Gay Guide

Vienna

Graz, Linz, Saltzburg, Innsbruck

Austria is pretty much a mainstream West European country with a developed gay and lesbian scene in all the main cities

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Compared to its more liberal neighbours Austria has a long history of criminalisation and oppression of lesbians and gay men. Austria was one of the last countries in Europe to repeal the total ban on male and female homosexuality in 1971. Until just 2002 there were still unequal ages of consent. Austria also has a very poor record of anti-discrimination provisions in general and none at all to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination except where they have been required to do so by the European Union. The Federal Constitution theoretically protects all citizens equally but the reality is that it does not apply to sexual orientation discrimination. Similarly there are still no legal recognition of same sex partnerships except in the definition of "next of kin"

8.13 million

Euro €

The best time to visit Austria (unless you like winter sports) is April to September.

Austria has three climatic regions, (1.) the Alps where it is often sunny in winter but cloudy in summer. (2.) The Danube Valley and Vienna Basin, the driest regions where winter snow is rarely deep. (3.) The southeast region which experiences heavy thunderstorms and where winters can be severe (although summers are warmer and sunnier than the Alps region). Winters are generally cold throughout the country and the summer months are often the wettest. Average temperature ranges in Vienna are from -4c to 1c in January to 15c to 25c in July.