A cultural travel guide to the world

Etiquette & taboos

Etiquette & taboos

Understanding local customs is where a journey begins. Find the topics that matter to you and feel at ease wherever you go.

Austria

1 rules found

Essential restrictionsEveryday mannersPlace-specific guidance · 奥地利

Austria: be ready to show your passport

Do

  • Carry your passport

Don’t

  • Assuming your driving licence counts as ID

The law requires you to be able to show your passport at all times; Austria does not accept a UK driving licence as official ID.

Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Austria travel advice

Site-specific notes 13

Taken from the "don'ts" on each site page here. Open a site for its full etiquette and background.

Schönbrunn Palace

  • Follow the no-photography rules in certain rooms
  • don't touch the furnishings
  • at concerts and operas don't leave early or cough loudly.

Hallstatt

  • Drones are strictly banned
  • don't pose for long or make noise at residents' doors
  • don't eat, drink or fool around in the cemetery or church.

Salzburg Festival

  • Taking photos or videos during performances
  • forcing your way to your seat after arriving late
  • talking loudly

Vienna Ball Season

  • Entering in a short skirt or casual clothes
  • cutting across the dance floor against the flow and bumping into others
  • taking close-up photos of others without permission

Innsbruck

  • Do not enter closed ski runs
  • do not talk loudly in churches

Wachau Valley

  • Do not enter private vineyards without permission
  • do not pick grapes

Belvedere

  • Do not use flash
  • do not touch the exhibits

Mirabell Palace

  • Do not enter municipal office areas
  • do not pick flowers or climb on statues

Hofburg Palace

  • Do not enter the Federal President's office areas or parts closed to the public
  • do not make noise during Mass or concerts

Sachertorte

  • Don't hurry the waiters in a Viennese café
  • don't squash a takeaway cake in your backpack (buy it boxed)

Viennese coffee houses

  • Don't treat a coffee house like a fast-food restaurant, rush the waiter or talk loudly on the phone
  • don't take the newspapers away
  • don't occupy a seat without ordering
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St Stephen's Cathedral

  • Don't walk around the nave taking photos during mass
  • don't enter in revealing clothes
  • don't use flash in the altar area