Viennese cuisine is strongly influenced by southeast European cuisine, notably that of Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Dalmatia. Austrian desserts and cake are particularly renowned.

Things to know: The main meal of the day is lunch. All restaurants have waiter service, as do most bars and coffee houses. Bills are settled with the arrival of drinks.

National specialities:
• Wiener Schnitzel is a traditional dish of breadcrumbed and fried veal escalope.
• Tafelspitz is regarded as Austria's national dish and consists simply of boiled beef.
• Palatschinken (Austrian pancakes). 
• Apfelstrudel is the classic pudding.
• Mehlspeisen is the national term for cakes and puddings. There are around 60 varieties of Torte, which is often consumed with coffee.

National drinks:
• Local wines (often served in open carafes) are excellent and cheap: most of the wines are white and Riesling and Veltliner are particularly well-regarded.
• Obstler is made by distilling various fruits. It is usually very strong, well-flavoured and cheap.

Legal drinking age: 16 (for beer and wine); 18 (for spirits).

Tipping: On restaurant bills, a service charge of 10 to 15% is included, but it is usual to leave a further 5%. Attendants at theatres, cloakrooms or petrol pumps, expect to be tipped €0.15-0.25. Railway and airports have fixed charges for portering. Taxi drivers expect €0.25-0.50 for a short trip and 10% for a longer one. 

Viennese nightlife offers something for every taste: opera, theatre and cabaret as well as numerous bars and nightclubs. There are cinemas of all types, some of them of architectural interest, showing films in different languages. A good way to spend a summer evening is in one of the beer gardens found all over Austria. The wine-growing area around Vienna features wine gardens (Heurigen) where visitors can sample local wines in an open-air setting.

High-quality goods such as handbags, glassware, chinaware and winter sports equipment represent the cream of specialist items found in Austria.

Shopping hours: Shops and stores are generally open from Mon-Fri 0800-1800 (with a one- or two-hour lunch break in smaller towns) and Sat 1200-1700. Big stores and shops in tourist resorts now open Mon-Fri 0800-2100 and Sat/Sun 0800-1800.