9 places you should stay in Austria where sleeping is one incredibly unique experience

Where: Millstätter See, Carinthia

What: tent-looking tiny houses made out of wood that are called ‘Biwaks’

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: to be close to nature but still sleep in a tiny house, to never stop staring at the beautiful mountains and the lake, to really relax for once, to watch the stars, to leave all your sorrows behind, to make memories with your partner

Where: Naarn, Upper Austria, or Natters, Tyrol

What: wooden barrels that fit exactly one double bed

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: to sleep in the tiniest place you most likely ever will, to enjoy the smell of wood while lying in bed, to be able to say that you’ve slept in a barrel, to meet other barrel-sleepers, to stay the night close to the Danube, to appreciate how much you can do with so little space, to make unique memories in a unique sleeping spot, to fall asleep with the sweet scent of pinewood in your nose, to feel like you’re living in a wooden barrel village

Where: Ottensheim, Upper Austria

What: a bed in a simple concrete barrel located in a park for which you pay as you wish

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: to experience what it’s like to be surrounded by concrete walls with just a tiny round window, to get the feeling that you live in your own tiny little world and are shut out from civilisation, to find out what it’s like to live inside a bunker, to prepare yourself for the time when the world’s going down and you’re the only one who’s in a safe space

Where: Dorfgastein, Salzburg Land

What: a private starry-eyed night taking place in a canopy in a garden, where natural moonlight is your light switch

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: to be woken up by the sun and a serenade of a philharmonic orchestra followed by a breakfast in bed, sporty early-risers are only a few steps away from their hiking paths, the rejuvenating effects of sleeping without a roof

Where: Althofen, Carinthia

What: a fancy looking treehouse in an old linden tree overlooking mountains

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: to enjoy a slumber in the top of a 300-year-old linden tree, to have a unique romantic getaway with your boo, incredible views of the mountains, to slurp champagne while appreciating the company, to feel like a bird nesting in a fancy tree

Where: Ulrichsberg, Upper Austria

What: an upscale treehouse with a lounge for two, in the middle of the Böhmerwald woods

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: the novelty of being an adult sleeping in a treehouse, disconnecting from the outside world and feeling closer to the stars, sleeping in amidst nature, being woken up by warm sunlight on your face, to conquer your fear of heights in a very unusual way

Where: Königswiesen, Upper Austria

What: a typical Western-movie American-esque ranch environment, complete with horses and cowboy hats, on the grounds of the Mühlviertel,

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: community camping with others interested in wildlife adventures, outdoor sports to practice your horse-back riding and bow & arrow shooting, an ideal holiday location for those who want to live the wild-wild-western life…and wear a cowboy hat everyday

Where: Nußdorf, East Tyrol

What: a bird-like, wooden house with a huge panoramic window, called Ufogel

Reasons why it’s a unique sleeping experience: it’s kind of like a sculpture you can sleep in, waking up to panoramic views of the mountains through a huge window, to live in a tiny unique house for a night, for the cosy sleeping arrangements, to use a wood fire oven you can make tea on, to drift off to sleep in an interior entirely made of wood

Where: Sprögnitz, Lower Austria