Vienna’s Top 10
1 The magnificent rococo former summer palace and gardens of the Habsburgs are a perfect place to experience the pomp, circumstance and gracious legacy of Austria’s former monarchs. A visit to 40 of the palace’s lavishly appointed rooms reveals the lifestyle and the eccentricities of Europe’s most powerful family, right down to Empress Elisabeth’s obsession with her figure. Beyond the palace, Schloss Schönbrunn Gardens invite a stroll past pseudo-Roman ruins, along bucolic paths winding through leafy woods and a stopover in Gloriette.
Schloss Schönbrunn & Around
Vienna’s Top 10
2 As well as accumulating vassal lands, the Habsburgs assembled one of Europe’s finest collections of art and artefacts. The majestic highlight of this museum is the Picture Gallery, an encounter with a vast and emotionally powerful collection of works by grand masters, such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s evocative and ‘industrial’ Tower of Babel from the 16th century, or the bright plenitude of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Summer.
The Museum District & Neubau
Vienna’s Top 10
3 Living up to its Italianesque name ‘beautiful view’, this palace and garden ensemble is deceptively close to Vienna’s centre while still creating a feeling of being worlds apart. Symmetrical, finely sculpted and manicured gardens inspired by France’s Versailles connect two exquisite palaces dedicated to Austrian art, complemented by design interiors so stately that these are worthy of a visit in their own right. Altogether, Schloss Belvedere and gardens bring together an astonishing who’s who of Austrian art with the finest of 18th-century palace architecture and landscaping. Not to be missed here is Gustav Klimt’s painting The Kiss.
Schloss Belvedere to the Canal
Vienna’s Top 10
4 Jump on a tram and explore the Ringstrasse, one of Europe’s most unusual streets. This circular boulevard of magnificent state buildings, palaces and majestic hotels was carved out of the space once occupied by fortifications protecting Vienna from Ottoman Turk attack in the 16th century. Today, monumental 19th-century architectural masterpieces boldly rise up along the flanks, encircling most of the central Innere Stadt and separating the centre from the gritty, character-laden Vorstädte (inner suburbs).
Guided Tours & Walks
Vienna’s Top 10
5 There are larger and more hair-raising Ferris wheels, but this icon in Vienna’s Prater has the most character. Graham Greene sent his fictional character Harry Lime up here for a slow rotation in The Third Man, the film from 1949, and little about it has changed since then. A ride takes you high above the beautiful green open spaces of the Prater, giving you a bird’s-eye view of the city and the expanse of wooded parkland and meadows that you can explore on in-line skates, by bicycle or on a walk after hitting ground level.
Prater & East of the Danube
Vienna’s Top 10
6 Rising out of the centre as a Gothic reminder of another age, St Stephan’s Cathedral is the heart and soul of Vienna. The cathedral boasts a magnificent main nave and a fascinating cluster of other religious attractions below, inside and on top of it. Below are the catacombs, with their eerie collection of the deceased; inside are the cathedral treasures of reliquaries and religious art, which are part of a special exhibition; and rising above it to dizzying heights is the South Tower with its viewing stage offering the most spectacular views over town.
Stephansdom & the Historic Centre
Vienna’s Top 10
7 The impressive former wintering ground of the Habsburg monarchs for over 700 years not only boasts a fine collection of museums, it’s also a living palace that today is home to the Austrian president, Austria’s National Library and public offices. A leisurely stroll through the palace complex is an encounter with one gracious or monumental building, statue and square after another, taking in highlights such as the Swiss Courtyard, the grotesquely proportioned Heldenplatz and the diminutive arches of the Outer Palace Gate.
The Hofburg & Around
Vienna’s Top 10
INGOLF POMPE / GETTY IMAGES ©
8 Great works of art or arts of living have been created in these ‘living rooms’ of the Viennese, run by laconic and insouciant waiters who rule the tables the way the Habsburgs once ruled the world. Drop by, wade through the endless coffee menu, read the world press and trade the latest gossip in Vienna’s cosy answer to a home away from home.
Coffee Houses & Cake Shops
Vienna’s Top 10
9 When Maximilian I founded the Vienna Boys’ Choir in 1498 he replaced castrati with young boys whose voices had not broken, creating the world’s most celebrated choir. Today the celestial tones of this choir echo through the Imperial Chapel of the Hofburg, where the choir performs classical music by Schubert, Mozart and other musical greats during holy Mass; it also stages an eclectic program of classical and contemporary music across town in MuTh, its own dedicated performing space.
Entertainment
Vienna’s Top 10
ANDY CHRISTIANI / GETTY IMAGES ©
10 Imagine wood-panelled dens where godfather-like shakers and movers from the Vorstädte plot their next town-hall coup; imagine wallpaper in original 1970s shades clinging to walls, and hearty food such as sweetmeats, offal, goulash, Wiener Schnitzel and other favourites. This Viennese tradition is something like a bistro pub but much more, with a feel and mood you can almost scratch off the wooden tables. Linger over a beer or glass of wine, enjoy the filling food and soak up the unique atmosphere. A new breed of neo- Beisln, with a slightly upmarket edge, has even emerged from this worthy tradition.
Eating
