Countries
Austria: two kilograms a day, set by statute
The Austrian Forest Act lets anyone enter a forest for recreation, and taking more than two kilograms of mushrooms a day is a forest offence.
Season
Peak: September · season from June to October
In the valleys the season starts in June, higher up not until August. The first mountain frosts end it abruptly.
Climate
From a temperate lowland climate to an alpine one in the mountains. Altitudinal zonation shifts the season with elevation and stretches it beyond that of lowland countries.
Rules on picking
Section 33(1) of the Forest Act of 1975 allows anyone to enter a forest for recreation and to remain there, subject to areas closed by official decision and temporarily shut ground. Appropriating mushrooms in a quantity greater than two kilograms per day is an offence. The federal states may impose further restrictions through their nature-conservation laws.
Checked: 29 August 2026 · source · Rules change — confirm them with the local forest authority before you travel.
Traditions
Picking is part of Alpine leisure culture, and species knowledge is often passed down within families. Awareness of the two-kilogram limit is widespread.
Cuisine
Alpine cooking uses fungi in sauces for game, in dumplings and in egg dishes. Pickled mushrooms are also common alongside cured meats.
Austria has one of the clearest arrangements in Europe, because it writes both the right of entry and the limit into the same federal statute — the Forstgesetz of 1975.
The basis for entry sits in section 33, subsection 1: anyone may enter a forest for recreational purposes and remain there, subject to the exceptions set out in the following subsections and in section 34. Those exceptions cover, among other things, areas closed by official decision, young plantations and ground temporarily shut, for instance during timber extraction.
The quantitative limit appears instead in the penal part of the Act. An offence is committed by anyone who, without authorisation, appropriates mushrooms in a forest in a quantity greater than two kilograms per day. The same provision covers taking the seeds and fruit of forest trees for commercial purposes, and appropriating soil, turf, timber and resin.
Where the rule sits is instructive. Two kilograms is not a privilege granted to the picker but the boundary above which collecting stops being recreational use of the forest and becomes the appropriation of somebody else's property. The law does not say "you may take two kilograms" — it says "above two kilograms you are answerable".
On top of this come the nature-conservation laws of the individual federal states, which may impose further restrictions: closed seasons, bans in reserves or species protection for particular fungi. The federal Act sets the frame, but before a trip into specific mountains the state law is worth checking too.
Two kilograms does not replace the owner's consent
Austria's rule operates in two stages. Mushrooms belong to the forest owner; personal collecting is tolerated only when the owner has not prohibited, limited or charged for it. The federal ceiling applies after that: section 174 treats unauthorised appropriation of more than two kilograms per day as an offence. The number does not grant a right to take two kilograms against an owner's sign. The Act also prohibits organising or participating in mushroom- and berry-picking events. Länder may add protected species, hours and seasons; Carinthia, for example, allows partially protected porcini and chanterelles only from 15 June to 30 September, 07:00–18:00. Check owner consent, federal law and the Land's rules.
Written by MykoRadar from the source indicated. Informational only — it does not replace advice from an expert.