Good country, exhausting tourist industry

Austria is a genuinely beautiful and interesting place. Hallstatt village is worth every superlative thrown at it. The Apfelstrudel is legitimately excellent. stunning alpine scenery gave the trip real depth.

What I struggled with: the tourist infrastructure around the headline sites in Salzburg is relentlessly commercial and expensive compared to neighbouring countries is a genuine friction point. You can feel the gap between authentic Austria and the packaged version sold to tourists. The authentic version wins, but you have to work to find it.