bronze Age feeding vessels in Vösendorf, Austria.

Found: Milk Residue That Proves Ancient Europeans Used Cute-as-Heck Baby Bottles

The clay vessels are shaped like mythical animals.

by Reina Gattuso

October 1, 2019

They look familiar...

In the Bronze Age, People Labored Over Cereal That No One Ate

They probably used the Cheerio-like rings in rituals, not the kitchen.

by Sabrina Imbler

Bibi and Poldi having a tense moment.

The Celebrity Tortoise Breakup That Rocked the World

In 2011, after nearly a century together, Galápagos tortoises Bibi and Poldi called it quits. We still don’t know why.

February 13, 2019

Train workers free the trapped chamois.

Watch Austrian Train Workers Leap to the Rescue of a Snowed-In Goat

After their wave of plowed snow stopped it in its tracks.

by Noor Al-Samarrai

January 11, 2019

A cockroach.

A Guy in Austria Tried to Enter a Court Building With a Jar of Roaches

He was turned away.

by Erik Shilling

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