Inspiration is magical, hard to grasp when one tries to capture it. Inspiration awards us with creative moments, but one cannot force it. There are, however, places where inspiration comes naturally, and Austria is full them. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was inspired by Salzburg’s romantic old town, for example. For the painter Gustav Klimt, the magical light around the Attersee was a source of inspiration. Sigmund Freud, explorer of the soul, was hiking in the Alps to clear his head for his ground-breaking discoveries that led to worldwide recognition. Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek’s words are inspired by her homeland, and she won the Nobel Prize for Literature for her work.

For centuries, creative minds have been inspired by Austria’s natural beauty and its rich cultural heritage. Let us travel to the places that inspired these masters.