The general Austrian rural landscape is one of the easiest ways to recognise the country. There are rolling hills across much of Austria and lush green grasslands are often around the road. The roads are well-maintained and everything has a ‘The Sound of Music’ feel to it. Austrian bollards have little black caps on them. The reflectors on the bollards appear as either red, black or some reddish-black colour. Austrian houses are often double-storey, they have slanting, dark terracotta roofs and light-coloured paint. The houses are generally well-maintained and commonly have satellite dishes stemming from them. Austrian cities will often have blue signs with an arrow and the word ‘EINBAHN’. If you are interested in pinpointing, looking at the street sign colours is useful in Austria. In Vienna, the street signs are blue coloured. In the city of Linz, street signs are white. In Graz the street signs are green not including the very centre of the city. The German language is used in Austria. The letter ß is used in Austria and Germany whilst the German parts of Switzerland use ‘ss’ in its place. The reflectors on the front of Austrian bollards are often a blackish colour. Seeing this black reflector and the black hat on the bollard is one of the easiest ways to tell that you are in Austria. No other countries have both of these features on their bollards. Some Austrian bollards have more of a bright red reflector. The rears of Austrian bollards tend to have a light coloured rectangle. Note that some Austrian bollards, like this one, have an extra section protruding upwards from the black top. Austrian houses often have slanted, dark-terracotta coloured roofs. The houses are often two-storey, well-maintained and are painted light colours. The houses regularly have TV satellite dishes. The western part of Austria is more mountainous. It still has plentiful grass and rolling hills like the rest of Austria. The main things that strike me about the Austrian landscape are the rolling hills across much of the country and the abundant green grass. I haven’t seen The Sound of Music but the same scenery features there. In major Austrian cities, the word ‘EINBAHN’ is written on these blue signs everywhere. The language of Austria is German. If you see the ß symbol, you are in Austria or Germany. Switzerland doesn’t use ß. Vienna in Austria can be distinguished by its blue coloured street name signs. Linz in Austria can be distinguished by its white coloured street name signs. Graz in Austria has green coloured street name signs for everywhere except the very centre of the city. These directional arrows are particularly common in the Austrian Alps. They are either red with a white arrow or yellow with a red arrow. This wooden a-frame pole with a horizontal bar can often be found in Austria. It is not the most common pole (about 10% of poles are this) however it is unique to Austria. Street signs in Vienna display a number indicating what district they are in. The above map shows where these numbered districts are located. These numbers begin in the centre of Vienna and spiral from 2 in the inner east, clockwise until 9 in the inner north-west. The numbers then begin in an outer ring with 10/11 in the outer south and increase clockwise until 22 in the outer east (with 23 in the outer south). Note that only 21 and 22 are on the east of the Danube River. A larger version of this map can be viewed here. (Source: reddit, u/PiraatPaul) Note the number 12 preceding the road name. This number indicates that we are in the 12th district in Vienna. Looking at the above map, we can determine that we are in Meidling which is located south-west of the city centre. 

Austria has long, white licence plates with the standard blue EU strip on the left.

Austria uses white bollards, with a black top. The colour of the reflector is (dark) red or dark grey. 

Many bollards also feature a small nipple-shaped black cap on the top. Bollards sometimes have a snow pole on top.

Austria uses two colour schemes for chevrons:

white on red 

red on yellow

Germany mostly uses red on white chevrons, and rarely red on yellow.

Round wooden poles are the most common type of pole found in Austria.

Most of Austria is mountainous and covered in forests. However, some areas in the east and northeast are much more flat and agricultural.

Alpine architecture is common in Austria and other countries in the Alps. Houses commonly have distinct light coloured walls, with wooden elements such as balconies or panelling around the top floor, with dark-coloured wooden roofs that extend outward. The roofs can sometimes be angled downward at the front and back. In addition, houses are also often multi-storeyed.

Germany uses similar architecture in its southern states.

The official language of Austria is German. The German language uses the special letters Ä, Ö, Ü and ß.

The other majority German-speaking countries with coverage are Switzerland and Germany. In addition, German is spoken in East Belgium and the Italian province of South Tyrol.

Direction signs have a white background, a blue outline, and a unique font.

Similar white signs with a blue outline and unique font can also be seen at the entrance of towns.

Germany uses yellow town entrance signs with a black outline.

Green signs can commonly be seen, giving directions to different local facilities.

Pedestrian signs have a unique design: instead of zebra stripes, they have two horizontal dashed lines. 

All neighbouring countries have pedestrian signs with zebra stripes.

Road markers are blue with white numbers. They have one decimal separated by a comma, making them very recognizable.

Slovenian road markers are white. And German markers have a thin white outline.

Austrian bus stop signs contain a yellow and green circle with the letter H. 

This design is relatively unique in Europe. The only other country with similar bus stop signs is Germany.

These one-way traffic signs, with the word ‘EINBAHN’ written on them, are unique to Austria.

In Germany there will be “Einbahnstraße” written on the sign.

These yellow natural gas poles, which resemble snow poles, are unique to Austria.

Bollard:

Austrian bollards feature black caps with red reflectors on the front, and grey on the rear.

Road Lines:

Austria uses all white lines.

Austrian street signs are most commonly coloured blue.

Austrian bus stops use these yellow/green signs containing a H.

License plates:

Austria uses the standard EU styled plate.

Vegetation/Landscape:

Austria is a very mountainous nation.

Architecture:

A common site can be these ‘chalet’ styled houses.

