Leisure and Fitness

About three million people in Austria actively pursue sports in 27,500 clubs. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands who use sports facilities without belonging to a club. A number of sports are very popular leisure activities in Austria. These include swimming, Alpine and cross-country skiing, cycling, tennis, football, running, riding and golf.

Special keep-fit programs, or “Fitness Campaigns”, appeal to people of all ages who want to indulge in physical activity. Numerous organizations concerned in some way with public health participate in these nationwide campaigns, which are organized by the Federal Sports Organization. The idea of fitness is promoted every year with the National Cross-Country Skiing Day, the Vienna City Marathon and the National Cycle Touring Day, as well as with the “Fitness Run” and “Fitness March”, which take place on 26th October, the Austrian National Day.