Most visitors enter Austria through Vienna, because the airport sits on the national rail network and the city is compact enough to walk. What surrounds that city is alpine: valleys, lakes, and towns whose winter and summer economies are the mountains. Graz, Linz and Salzburg are the other urban centres. German is the language of shops, tickets and menus. English is easy in Vienna and the ski resorts, and less reliable at a regional counter.
ÖBB Railjet is how you move. Wien Hauptbahnhof to Salzburg is a little under two and a half hours on the faster trains; Innsbruck is about four hours on the same westbound line; Graz is about two and a half hours south. Munich is close enough that Salzburg gets used as a Bavarian day trip, which is a thin way to see it. Summer is hiking and lakes. Winter is a ski season with its own prices and crowds. Those are different holidays that happen to share a passport.
